E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
K-12 Education

K-12 Education

_K 12

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 Recommendations for the Task Force on New Americans
Policy Briefs
March 2023
By  Margie McHugh, Jacob Hofstetter, Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix, Valerie Lacarte, Maki Park, Delia Pompa and Julie Sugarman
Cover image for Migration, Integration, and Diaspora Engagement in the Caribbean
Reports
March 2023
By  Valerie Lacarte, Jordi Amaral, Diego Chaves-González, Ana María Sáiz and Jeremy Harris
Cover image for Four Strategies to Improve Community Services for Unaccompanied Children in the Unit
Policy Briefs
December 2022
By  Jonathan Beier, Lauren Farwell, Rhonda Fleischer and Essey Workie
A collage of Ukrainians in Poland.
Articles

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Cover image for Advancing Digital Equity among Immigrant-Origin Youth
Reports
February 2022
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
By  Delia Pompa and Jazmin Flores Peña
Cover image for the parent's guide on English Learner assessments
Fact Sheets
February 2022
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
By  Diego Chaves-González and María Jesús Mora
Cover image for The State of Costa Rican Migration and Immigrant Integration Policy
Reports
November 2021
By  Diego Chaves-González and María Jesús Mora
Cover image for Integración socioeconómica de los migrantes y refugiados venezolanos
Reports
July 2021
By  Diego Chaves-González, Jordi Amaral and María Jesús Mora
Cover image for Socioeconomic Integration of Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees
Reports
July 2021
By  Diego Chaves-González, Jordi Amaral and María Jesús Mora

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Merchants sell items on a busy street in San José, Costa Rica.

Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans have fled their country since 2018, amid repression and a renewed government crackdown. In neighboring Costa Rica, many migrants have encountered a robust system for protection and integration, yet they still face stigma and discrimination in their daily lives. This article explores this dynamic along one of Central America's most important migratory routes.

Two women use their laptops

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the effects of the so-called digital divide for U.S. immigrants and other groups with reduced online connectivity. Internet access and the skills to navigate digital environments have become even more critical for work, education, and health care during the public-health crisis, yet immigrants make up a disproportionately large share of U.S. residents unable to take advantage of these tools.

MexicanGirl CurtCarnemark WorldBank

While Mexican women account for a significant share of migration flows to the United States, there has been little focus on their movement and effects on children in Mexico. This article, based on survey data of children in Puebla, Mexico, explores the impact of maternal Mexican migration on educational experiences and aspirations of the children left behind.

YoungImmigrantLineUp1 WBEZPeterHolderness Flickr

This article explores differences in application and renewal rates for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program among unauthorized immigrants from Latin America and Asia. Based on interviews with immigrant advocates and service providers, it appears participation in the deportation relief program may be different among origin groups based on varying perceptions of lack of trust in government and shame over legal status, as well as political barriers.

_LearnEnglish

In 2013, more than 25 million people in the United States reported limited English proficiency (LEP), an 80 percent increase since 1990. The LEP population, the majority of which is immigrant, is generally less educated and more likely to live in poverty than the English-proficient population. This Spotlight explores key indicators of the LEP population, both U.S. and foreign born, including geographic distribution, language diversity, and employment.

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Video, Audio
November 2, 2021

This webinar examines how the pandemic upended school life, the challenges for high school English Learners (ELs), state- and district-level efforts that can help ELs recover academically and address mental health needs, and the results of new research on the postsecondary aspirations of immigrant-background Latina/o students following the pandemic. 

Video, Audio
July 21, 2021

Featuring findings from a recent MPI report, speakers examined the process of releasing unaccompanied children to sponsors, the current structure of federal post-release services, and the most significant needs these children and their U.S. sponsors experience.

Video, Audio
June 16, 2021

MPI experts discuss a framework describing the most critical elements that should be included in standardized, comprehensive DLL identification and tracking processes for early childhood systems, based on program and policy needs.

Video, Audio
April 21, 2021

MPI analysts discuss their analysis comparing key sociodemographic characteristics of immigrant and U.S.-born parents of young and school-age children, along with the two-generational implications of these findings.

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Video, Audio
October 21, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of education, and it is expected that English Learners (ELs) will suffer disproportionate impacts. In this webcast, panelists discuss how weaknesses in existing EL teacher education and professional development policies have played into schools’ uneven response to the pandemic. They also offer lessons for future reform.

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Recent Activity

Policy Briefs
August 2017

The future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is uncertain, amid skepticism from the Trump administration about its merits and the promise of legal challenge from ten state attorneys general. This issue brief presents a profile of young adults eligible for DACA in terms of their educational attainment and labor force participation, as well as what is at stake should the program be terminated.

Reports
June 2017

As the number of asylum seekers arriving in Sweden each month climbed to the tens of thousands in late 2015, the Swedish asylum system reached a breaking point. Arrivals have since slowed, but the challenge is far from over. This report examines Swedish policymakers’ efforts to manage future flows and support integration of newcomers through changes to housing, employment, education, and health services.

Video, Audio, Webinars
March 9, 2017

This discussion focuses on practices and options that states could adopt to hold schools accountable for English Learners’ achievement in the fairest and most accurate manner as part of the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act. This webinar marks the release of a set of 13 state fact sheets, available on MPI's web page English Learners and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), that provide a sketch of EL demographics, student outcomes, and accountability mechanisms under ESSA and its predecessor.

Commentaries
March 2017

The selection of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary and President Trump’s immigration enforcement-focused executive orders have left many parents and educators wondering how the new administration’s policies will affect students from immigrant families and the schools that serve them. The simple answer, as this commentary explores, is: It will depend on the actions of state and local policymakers where those students live.

Fact Sheets
March 2017

These fact sheets provide a sketch of key characteristics of the foreign-born and English Learner (EL) populations in select states. The fact sheets look at the demographics of these states, discuss EL student outcomes as measured by standardized tests, and conclude with an overview of state accountability mechanisms that affect ELs under relevant provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act and predecessor No Child Left Behind Act.

Reports
March 2017

This MPI Europe report examines the challenges that cities across the European Union are facing when helping new arrivals access education and training, including limited funding and need for better monitoring of program outcomes. It also highlights innovative ways municipalities support newly arrived migrants as they enter the education system and local labor force, including two-generation and co-located services as well as "whole-place" approaches.

Video, Audio
January 27, 2017

As the Trump administration assumes office and the DACA program faces an uncertain future, University of California President Janet Napolitano; Donald Graham, cofounder of TheDream.Us; and Ike Brannon, Visiting Fellow at the CATO Institute join MPI's Doris Meissner for a discussion on the possible impacts of rescinding DACA, particularly in the areas of higher education, philanthropy, and the economy.  

Commentaries
December 2016

As states work to build high-quality early childhood systems and implement the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), having detailed knowledge of the characteristics of immigrant parents can help maximize the effectiveness of programs that seek to improve child and family outcomes, as this commentary explains.

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