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Challenges and Opportunities for Recent Immigrants to the United States in

Achieving Equitable Educational Outcomes

Mary Lugg

University of Idaho
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Challenges and Opportunities for Recent Immigrants to the United

States in Achieving Equitable Educational Outcomes

The United States is a multicultural country with dynamic and ever-changing

demographics. In 2000, approximately 28.4 million people lived in the United States

that were foreign born, approximately 10% of the American population (Camarota,

2001). The wave of immigration that the U.S. has been experiencing since the

1970s, has brought large amounts of children into the schools and expanded the

proportion of first and second-generation immigrants. Immigration has also led to

an increase in racial and ethnic diversity. Projections predict that enrollment for

white students will decrease over the time period of 2012-2024 while Hispanic,

Asian, and students that identify as more than one race will increase during this

same time period (Hussar & Bailey, 2016). Recent immigrants face unique barriers

for academic success such as previous schooling, dislocation, cultural disorientation,

language differences, and segregation. Because of these reasons, immigration is a

challenge and opportunity for the American school system. This paper will outline

barriers that recent immigrants face and describe strategies designed to work

towards achieving increased equity in American schools.

According to Goodwin (2000), previous schooling, dislocation, cultural

disorientation, and language differences are significant barriers to students who are

immigrants. Previous schooling can refer to numerous factors such availability of

schools, education infrastructure, availability of educational resources, cultural

beliefs around education found in home countries and interrupted schooling due to
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migration. Dislocation refers to the loss of ones home, family, and familiar

surroundings. This is magnified for children who become refugees due to political

or economic instability in their home countries. Cultural disorientation refers to

lack of cultural knowledge in a new country. This can include things like loss of

language. Many immigrants speak other languages than English. This can be a

significant barrier to education. These barriers must be addressed to create a more

equitable educational system in the US for recent immigrants.

Of additional concern is immigrant segregation according to Orfield (2014).

This can mean segregation from non-immigrants and further segregation from

people who are white. These relationships vary according to students race,

ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Segregation has a long history in the U.S. and

continues today. For example, 2 of 5 blacks and Latino students are in segregated

schools and both attend schools with high poverty rates, more than twice the

concentration than whites and Asians (Orfield,2014). Many times these school

districts have less resources and high teacher turnover. Segregation in the United

States has proved unequal and can have further negative effects on recent

immigrants. Segregation is a large complex issue and may require new Civil Rights

policy and school reform. Other barriers to academic success can be mitigated by

strategies designed to overcome them.

Teachers are an important resource for creating equitable education in our

classrooms. Teachers need training for working with culturally diverse children and

their communities. This includes developing resources and lessons for teachers to

encourage and improve dialogue of multicultural experience. An example is a lesson

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plan called Deportation of the 1930s: Learning from Voices of the Past (Valenciana &

Ordonez-Jasis, 2012). The lesson plan was created to teach social studies. Lessons

such as these highlight periods of time in our history that are little known or

misunderstood. Teachers should not only understand cultural diversity but also be

able to teach culturally. A culturally proficient teacher can instruct in many styles.

This can include lesson differentiation and second-language learning. Additionally,

it is important to work with families and within the community. According to

Violand-Sanchez & Hainer-Violand (2006), another vital ingredient to academic

success is creating a positive self-identity in your students. This requires teaching

from and acknowledging students strengths.

Teachers and schools are at the forefront of cultural exchange. Culture is

dynamic and changes over time, especially in the multicultural country that is The

United States. Immigration has been gradually increasing over time and will

continue to do so in the future to come. This means more complex and diverse

learners in our schools. As a society we must identify barriers to recent immigrants

and design solutions, such as those outlined in this paper, to create a more equitable

classroom and future for all.

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References

Camarota, S. (2001). Immigrants in the United States2000. Retrieved from the

Center for Immigration StudiesWeb site:
http//www.cis.org/articles/2001/back101.html

Goodwin, A. (2002). Teacher Preparation and the Education of Immigrant

Children. Education and Urban Society, 34(2), 156-172.

Hussar, William J., & Bailey, Tabitha M. (2016). National Center for Education
Statistics,National Center for Education Statistics, 2016.

Orfield, G. (2014). Tenth Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research. Educational

Researcher,43(6), 273-292.

Valenciana, C., & Ordonez-Jasis, R. (2012). Unconstitutional deportation of the

1930s:Learning from the voices of the past. The Social Studies, 103(2), 81-
89.

Violand-Sanchez, Emma, & Hainer-Violand, Julia. (2006). The Power of

Positive Identity.Educational Leadership, 64(1), 36-40.