1. Learning A New Land: Immigrant Students in American Society M ARCELO S UÁREZ -O ROZCO, Ph.D. The Courtney Sale Ross University Professor at NYU Co-Director Immigration Studies @ NYU NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, & Human Development www.nyu.education/immigration/ www.nyu.education/immigration/ Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families, June 23, 2008

2. Immigration Studies @ NYU

3. The L ongitudinal I mmigrant S tudent A daptation Study  Longitudinal, interdisciplinary, & comparative  Documenting continuities and discontinuities in immigrant youth’s educational attitudes and adaptations over time  Youth originated in 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 [Ethnographic observations occur in 20 schools]  Thirty graduate level bicultural and multilingual research assistants  Funded to date by the National Science Foundation, the W.T. Grant Foundation and The Spencer Foundation

4. Immigration Studies @ NYU Triangulated Data Collection Strategies  Ethnographic Observations  Structured Interviews with Students, Parents & School Personnel  Psychosocial Measures  Sentence Completions  Narratives  Open Ended Questions  Forced Choice Items  Networks of Social Relations  Bilingual Verbal Abilities Testing  Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement  Report Cards  Teacher Completed Behavioral Checklists

5. Immigration Studies @ NYU Data Analytic Strategies  Simple Chi-Squares & ANOVAs  Multiple & Logistical Regressions  Nagin Cluster Analyses  Hierarchical Linear Modeling  Multiple-Case Study Analysis  Narrative Analysis

6. Immigration Studies @ NYU Goals of Learning a New Land  ORGANIZATION  Understanding Academic Achievement over time  Role of Network of Relationships  Role of School Contexts in Academic Outcomes  Challenge of Acquiring Academic English skills for newcomer youth under less than optimal conditions they often encounter  Half of book--16 case studies developed to shed light on pathways of performance over time  PROVIDE  Use of mixed methods  Chain of Evidence (endnotes & online appendix so not too daunting)  Experience Near/Youth Centered view of the world often lost in immigrant debates  AVOID  Invidious comparisons between countries of origin

7. Immigration Studies @ NYU From Whom Was Child Separated During Immigration?

8. Immigration Studies @ 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 ~Academic self-efficacy ~Wellbeing ~Cognitive engagement ~Relational engagement ~Behavioral engagement ~English proficiency GRADES PREDICTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES Home Factors ~2 Adults in home ~Mother’s Education ~Working Father 32% of variance

9. Immigration Studies @ 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 ~Academic self-efficacy ~Wellbeing ~Cognitive engagement ~Relational engagement ~Behavioral engagement ~English proficiency Achievement Test PREDICTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES Home Factors ~2 Adults in home ~Mother’s Education ~Working Father

10. Immigration Studies @ 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 ~Academic self-efficacy ~Wellbeing ~Cognitive engagement ~Relational engagement ~Behavioral engagement ~English proficiency Achievement Test PREDICTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES Home Factors ~2 Adults in home ~Mother’s Education ~Working Father 75% of variance

11. Immigration Studies @ 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 ~Academic self-efficacy ~Wellbeing ~Cognitive engagement ~Relational engagement ~Behavioral engagement ~English proficiency Achievement Test PREDICTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES--GRADES Home Factors ~2 Adults in home ~Mother’s Education ~Working Father 11% of variance

12. Immigration Studies @ NYU Challenge of Learning English  Highly motivated to learn  99% said it was very important to learn English  93% liked learning  But 1/3 though it was “very hard”  English is _________ ~ very important for the future ~ important to succeed ~ important to get ahead  Open Ended tasks  Main impediment for getting ahead in the US?--56% said English  Main impediment for going to college--45% said English  TAT Card 1-- Many told narratives of struggles of learning

13. Immigration Studies @ NYU English Language Proficiency

14. Immigration Studies @ NYU Academic English- Country Comparisons Year 5

15. Immigration Studies @ NYU Academic Pathways

16. Immigration Studies @ NYU Recommendations for Best Practice  Interdisciplinary Collaborations  “Insider” (emic) & “Outsider” (etic) Perspectives  Culturally Sensitive Tools  Triangulated Data  Sending Context & Host Context Perspectives  Comparison Samples  Longitudinal Perspectives  Immigrant Generations  Developmental Perspectives  Gendered Perspectives  Racial Awareness  Strategic Sampling  Theory Building  Focus on Resilience