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E.g., 04/16/2024
K-12 Education

K-12 Education

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Immigrants and second-generation students who are children of immigrants confront a number of unique academic challenges, including limited proficiency in the host-country language and greater barriers in preparing for college and careers. Research here focuses on student educational attainment and in particular on English Learners (ELs), who have persistent and wide achievement gaps with native English speakers. Adolescent ELs face a greater workload, learning English at the same time they are studying core content areas in English.

Recent Activity

Cover image for English Learner Testing during the Pandemic
Reports
May 2022
English Learner Testing during the Pandemic: An Early Readout and Look Ahead
By  Melissa Lazarin
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Commentaries
May 2022
Schools Should Engage Diverse Community Stakeholders to Promoting Equitable Allocation of Historic Funding to Reimagine Education
By  Jazmin Flores Peña
Multimedia
February 24, 2022
Bridging the Digital Divide for U.S. Children in Immigrant Families
Cover image for Advancing Digital Equity among Immigrant-Origin Youth
Reports
February 2022
Advancing Digital Equity among Immigrant-Origin Youth
By  Essey Workie, Lillie Hinkle, Anna deDufour and Valerie Lacarte
Cover image for the Spanish-language parent's guide on English Learner assessments
Fact Sheets
February 2022
Una guía para padres sobre las evaluaciones de estudiantes de inglés
By  Delia Pompa and Jazmin Flores Peña
Cover image for the parent's guide on English Learner assessments
Fact Sheets
February 2022
A Parent’s Guide to English Learner Assessments
By  Delia Pompa and Jazmin Flores Peña
Cover image for El estado de la política migratoria y de integración de Costa Rica
Reports
November 2021
El estado de la política migratoria y de integración de Costa Rica
By  Diego Chaves-González and María Jesús Mora
Cover image for The State of Costa Rican Migration and Immigrant Integration Policy
Reports
November 2021
The State of Costa Rican Migration and Immigrant Integration Policy
By  Diego Chaves-González and María Jesús Mora

Pages

Cover image for Strengthening Services for Unaccompanied Children in U.S. Communities
Reports
June 2021
Strengthening Services for Unaccompanied Children in U.S. Communities
By  Mark Greenberg, Kylie Grow, Stephanie Heredia, Kira Monin and Essey Workie
Immigrant and U.S.-Born Parents of Young and Elementary-School-Age Children in the United States: Key Sociodemographic Characteristics
Fact Sheets
April 2021
Immigrant and U.S.-Born Parents of Young and Elementary-School-Age Children: Key Sociodemographic Characteristics
By  Jacob Hofstetter and Margie McHugh
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Policy Briefs
March 2021
Funding English Learner Education: Making the Most of Policy and Budget Levers
By  Julie Sugarman
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Reports
March 2021
A Bridge to Firmer Ground: Learning from International Experiences to Support Pathways to Solutions in the Syrian Refugee Context
By  Camille Le Coz, Samuel Davidoff-Gore, Timo Schmidt, Susan Fratzke, Andrea Tanco, Maria Belen Zanzuchi and Jessica Bolter
Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States: Stable Numbers, Changing Origins
Fact Sheets
December 2020
Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States: Stable Numbers, Changing Origins
By  Randy Capps, Julia Gelatt, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Jennifer Van Hook
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Reports
November 2020
Immigration Data Matters
By  Jeanne Batalova, Andriy Shymonyak and Michelle Mittelstadt
Educating English Learners during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Policy Ideas for States and School Districts
Policy Briefs
September 2020
Educating English Learners during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Policy Ideas for States and School Districts
By  Julie Sugarman and Melissa Lazarin
Immigration Enforcement and the Mental Health of Latino High School Students
Reports
September 2020
Immigration Enforcement and the Mental Health of Latino High School Students
By  Randy Capps, Jodi Berger Cardoso, Kalina Brabeck, Michael Fix and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto

Pages

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Feature
January 23, 2015
Children Left Behind: The Impact of Labor Migration in Moldova and Ukraine
In Moldova, 100,000 children have been left behind by migrant parents; in Ukraine, there are 200,000 such children. The scale of labor migration and impact of remittances on both economies have prompted Moldova and Ukraine to work with the European Union and international organizations to develop policies addressing the welfare of left-behind children. This article examines research on the effects of parental migration on children and the policy environment.
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Policy Beat
September 25, 2014
Unaccompanied Minors Crisis Has Receded from Headlines But Major Issues Remain

As Central American child migrant flows have returned to their precrisis level, challenges remain concerning the fate of tens of thousands of newly arrived children and families now residing in the United States pending immigration court hearings. Meanwhile, Congress has declined to authorize new funding to address the situation.

Feature
September 6, 2012
Pushouts, Shutouts, and Holdouts: Adult Education Pathways of Latino Young Adults

This article examines the underlying reasons for the interrupted school enrollment of Latino immigrant young adults in the United States who are colloquially referred to as dropouts and perhaps more precisely should be defined as pushouts, shutouts, or holdouts. A study reveals wide-ranging reasons for the interruption in their schooling, both before migration and after, and provides relevant data for educational policy and programming.

Feature
May 3, 2007
After-School Institutions in Chinese and Korean Immigrant Communities: A Model for Others?

In the United States, the academic success of children of Chinese and Korean immigrants usually is attributed to either their culture or the U.S. immigration system, which favors skilled migrants. Min Zhou and Susan S. Kim of the University of California, Los Angeles compare the after-school institutions in these communities to explain the effect of ethnicity on educational outcomes.

Feature
April 1, 2007
Pathways to Success for the Second Generation in Europe

There is an ongoing debate over the children born to Europe's guest workers of the 1960s and 1970s: Can they move up the educational ladder, or will they form a new underclass in Europe's largest cities? Maurice Crul of the University of Amsterdam compares outcomes for second-generation Turkish children across five countries.

Pages

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Video, Audio
September 29, 2020

Centering English Learners in Schools’ Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Practioners from California and Tennessee join MPI researchers in a discussion on key challenges to meeting English Learners’ needs during the pandemic and the policies and practices school systems will need to put in place to support them and their families through the public-health and education crisis, as well as when schooling returns to normal.

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Video, Audio
June 16, 2020

Addressing Equity Concerns for English Learners: Where Do Native Language Assessments Fit In?

This webchat marks the release of a report examining the role native language assessments play in addressing equity concerns for English Learner (EL) students.

English Learners Photo Credit: KOMUnews
Expert Q&A, Audio
March 11, 2020

Expert Podcast: Understanding How English Learners Count in ESSA Reporting

This podcast features a discussion between MPI's Margie McHugh and Julie Sugarman about how to understand the varying composition of states' English Learner (EL) subgroup under ESSA, and why understanding these technical differences matters when making decisions about how ELs and schools are faring.

flickr KOMUnews Columbia School Board to Discuss English Language Learners Program
Video, Audio
February 12, 2020

An Uneven Landscape: The Differing State Approaches to English Learner Policies under ESSA

Experts share how states have approached Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) implementation, areas where the law and state efforts to support English Learners can be improved, and findings from the compendium, The Patchy Landscape of State English Learner Policies under ESSA. 

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Video, Audio
April 29, 2019

Do All High School Graduates Count? Unintended Consequences of State Accountability Policies for English Learner Students

This webinar, accompanying the release of an MPI report, investigates the unintended consequences for English Learners of using the four-year high school graduation rate for federal school accountability.

Pages

Recent Activity

Reports
May 2022

English Learner Testing during the Pandemic: An Early Readout and Look Ahead

In addition to upending daily life in the classroom, the pandemic has affected how states administer annual assessments to their students—disrupting a key means of collecting data on new or growing learning gaps that demand attention. This report explores how states have approached testing English Learners during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what 2020-21 assessment data can and cannot tell us.

Commentaries
May 2022

Schools Should Engage Diverse Community Stakeholders to Promoting Equitable Allocation of Historic Funding to Reimagine Education

As school districts across the United States move to allocate their federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, it is essential that they engage with multilingual and diverse community stakeholders, in part given English Learners have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The track record suggests many districts are struggling to effectively engage these communities.

Video, Audio, Webinars
February 24, 2022

Bridging the Digital Divide for U.S. Children in Immigrant Families

Marking the release of an MPI report, this webinar takes stock of lessons learned about remote learning during the pandemic and examines how governments, schools, and service providers can advance digital equity for children in immigrant families.

Reports
February 2022

Advancing Digital Equity among Immigrant-Origin Youth

Since the pandemic began, technology has become an even more central part of Americans’ lives. Yet access to digital devices, the internet, and digital skills training has long been uneven. For many teenagers in immigrant families, including those who are English Learners, this digital divide has made remote learning challenging. This study identifies promising practices for increasing digital access and literacy among immigrant-origin youth.

Fact Sheets
February 2022

Una guía para padres sobre las evaluaciones de estudiantes de inglés

La interacción de padres y miembros de la comunidad con los sistemas escolares de sus hijos es fundamental para asegurar su éxito académico. Para apoyar a las familias de estudiantes de inglés (EL, por sus siglas en inglés) mientras interactúan con escuelas locales, esta guía y glosario de términos clave contesta preguntas comunes, como por ejemplo por qué estos estudiantes toman exámenes anuales y cómo las escuelas utilizan los datos que resultan de tales exámenes.

Fact Sheets
February 2022

A Parent’s Guide to English Learner Assessments

Parental and community engagement with schools is an important part of ensuring students’ educational success. To support English Learners’ families as they engage with their local schools, this question-and-answer document and glossary of key terms aim to help parents answer common questions, including why these students take tests and how schools use the test data.

Reports
November 2021

El estado de la política migratoria y de integración de Costa Rica

Dentro de América Latina, Costa Rica es uno de los principales destinos para migrantes y refugiados de una amplia gama de países y con características e intencionalidades migratorias diferentes. Este informe examina el marco institucional y la capacidad del sistema migratorio del país, con un enfoque en la integración de inmigrantes en cuatro áreas de políticas: registro y regularización, salud, empleo y educación.
Reports
November 2021

The State of Costa Rican Migration and Immigrant Integration Policy

Within Latin America, Costa Rica is a top destination for migrants and refugees from a range of countries and with different characteristics and migration intentions. This report examines the institutional framework and capacity of the country’s migration system, with a focus on immigrant integration in four policy areas: regularization and registration, health, employment, and education.

Pages