Engaging Immigrant Youth: Education for the 21 st Century Carola Suárez-Orozco, Ph.D. Co-Director Immigration NYU Professor of Applied Psychology NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, & Human Development

Immigration NYU Growing & Diverse Immigrant Student Population

Immigration NYU Overlooked and Underserved

Immigration NYU Harvard Immigration Study Harvard Immigration Study  Longitudinal, interdisciplinary, & comparative  Documenting continuities and discontinuities in immigration youth’s educational attitudes and adaptations over time  400 Youth from Central America, China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, & Mexico  Ages 9 & 14 at beginning of study  Recruited from 51 schools in 7 school districts in the Boston & San Francisco areas  Thirty graduate level bicultural & multilingual research assistants  Funded to date by the National Science Foundation, the W.T. Grant Foundation and The Spencer Foundation

Immigration NYU Study Objectives  Identify factors that contribute to 2 ACADEMIC outcomes in Year 5  Grades  Achievement tests  Identify Trajectories of Grade performance over the course of 5 years  Describe Factors that contribute to Trajectories  Ecological framework  Using mixed methods  Cumulative & interactional developmental challenges

Immigration NYU Triangulated Data Collection Strategies  Ethnographic Observations  Structured Interviews:  Students  Parents  School Personnel  Bilingual Verbal Abilities Testing  Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement  Report Cards  Teacher Completed Behavioral Checklists

Immigration NYUEngagement Cognitive Engagement Relational Engagement BEHAVIORAL ENGAGEMENT GRADES

Immigration NYU Control Variables ~Gender ~Country of Origin ~Years in U.S. GRADES Year 5 Predicting Academic Achievement Outcomes

Immigration NYU Control Variables ~Gender ~Country of Origin ~Years in U.S. School Factors ~School Segregation ~Percent of students in school passing high stakes English test GRADES Year 5 Predicting Academic Achievement Outcomes

Immigration NYU Control Variables ~Gender ~Country of Origin ~Years in U.S. School Factors ~School Segregation ~Percent of students in school passing high stakes English test GRADES Year 5 Home Factors ~2 Adults in home ~Mother’s Education ~Working Father Predicting Academic Achievement Outcomes

Immigration NYU Control Variables ~Gender ~Country of Origin ~Years in U.S. School Factors ~School Segregation ~Percent of students in school passing high stakes English test Student Factors ~Attitudes towards School ~Psychological Symptoms ~Cognitive engagement ~Relational engagement ~Behavioral engagement ~Academic English proficiency GRADES Year 5 Home Factors ~2 Adults in home ~Mother’s Education ~Working Father 32% of variance Predicting Academic Achievement Outcomes

Immigration NYU Control Variables ~Gender ~Country of Origin ~Years in U.S. School Factors ~School Segregation ~Percent of students in school passing high stakes English test Student Factors ~Attitudes towards School ~Psychological Symptoms ~Cognitive engagement ~Relational engagement ~Behavioral engagement ~Academic English proficiency Achievement Test Year 5 Home Factors ~2 Adults in home ~Mother’s Education ~Working Father Predicting Academic Achievement Outcomes

Immigration NYU Control Variables ~Gender ~Country of Origin ~Years in U.S. School Factors ~School Segregation ~Percent of students in school passing high stakes English test Student Factors ~Attitudes towards School ~Psychological Symptoms ~Cognitive engagement ~Relational engagement ~Behavioral engagement ~Academic English proficiency Achievement Test Year 5 Home Factors ~2 Adults in home ~Mother’s Education ~Working Father 75% of variance Predicting Academic Achievement Outcomes

Immigration NYU Control Variables ~Gender ~Country of Origin ~Years in U.S. School Factors ~School Segregation ~Percent of students in school passing high stakes English test Student Factors ~Attitudes towards School ~Psychological Symptoms ~Cognitive engagement ~Relational engagement ~Behavioral engagement ~Academic English proficiency Achievement Test Year 5 Home Factors ~2 Adults in home ~Mother’s Education ~Working Father 11% of variance Predicting Academic Achievement Outcomes

Immigration NYU English Language Proficiency

Immigration NYU Challenge of Learning English

Immigration NYU Academic Performance Pathways ABCDABCD

Immigration NYU Characteristics of Declining Pathways  Less educated parents  Attending poor quality schools  Gaps in English language proficiency  Most family conflict  More likely to have protracted separations  Many with unauthorized status  Endorsed psychological symptoms  Few supportive school relations  Low behavioral engagement  Difficulty sustaining incoming hope & drive

Immigration NYU Myriam—Declining Case Study

Immigration NYU Characteristics of Low Achievers  Least resources  Come in with gaps in literacy & schooling  Attended worst schools  Significant family problems  Few supportive school relations  Did not have the psychological issues of the Decliners  Lure of work  Never find their academic bearings

Immigration NYU Leon—Case Study of a Low Achiever

Immigration NYU Characteristics of Improvers  Initial transplant shock  Often had undergone pre-migration trauma  Attended better schools than decliners or low achievers  More likely to have intact families & working parents  More likely to connect with a mentor

Immigration NYU Ramón—Improving Case Study

Immigration NYU Characteristics of High Achievers  Most educated parents  Least family separations  Better family relations  Best emotional wellbeing  Attended best schools  Most supportive school based relationships  Best English language skills  Highest behavioral engagement

Immigration NYU Li—Case Study of a High Achiever

Immigration NYU Educational Implications  Practices that serve ALL students well  Rigorous  Relevant for the 21 st century  Fostering Relationships  Students at the center of Teaching & Learning  Innovative Pedagogy (beyond “chalk & talk”)  Flexible & Relevant Assessment (e.g. portfolios)  Providing Explicit College Pathway Knowledge  Providing Tutoring/After-school/Summer academic supports  Finding ways NOT to make mentoring accidental

Immigration NYU Accommodating Specific Newcomer Students Accommodating Specific Newcomer Students  Engaging family & community supports  Community outreach & cultural brokers  Faith based supports too often overlooked  New culturally relevant definitions of parental involvement  Thorough initial intake evaluation assessing strengths and gaps  Literacy  Interrupted schooling  Academic strengths & deficits  Providing Language learning supports  Providing supports for psychological needs  Trauma & Separations  Adjustments to a new land  Fostering Relationships

Immigration NYU References  Cynthia García-Coll and Katherine Magnuson. (1997). "The Psychological Experience of Immigration: A Developmental Perspective," in A. Booth, A. C. Crouter & Nancy Landale, eds., Immigration and the Family, pp  Hernández, D., and E. Charney From Generation to Generation: The Health and Well-Being of Children of Immigrant Families. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press  Suárez-Orozco, C., Gaytán, F. Bang, H. J., Pakes, J., & Rhodes, J. (2010). Academic Trajectories of Newcomer Immigrant Youth. Developmental Psychology, 46(3)  Suárez-Orozco, C. and Suárez-Orozco, M. Children of Immigration, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.  Carola Suárez-Orozco, Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, and Irina Todorova. Learning a New Land: Immigrant Students in American Society, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.  Carola Suárez-Orozco, Irina Todorova, and Josephine Louie, "Making Up for Lost Time:" The Experience of Separation and Reunification Among Immigrant Families. Family Process 41(4), (2001), pp