Promising Educational Practices for Students of Immigrant Origin

What can schools do to meet the social and emotional and academic needs of immigrant-origin students?

In a research study conducted in the United States and in Europe, a team of researchers led by co-founder of Re-Imagining Migration, Carola Suarez-Orozco, identified several promising educational practices. A number of the practices they identified are beneficial for all students, while others are more specific to children of immigrants.

The research team grouped the educational practices into seven categories including:

  • Curriculum
  • Pedagogical approaches
  • School structures
  • School climate
  • Assessment strategies
  • Educational supports and enrichment outside of class
  • Preparation for high education and the workplace

According to the team, “Other practices were very specific to the needs of newcomer students and second-language learners, serving to ease their negotiation of the cultural transition and learning a new language.”

We adapted the findings from the study to provide a checklist to use as a starting point for a discussion about the ways that schools can meet the socio-emotional and academic needs of newcomers in schools and society.

For more information, see  Suarez-Orozco, CE; Martin, M; Alexandersson, M; Dance, L; Lunneblad, J. (2013) Promising practices: Preparing children of Immigrants in New York and Sweden. In R. Alba and J. Holdaway (Eds.) The Children of Immigrants in Schools: A Comparative Look at Integration in the United States and Western Europe.

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