According to a 2009 publication by the Center for Health and Healthcare in Schools, it is estimated that children from immigrant and refugee families may constitute 30 percent of American students by 2015. Almost half of all foreign-born ELL students are from Mexico, while the other half are from over 200 countries from around the world.
Children who arrive in the country as immigrants and refugees often face significant challenges on top of learning a new language. In some cases, their departure to a new country is sudden, causing them to quickly leave behind friends, relatives and the comfort of their own culture. Enrolling in a new and different education system—or in some cases, entering formal schooling for the first time, can also pose as a challenge to both the student and the teacher. In addition, cultural differences in values, beliefs and attitudes about education can greatly impact their transition into a new school.
Supporting refugee and immigrant students may start in the classroom, but it does not stop there. Communication and involvement with the families and communities, especially in terms of recognizing their culture and experiences, will help you make great strides in the students’ scholastic success.
Keep Learning!
Leslie
K12Translate
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Archive for March, 2010
Bridging More than Just the Language Gap with Immigrant and Refugee Students
Monday, March 29th, 2010Education Translation Trends
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
I’d like to extend a special thank you to all who participated in K12Translate’s recent Education Translation Trends Survey. We’ve tallied the results and I thought I’d share some of the highlights with our readers. Of course, you can download a free copy of the entire report here: Translation Trends Report
It may come as no surprise that communicating with and engaging limited English speaking students, parents and communities amidst shrinking budgets is the top concern for school districts in the 2010-2011 school year. Yet despite nearly half of the school districts reporting that limited budgets are their largest challenges in serving their ELL communities, 44 percent expect to see a decrease in the federal Title III funding that helps them serve these special populations.
Nearly 90 percent of districts reported that they regularly use the Internet for parent-student communications. However, despite nationally reported growth in social networking, only 12 percent of districts said they used sites such as Twitter and Facebook to build the home-school connection.
Read the entire report to see what your other districts are doing to reach their ever-growing LEP/ELL student and parent populations. Click here to download report.
Keep Learning!
Leslie
K12Translate
