Conversations about immigrant and refugee students often obscure the fact that federal laws — bolstered by court decisions throughout the past few decades — provide newcomer students with the right to a free public education. Specifically, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1982 Plyler v. Doe decision affirmed the constitutional right of free education for all youth regardless of citizenship status, paving the way for undocumented and newcomer students to attend K-12 schools and work toward academic and economic success in the United States.
Despite this legal precedent, many students face barriers to realizing that right in schools. Many newcomer students lack proper academic records from their country of origin that would help school and district enrollment officers determine appropriate course placements. While these students bring unique strengths to their school community, some newcomers may have acute social and emotional needs linked to traumatic experiences, increased family responsibilities in a new country, or arriving unaccompanied and being placed with an unfamiliar sponsor.
While many of these challenges take place at the classroom and school level, state education agencies can consider guidance that helps to consistently implement effective policies and practices across school districts.
Enrollment
A recent report from Education Northwest and Next100 found that twenty states and the District of Columbia require or recommend that districts review prior schooling experiences when enrolling newcomer students. Fewer states provide specific guidance, resources and support to help district staff implement standardized enrollment procedures. Adopting clear guidance for schools can help newcomer students have a smoother start to their schooling.
For example, Mississippi provides a step-by-step intake process and resources for counselors tasked with identifying newcomer students with interrupted formal education. These clear resources from the Mississippi Department of Education help ensure that students experience a smooth transition in all in-state schools and intake counselors collect adequate information to place students on the appropriate academic path.
Data Collection
All states collect data on students who qualify as immigrant children and youth under the Every Student Succeeds Act for accountability purposes. However, that data is reported in aggregate form by districts and states. Without disaggregated data, schools and communities cannot know how immigrant students are faring academically, behaviorally or emotionally, and cannot align resources with newcomer students’ needs.
Eight states go beyond these requirements and publish their immigrant student data as a part of their regular reporting. North Dakota reports the demographics of English learners by school year, including the number and percentage of immigrant English learners, and the number and percentage of refugee English learners. Further, this data is disaggregated by district, home language and ethnicity. Texas also publishes immigrant student data disaggregated by race. These are important steps to better understanding the experiences, strengths and needs of the newcomer student population in each state.
Funding
Finally, states can support newcomer students by allocating dedicated financial resources. Targeted funding is an effective way to address disparities for specific populations of students, including immigrants. There is only one federal government funding source that provides funding explicitly for newcomer students, but a 2022 Next100 report finds that this source — Title III immigrant student funding — is unable to sustainably provide districts with funding that supports newcomer students through their first few years in U.S. schools.
Some states have taken it upon themselves to create designated funding streams in their budgets. Minnesota offers the Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education grant, which is a competitive grant program designed to assist English learners in improving their reading, writing, speaking and comprehension skills in English and acquiring an understanding of the American government, individual freedom and the responsibilities of citizenship and civic participation. The state funds this grant through its Title II allocation of the Workforce and Opportunity Act of 2014.
While the charge is immense, states can learn from one another and from relevant stakeholders, like those in the National Newcomer Network, to help schools and districts uphold newcomer students’ right to a free education and support their success in school and beyond.
