Immigration Trends: Two Reports Tell Us About Our
Future
The recent Supreme Court decision in the Seattle
and Jefferson County, Kentucky voluntary
integrations cases has renewed the focus on racial and
ethnic composition in public schools. Research also
shows that immigration trends have greatly impacted
public school composition in the past few years. “Children
in America’s Newcomer Families” assesses
the immigration phenomenon with regards to America’s
future.
Issued by the Child Trends and the Center for Social
and Demographic Analysis (CSDA), this report argues
that while immigration has received major coverage and
consideration, little attention has been given to the
side of the immigration story that “represents
the future:” the children. The report claims that
children in immigrant families are driving racial and
ethnic transformation, and it lays out educational strategies
to foster the positive development and successful integration
of children in newcomer families.
The Pew Hispanic Center’s August 2007 report
“The
Changing Racial and Ethnic Composition of U.S. Public
Schools” shows that even though white students
have become less isolated from minority students since
1993-1994, black and Hispanic students have become more
isolated from white students.
Educating Children of Newcomer Families
The growth in minority enrollment has caused changes
in educational challenges teachers face in our schools.
According to the CSDA report, children of immigrant
families account for 20% of all children in the U.S.,
and they are widely dispersed. Even though the majority
of newcomer children are fluent in English, one in four
lives in a “linguistically isolated” home,
and schools in all states face challenges communicating
with and teaching children who are not English proficient.
Moreover, children of immigrants are less likely to
be enrolled in preschool programs, setting them at a
disadvantage when it comes to school readiness and English
fluency. Preschool enrollment for children of newcomer
families varies across states, but recent research indicates
that socioeconomic barriers may account for a significant
part of the enrollment gap separating children in newcomer
families and white children in non-immigrant families.
This gap later translates into the achievement gap that
comes up repeatedly in discussions of school integration
and educational equity.
Changes in Classroom Demographics
The minority enrollment boom has also altered classroom
demographics. The PHC report shows that while white
enrollment in public schools in which less than 5% of
students are non-white has declined significantly, both
in absolute numbers and in percentage terms since 1993-1994,
in 2005-2006 nearly one-in-three Hispanic and black
students was educated in public school in which fewer
than 5% of the students were white. The report also
points out that heavily minority public schools have
been the fastest growing categories of public schools
sine 1993-1994, and that Hispanic and black students
tend to be isolated not only from white students but
also from one another.
The author of the report argues that “when it
comes to public schools, diversity depends on who you
are.” The News Journal also quotes Maria Matos,
executive director of the Latin American Community Center
in Wilmington, in saying “the report highlights
the separate-but-unequal nature of the public school
system.”
Recommendations
The CSDA report calls for additional resources for:
1) Assuring access to high quality early education
for children in newcomer families
2) Encouraging fluency in English and native languages
through education policies, programs, and curricula
3) Improving parental involvement through outreach
to immigrant parents, and
4) Examining family literacy programs to build literacy
into the homes and daily lives of young immigrant
children.
The PHC report simply tracks the changes over a 12-year
period in the levels of racial and ethnic isolation
and exposure in public schools among black, white, Hispanic
and Asian students. It does not make recommendations,
and it does not account for geographic dispersion of
racial and ethnic groups, residential housing patterns,
or desegregation policies at school district levels.
Prepared by Marcela Briceno September 14, 2007
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