Education, English Learners,
School Enrollment
Reimagining Schools: Serving Newcomers, Building Belonging, and Activating Community: In this webinar recording, Welcoming America presents a new vision for education beyond K-12, where schools serve as community hubs welcoming families and providing essential support.
A Systematic Review of Factors and Strategies to Increase Refugee and Immigrant Family Access to Early Childhood Services: This poster, developed by Switchboard and the Urban Institute, highlights the underutilization of publicly funded early childhood services by children in refugee and immigrant families. It systematically reviews factors and strategies to improve access and enrollment in programs such as childcare, Head Start, early intervention, and home visiting. By addressing these issues, the poster aims to identify effective measures to support better participation and outcomes for newcomer children in high-quality early childhood services.
Learn About the Caring Schools Network and How to Join for the 2024-2025 School Year: In this webinar, learn about a special opportunity for schools in Welcoming America’s network and beyond to join the Caring Schools Network (CSN) for the 2024-2025 school year. The CSN was created by Making Caring Common, a project of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, and is designed for K-12 schools who are interested in creating more caring school and classroom communities, improving peer and student-to-adult relationships, and supporting student emotional and moral development and mental health.
Fostering Resilience for Refugee Students: By leaning on protective factors, schools can help refugee students navigate traumatic stressors and recognize their unique strengths. In this Switchboard blog post, they highlight five key protective factors school settings can deploy to support refugee students’ academic achievement and well-being.
Unlocking Global Talent: Expanding Opportunities Through Community College Initiatives: In this recorded webinar, panelists discussed ways to address the challenges faced by the more than 2 million college-educated immigrants who experience under- and unemployment in the United States. They also explored the vital role community colleges play in championing workforce inclusion efforts and in connecting immigrant and refugee students to career opportunities.
How Community Colleges Can Support Internationally Trained Immigrants and Refugees: This guide provides actionable advice that community colleges can implement to help immigrant and refugees overcome common barriers to obtaining employment. It also features examples of community colleges that have successfully implemented a range of approaches to support this population.
Language Access Toolkit: This toolkit was created to celebrate language access, uplift language access leaders and victories, and share information you might not know about language access across the country.
English Language Learner Toolkits
EL Family Toolkit and App: FAQs Blog (English, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish)
English Learner Toolkit (Introduction in multiple languages; chapters in English)
What You Should Know About The Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Updates: This blog from Switchboard covers key updates to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), potential impacts, and additional resources for both service providers and clients.
Recent Immigrant Children: A Profile of New Arrivals to U.S. Schools: This fact sheet analyzes data from the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Census Bureau to illuminate the characteristics of recently arrived immigrant children, compared to longer-residing immigrant children, native-born children of immigrants, and U.S.-born children with U.S.-born parents.
Immigrant Connections’ blog has key articles such as Back to School Night & Equity for Immigrant Families, Separate or Together: Unpacking the “EL Family Event” vs. “All-School Family Event” Debate, and 10 Things Educators Need to Know about Unaccompanied Minors.
Preparing Your Child for the School Year: This 30-minute live event provides an overview of the school system in the U.S., how to enroll children in school, and ways to become involved in children’s education. Watch the English event here.
Two recent reports commissioned by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration reveal that students from immigrant families constitute nearly one-third of all students enrolled at American colleges and universities, Sara Weissman of Inside Higher Ed reports.
Guide: Resilience among Refugee Youth and Families: This guide from National Partnership for Community Training reviews protective factors impacting the mental well-being of refugee youth and families, provides recommendations to school administrators and teachers working to support refugee students, and outlines core strategies and attitudes for mental health service providers working with refugee youth.
E-learning: Refugee and Immigrant Family and Community Engagement in the Schools: Intended for schools and refugee services staff, this course from Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services reviews the Parent-Teacher Association’s six National Standards for Family-School Partnerships and provides recommendations on implementing each of the standards with refugee and immigrant students and their families.
Guide: School Enrollment for Students in Temporary Housing: Finding affordable housing is a significant challenge in most communities in the U.S., and at times, clients may be unhoused or in temporary housing. This guide discusses school enrollment for children and youth who are facing this circumstance.
How Schools Can Support Newcomer Youth: Ten Innovative Practices: This blog post will explore strategies that districts, schools, and educators can take to ensure newcomer youth and their families feel empowered in their integration processes.
A great refresher on how school districts should accommodate English Language Learners and their families when it comes to translation and interpretation.
Evidence Summary: What works to help students in immigrant and refugee families complete secondary education? Evidence suggests that trusted adult support has been linked to improved academic achievement. Culturally and linguistically appropriate after-school and extracurricular activities have also shown positive outcomes.
The Traumatic Immigrant Experience- What it Means for You and Your Classroom: Meaghan Fanning, LCSW, at JVS joined Risa Woods on her podcast, The Every Teacher Podcast to discuss supporting refugee and immigrant students in American classrooms.
Strategies for Supporting Newcomer and Immigrant Families Navigating the School System : In case you missed it, Welcoming America hosted a webinar in partnership with, with the Institute for Educational Leadership on July 18, where we shared strategies and resources to best support immigrant families. Our diverse panel of speakers included district leaders, school administrators, nonprofit organizations, and parent advocates who shared their knowledge and expertise on best practices for engaging with families and building strong partnerships with schools and community-based organizations.
WES Global Talent Bridge recently released “How Adult Educators Can Support Internationally Educated Immigrants and Refugees.” This guide provides an overview of barriers to economic mobility faced by internationally trained immigrants and refugees and offers tips on how practitioners can support this student population. Download the guide.
‘The Power of Language’: 5 ways multilingual brains work differently: How can schools build cultures that develop and reinforce bilingualism? Consider what is lost when students are told to stop speaking their home languages.
How Adult Educators Can Support Internationally Educated Immigrants and Refugees: Adult education programs are often an early point of contact for those seeking to resume their careers in the U.S. Students in these programs already have post-secondary education and often have specific English language learning (ELL) and academic needs
Accessing Federal Student Aid for Refugee Youth and Adults: Resources and Tips for Successful Application Processing: This toolkit is designed to help service providers navigate federal student aid, including tips for supporting refugees, asylees, SIVs, victims of trafficking, and Cuban/Haitian entrants through the free application for federal student aid process.
Building Postsecondary Opportunity for Immigrant High School Students: Intentional School Systems is an excellent learning brief and recorded webinar from the Internationals Network.
What School Leaders Should Know About Immigrant Students and Families is an article for school administrators that provides key information on immigrant families’ journeys, strengths, and needs and offers insight as to how administrators can set students and families on a path to success.
Supporting the Mental Health of Refugee Students: A Resource for Educators and Mental Health Professionals is a resource that looks at cultural views on mental health, signs and symptoms to look out for, and how to be an ally and advocate for refugee students.
The National Research & Development Center to Improve Education for Secondary English Learners has six FREE new modules on developing educator expertise to work with adolescent English learners
Podcast: Literacy for Older Newcomers, What is Practical and Effective: How can foundational literacy skills be taught to older Emergent Bilingual students? This resource by Boosting Achievement: The ESL Podcast is in direct response to educators and education leaders asking Dr. Carol Salva about phonics instruction and how that makes sense for Multilingual Learners.
Humanizing Education for Immigrant and Refugee Youth is a brand-new book that offers strategies, models, and concrete ideas for better serving newcomer immigrant and refugee youth in U.S. schools, with a focus on grades 6–12.
Language Lizard has an extensive, growing collection of bilingual children's books in Dari, Pashto, Ukrainian, Spanish, and many other languages to meet the needs of recent immigrants and refugees. Titles include high-interest, low-level reading options, and more.
Educator Resource Hub: The Immigrant Learning Center launched an Educator Resource Hub with more than 150 original, free, curated immigration lesson plans and resources. The Hub features tools for teaching immigration and for teaching immigrant students.
How Schools Welcome Newly Arrived Immigrant and Refugee Students highlights practices in Michigan and Utah and also links to a recent related webinar where two core themes emerged.
Heritage Languages in Schools: A Story of Identity, Belonging and Loss is a thought-provoking article about what happens to students who lose their heritage language, such as the impact on identity and sense of self.
How Schools Can Support Newcomer Youth: Ten Innovative Practices: This blog post will explore strategies that districts, schools, and educators can take to ensure newcomer youth and their families feel empowered in their integration processes.
The 2022 Refugee Education Report, titled ‘All Inclusive: The Campaign for Refugee Education’, has just been released and it shows how refugees lag behind their peers when it comes to enrolment in all levels of education.
Welcoming Refugee Students – Guides for Classroom Teachers, School Nurses, School Administrators, School Counselors, Peer Mentors, and Parents: These guides are part of the New York State Welcome to Our Schools (WtOS) program, designed to ease the transition of refugee children into elementary and secondary schools and to empower their parents to be effective partners in the education of their children. Click here to read more.
Partnering with Parents and Families to Support Immigrant and Refugee Children at School: This guide by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation outlines programs that engage communities and community organizations to build effective and easily accessible mental health services for children and youth. Key issues include: partnering with immigrant families to support mental health; offering school-based mental health services; and the changing face of American classrooms. Click here to read more
The Golden Ticket: Accessing Financial Aid for Refugee Youth and Adults: This webinar covers key features of federal financial aid, including important considerations for refugees, asylees, SIVs, victims of trafficking, and Cuban/Haitian entrants. Click here to watch. If you prefer to read more about this topic, explore this toolkit.
What Now? Post-High School, College & Career Readiness for Refugee Youth: Watch this webinar from Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services (BRYCS) to gain insight into ways to prepare refugee students for higher education and careers, including involving refugee parents in decision making. Click here to watch.
Immigrant Learning Center have put together an Educator Resource Hub.
Toxic Stress and Well-being among Students Affected by Forced Migration: This course, developed in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Education, and the International Rescue Committee, covers common experiences associated with forced migration and key ways stressors can be mitigated in classrooms, schools, and out-of-school time program environments. Click here to access.
Supporting Refugee Students with Interrupted or Limited Formal Education (SLIFE): This course from the Center for Learning in Practice is designed for classroom teachers working with SLIFE and/or refugee youth, mentors, coaches, administrators, or teacher preparation program professors working with teachers of refugees. Click here to access.
How Schools Welcome Newly Arrived Immigrant and Refugee Students: School is back in session. For many states and localities across the country, that means welcoming newly arrived immigrant and refugee youth into the classroom. There will be increased need for student support this fall, given that the United States has resettled more than 76,000 Afghans and 100,000 Ukrainians over the last year
If you missed the 2022 Immigrant Student Success: Strategies and Tools for K-12 and Adult Educators conference, you can still catch up via their recordings below, or explore the presenters’ slides and resources. If you’re short on time, our toolkit provides highlights, resources and next steps for educators
Meeting the Needs of English Learners with and without Disabilities: Brief 4, Fostering Collaborative Partnerships with Families of English Learners Within a Multitiered System of Support focuses on fostering collaborative and equitable home-school partnerships with parents and families as partners within a multitiered system of supports for ELs.
Resources to Orient Afghans to K-12 Education in the U.S.: A compilation of resources aggregated by Immigrant Connections
Educational Experiences of Afghans: Learning from Afghan Refugee Students & Families, a recorded panel of resettled Afghan students and parents
Afghan Students, a resource from USAHello, provides an overview of key highlights, so educators can develop culturally responsive teaching strategies that are in tune with their students’ learning styles. This cultural information was developed for teachers, but it can be used by anyone working or interacting with newcomer families.
K-12 Teacher Resources: American Immigration Council partnered with the website Share My Lesson to offer original and adapted lesson plans, teacher resources and researched articles.
School Enrollment for Students in Temporary Housing: Finding affordable housing is a significant challenge, and at times, clients may be unhoused or in temporary housing. Switchboard’s new guide discusses school enrollment for children and youth who are facing this circumstance.
Lessons from the Field: Supporting the Social and Emotional Learning Needs of Afghan and Other Newcomer Students is a recorded webinar with information and strategies to assist Afghan and other newcomer students as they enter American schools.
This SLIFE Guidebook (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education) from the Virginia Department of Education includes strategies and resources for supporting these students and may also be useful to those in other states.
Welcoming, Registering, and Supporting Newcomer Students: A Toolkit for Educators of Immigrant and Refugee Students in Secondary Schools, from The Institute of Education Sciences (IES), is intended to help educators and other stakeholders identify and use research-based practices, policies, and procedures for welcoming, registering, and supporting newcomer immigrant and refugee students who are attending secondary schools (grades 6-12) in the United States.
Effects of the Pandemic on High School English Learners and Ways to Help Them Recover, an archived from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), illuminates challenges experienced over the last two years. Speakers describe state- and district-level efforts to help ELs re-engage in high school, recover academically, and address mental health needs.
Involve Immigrant Parents in the Education Process, examines how countries around the world – from New Zealand to Canada to Germany – engage immigrant parents in their children’s education. This resource shares examples of cross-cultural work to reach out to immigrant families and strengthen their ability to support their children’s education.
This Parent-Educator Toolkit includes resources for parents (in multiple languages with audio options) as well as resources for teachers and principals. The main topics include “Building Successful Communication Between Parent or Guardian and Teacher” and “Working with Interpreters.”
Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners: Student Learning Strategies, a self-paced course from McRel International, was created for classroom teachers and EL specialists and gives practical information on the five stages of language acquisition and instructional strategies teachers can use at each stage to help their students progress toward fluency.
Good Schools and Classrooms for Children Learning English, an IDRA rubric, aims to help people in schools and communities evaluate five dimensions that are necessary for success: school indicators, student outcomes, leadership, support, and programmatic and instructional practices.
Accessing Federal Student Aid for Refugee Youth and Adults: Resources and Tips for Successful Application Processing: This new toolkit from Switchboard is designed to help resettlement professionals and other service providers navigate federal student aid, including important considerations and tips for supporting refugees, asylees, SIVs, victims of trafficking, and Cuban/Haitian entrants through the application process. Click here to stream the accompanying webinar.
Why Family Engagement Matters for Student and School Success, from the Global Family Research Project, presents proven strategies for creating ongoing relationships to support student success. Available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin.