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

Policy Briefs June 2022 Immigrant Children’s Medicaid and CHIP Access and Participation: A Data Profile By Valerie Lacarte	Commentaries June 2022 How State Assessments Became and Remain a Driver for Equity for English Learners By Melissa Lazarin
Articles June 17, 2022 Growing State and Local Role in U.S. Immigration Policy Affects Sense of Belonging for Newcomers and Natives Alike By Tomás R. Jiménez, Deborah J. Schildkraut, Yuen J. Huo, and John F. Dovidio	Multimedia May 17, 2022 Testing Disrupted: Assessment of English Learners Complicated by Pandemic
Reports May 2022 English Learner Testing during the Pandemic: An Early Readout and Look Ahead By Melissa Lazarin	Policy Briefs May 2022 Cultural Competency Secrets to Success with Immigrant and Refugee Families: Spreading and Adapting 2Gen Working Practices By Chris Estes, Devin Deaton, Aparna Jayashankar and Margie McHugh
Policy Briefs May 2022 Growing Language Skills with Immigrant and Refugee Families: Spreading and Adapting 2Gen Working Practices By Chris Estes, Devin Deaton, Aparna Jayashankar and Margie McHugh	Policy Briefs May 2022 Better Responses to Differing Immigration Statuses: Spreading and Adapting 2Gen Working Practices By Chris Estes, Devin Deaton, Aparna Jayashankar and Margie McHugh

Pages

Fact Sheets February 2022 A Parent’s Guide to English Learner Assessments By Delia Pompa and Jazmin Flores Peña	Policy Briefs December 2021 The Invisible Work of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers and Its Importance for Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families By Maki Park and Jazmin Flores Peña
Reports November 2021 The Impacts on English Learners of Key State High School Policies and Graduation Requirements By Julie Sugarman	Reports October 2021 A Framework for Language Access: Key Features of U.S. State and Local Language Access Laws and Policies By Jacob Hofstetter, Margie McHugh and Anna O’Toole
Policy Briefs September 2021 Immigrants’ U.S. Labor Market Disadvantage in the COVID-19 Economy: The Role of Geography and Industries of Employment By Randy Capps, Jeanne Batalova and Julia Gelatt	Policy Briefs June 2021 Immigrant and Other U.S. Workers a Year into the Pandemic: A Focus on Top Immigrant States By Julia Gelatt, Jeanne Batalova and Christopher Levesque
Reports June 2021 Leaving Money on the Table: The Persistence of Brain Waste among College-Educated Immigrants By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Policy Briefs May 2021 Ending the Invisibility of Dual Language Learners in Early Childhood Systems: A Framework for DLL Identification By Maki Park and Delia Pompa

Pages

Flickr Alberto G Exam 5843577306_06fd6132f7_c (1)

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.

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.

Video, Audio

March 5, 2020

Green Cards and Public Charge: Who Could Be Denied Based on Benefits Use?

On this webinar, MPI experts discussed the public-charge rule and released estimates of the populations that could be deemed ineligible for a green card based on existing benefits use.

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.

flickr Seattle OIRA August 2015 Ready to Work Graduation Celebration Credit Nate Gowdy Photography

Video, Audio

January 23, 2020

Employment Services for Refugees: Leveraging Mainstream U.S. Systems and Funding

On this webinar, experts and state refugee resettlement program leaders discuss activities that can be key parts of a broader strategy for sustaining and improving employment services for refugees, including partnerships with experts in workforce development strategies, access to federal workforce development funding, and other policies and resources.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs

June 2022

Immigrant Children’s Medicaid and CHIP Access and Participation: A Data Profile

Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program help many children in low-income families access health care. But under federal rules, hundreds of thousands of children are ineligible due to immigration status. This brief presents U.S. and state-level estimates of immigrant children who are eligible for and participate in these programs and considers the impact of state policies that expand access to public health insurance.

Commentaries

June 2022

How State Assessments Became and Remain a Driver for Equity for English Learners

While the pandemic has given a boost to efforts to water down or limit end-of-year state assessments of students in K-12, this commentary notes the importance of testing to drive equity for the nation's 5 million English Learners and ensure that they are not overlooked or that resources and support services are misdirected from where they are needed.

Articles

June 17, 2022

Growing State and Local Role in U.S. Immigration Policy Affects Sense of Belonging for Newcomers and Natives Alike

The adoption of immigration measures by state and local governments can affect the sense of belonging not just for immigrants but also for the U.S. born, with impacts on individuals’ wellbeing, their engagement with others, and political participation. As the number of subfederal immigration measures has proliferated in recent years, research suggests this growth could have wider-ranging repercussions than commonly understood.

Video, Audio, Webinars

May 17, 2022

Testing Disrupted: Assessment of English Learners Complicated by Pandemic

Marking the release of a report examining the assessment of English Learner (EL) students after pandemic-induced disruptions, this webinar examines ELs’ learning experiences during the 2020-21 academic year and their performance and participation in statewide testing, and how schools are using data to inform interventions and instruction this year.

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.

Policy Briefs

May 2022

Cultural Competency Secrets to Success with Immigrant and Refugee Families: Spreading and Adapting 2Gen Working Practices

As the United States becomes more diverse, changes in the cultural makeup of communities can challenge longstanding practices in human services delivery. This brief explores strategies service providers can employ to build their understanding of and responsiveness to the cultures of the communities they serve, leading to better outcomes for immigrant and refugee families.

Policy Briefs

May 2022

Growing Language Skills with Immigrant and Refugee Families: Spreading and Adapting 2Gen Working Practices

Language barriers can hinder immigrant families’ access to services and make it challenging for immigrant parents to find family-sustaining jobs and actively participate in their children’s education. This brief explores approaches service providers are using to make their offerings more culturally and linguistically responsive, and to support language learning among children and their parents.

Policy Briefs

May 2022

Better Responses to Differing Immigration Statuses: Spreading and Adapting 2Gen Working Practices

What status immigrants hold affects their access to U.S. public benefits and services. This brief examines approaches that two-generation programs are using to service immigrant families with a variety of statuses, including mixed-status families.

Programs

Topics see all >

Regions see all >

Data

Featured Publication

Programs

You are here

National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy

Recent Activity

Pages

Pages

Pages

Recent Activity

Pages