National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy

Policy Briefs

April 2024

Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Families through Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Services

Young girl talks to a child psychologist

iStock.com/Lacheev

Infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) services can offer vital support for young children’s healthy development. Yet, young children in immigrant and refugee families often do not benefit, due in part to lower levels of health-care coverage and limited cultural responsiveness in the field. This issue brief explores the benefits and barriers to supporting these children via IECMH services, and some ways to close key gaps.

Reports

January 2024

Refining State Accountability Systems for English Learner Success

A high school student answers a math problem on a whiteboard

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

State accountability systems are designed to identify and close student achievement gaps. Yet most do not report and interpret English Learner (EL) outcomes in a way that paints a full picture of how different instructional services have contributed to academic development. This report sketches a vision for reimagined accountability systems that can support better understanding of ELs’ learning and inform school improvement strategies.

Reports

November 2023

The Unmet Potential of Community Consultations in U.S. Refugee Resettlement

Young woman speaks to other participants at a meeting

iStock.com/SDI Productions

As humanitarian migrant arrivals in the United States increase, via refugee resettlement and channels such as temporary parole, communication between the national, state, and local actors involved in supporting their reception and integration is critical. This report examines the goals and design of quarterly resettlement consultations, as well as opportunities to refine these processes to boost their impact and relevance in a changing policy landscape.

Fact Sheets

October 2023

Recent Immigrant Children: A Profile of New Arrivals to U.S. Schools

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

A significant increase in the number of immigrant children in U.S. schools over the last decade has challenged K-12 educators to expand their capacity to serve students with different backgrounds and educational needs. This fact sheet sketches a profile of recently arrived immigrant children, presenting data on top states of residence, national origins, household characteristics, and more.

Policy Briefs

October 2023

Leveraging Data to Ensure Equitable and Effective Adult Skills Programming for Immigrants

Adult immigrant students work together in an English class

iStock.com/shironosov

Immigrants make significant contributions to the U.S. economy and social fabric, but many also face barriers to integration. Adult education and workforce development programs offer services intended to help address such challenges yet can be mismatched to immigrants' needs. This issue brief sketches a profile of U.S.-born and immigrant adults, highlighting key similarities and differences relevant to the design of adult skills programs.

Policy Briefs

July 2023

ESSER: Moving the Needle on Equitable and Adequate Education Funding for English Learners

4th and 5th grade students working on posters

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

The pandemic and move to remote learning affected students across the United States, and certain groups—including the nation’s 5 million English Learners (ELs)—were hit particularly hard. At the same time, the federal government made unprecedented investments in public K-12 education to counter the pandemic’s adverse impacts. This issue brief explores the ways school districts have invested these funds to support ELs.

Featured

English Learners and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes a number of new requirements for the education of English Learners (ELs), including standardized criteria for identifying EL students and inclusion of English proficiency as a measurement of school quality. Resources on this page can help inform decisions such as how quickly schools must improve and how states can intervene with struggling districts.

Featured

ELL Information Center

The English Language Learner (ELL) Information Center provides informative fact sheets, maps, and state-level data resources that chronicle the demography and trends of immigrant families and their children.

Recent Activity

Commentaries June 2017 Immigrants and the New Brain Gain: Ways to Leverage Rising Educational Attainment By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Reports June 2017 How Are Refugees Faring? Integration at U.S. and State Levels By Michael Fix, Kate Hooper and Jie Zong
Fact Sheets June 2017 New Brain Gain: Rising Human Capital among Recent Immigrants to the United States By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Multimedia March 9, 2017 Strategic Opportunities for Including English Learners in ESSA State Accountability Plans
Commentaries March 2017 Trump and DeVos: What Could the New Administration Spell for English Learner and Immigrant Students? By Julie Sugarman	Fact Sheets March 2017 Facts about English Learners and the NCLB/ESSA Transition in Select States By Julie Sugarman and Kevin Lee
Multimedia February 28, 2017 Reducing Integration Barriers Facing Foreign-Trained Immigrants: Policy and Practice Lessons from Across the United States	Reports February 2017 Unlocking Skills: Successful Initiatives for Integrating Foreign-Trained Immigrant Professionals By Margie McHugh and Madeleine Morawski

Pages

Reports April 2012 Diverse Streams: African Migration to the United States By Randy Capps, Kristen McCabe and Michael Fix	Reports April 2012 Changing Demography and Circumstances for Young Black Children in African and Caribbean Immigrant Families By Donald J. Hernandez
Reports March 2012 The Educational Trajectories of English Language Learners in Texas By Stella M. Flores , Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Fact Sheets December 2011 Limited English Proficient Individuals in the United States: Number, Share, Growth, and Linguistic Diversity By Chhandasi Pandya, Margie McHugh and Jeanne Batalova
Reports November 2011 Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Books September 2011 Immigrants and Welfare: The Impact of Welfare Reform on America's Newcomers
Reports July 2011 The Economic Integration of Immigrants in the United States: Long- and Short-Term Perspectives By Aaron Terrazas	Reports June 2011 Improving Immigrants' Employment Prospects through Work-Focused Language Instruction By Margie McHugh and A.E. Challinor

Pages

Video, Audio

December 7, 2011

Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults

A discussion on the gains that young adult immigrants or the U.S.-born children of immigrants have made in education and employment, with speakers: Michael Fix, Jeanne Batalova, Andrew P. Kelly, Raul Gonzalez, and Margie McHugh.

Audio

October 6, 2011

Language Access and Schools: Federal Requirements and School Experiences

This is the latest in NCIIP’s language access webinar series exploring the policy and program implementation imperatives for government and community agencies serving Limited English Proficient (LEP) populations.

Audio

September 21, 2011

LEP Workers & Access to Workforce Services: Perspectives on Current Barriers to Access and Prospects for Improvements Under WIA Reauthorization

In this webinar, experts discuss barriers immigrant and LEP individuals face in accessing the WIA system, how a revitalized WIA could address these barriers, and the extent to which the current Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee's WIA reauthorization proposal addresses these barriers.

Video

August 12, 2011

The New Demography of U.S. Schools

In this video, Michael Fix and Margie McHugh discuss the distribution of English Language Learners across the country, their growth in enrollment, and more.

Video

August 12, 2011

English Language Learners and Their Performance in U.S. Public Schools

In this video, Michael Fix and Margie McHugh examine key indicators of ELL students' performance on standardized tests, among other topics.

Recent Activity

Articles

November 11, 2016

Language Diversity and English Proficiency in the United States

Although the number of U.S. residents who speak a language other than English has grown in recent decades, the share of those who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) has fallen: 40 percent in 2015, compared to 44 percent in 1980—even as immigration rose rapidly. This article examines growing linguistic diversity in the country and sketches a profile of the LEP population, including size, location, and socioeconomic characteristics.

Reports

November 2016

A Study of Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes among African-Born Women Living in Utah

Resettled African refugee women may experience particularly acute complications during pregnancy, birth, and the child's early infancy. Yet health care-providers and policymakers may not be aware of the particular challenges that these women and their children face. This report, examining women giving birth in Utah over a seven-year period, compares perinatal complications of the African born and a segment of the U.S. born.

Reports

November 2016

The Nutritional Health of Young Refugee Children Resettling in Washington State

Refugee children are vulnerable to health and nutrition risks that can have long-term consequences for their development and well-being. This report examines the prevalence of malnutrition—from stunting and wasting to overweight and obesity—among refugee children from birth to age 10, using data from an overseas medical screening exam before they were resettled in Washington State between 2012 and 2014.

Reports

October 2016

Mental Health Risks and Resilience among Somali and Bhutanese Refugee Parents

Somali and Bhutanese refugees are two of the largest groups recently resettled in the United States and Canada. This report examines factors that might promote or undermine the mental health and overall well-being of children of these refugees, with regard to factors such as past exposure to trauma, parental mental health, educational attainment, social support, and discrimination.

Fact Sheets

October 2016

Immigration to the Heartland: A Profile of Immigrants in the Kansas City Region

The immigrant population in the Kansas City region has grown rapidly over the past 25 years, contributing to overall population growth in the area. This fact sheet describes immigrants in the metro area, examining their origins, industries of employment, income and poverty levels, English proficiency, educational attainment, and more.

Articles

September 8, 2016

Dual Language Learners in Head Start: The Promises and Pitfalls of New Reforms

The Head Start program—a model for early childhood education programs nationwide—has served more than 33 million children since its inception half a century ago, many from immigrant families. This article examines the role of Head Start in the education of Dual Language Learners, who now comprise one-third of enrollees, and discusses how recent policy changes may affect this population.

Video, Audio, Webinars

August 25, 2016

Closing the Gap? The Role of Funding in Equitable Education for English Learners in the United States

This webinar explores the key education funding mechanisms in place to support English Learner elementary and secondary students in the United States, public conversations about funding, and efforts to improve the equitable distribution of educational resources.

Reports

August 2016

Funding an Equitable Education for English Learners in the United States

With English Learners (ELs) representing nearly 10 percent of U.S. elementary and secondary students, many school districts are struggling to develop the capacity to meet the needs of children from immigrant and refugee backgrounds. This study provides an overview of supplementary funding mechanisms to improve EL outcomes, examining policies at state and local levels, and making recommendations for improvement.

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