NCIIP: Early Childhood and K-12 Education

Policy Briefs

April 2024

Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Families through Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Services

Young girl talks to a child psychologist

iStock.com/Lacheev

Infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) services can offer vital support for young children’s healthy development. Yet, young children in immigrant and refugee families often do not benefit, due in part to lower levels of health-care coverage and limited cultural responsiveness in the field. This issue brief explores the benefits and barriers to supporting these children via IECMH services, and some ways to close key gaps.

Reports

January 2024

Refining State Accountability Systems for English Learner Success

A high school student answers a math problem on a whiteboard

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

State accountability systems are designed to identify and close student achievement gaps. Yet most do not report and interpret English Learner (EL) outcomes in a way that paints a full picture of how different instructional services have contributed to academic development. This report sketches a vision for reimagined accountability systems that can support better understanding of ELs’ learning and inform school improvement strategies.

Fact Sheets

October 2023

Recent Immigrant Children: A Profile of New Arrivals to U.S. Schools

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

A significant increase in the number of immigrant children in U.S. schools over the last decade has challenged K-12 educators to expand their capacity to serve students with different backgrounds and educational needs. This fact sheet sketches a profile of recently arrived immigrant children, presenting data on top states of residence, national origins, household characteristics, and more.

Policy Briefs

July 2023

ESSER: Moving the Needle on Equitable and Adequate Education Funding for English Learners

4th and 5th grade students working on posters

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

The pandemic and move to remote learning affected students across the United States, and certain groups—including the nation’s 5 million English Learners (ELs)—were hit particularly hard. At the same time, the federal government made unprecedented investments in public K-12 education to counter the pandemic’s adverse impacts. This issue brief explores the ways school districts have invested these funds to support ELs.

Reports

April 2023

Unlocking Opportunities: Supporting English Learners’ Equitable Access to Career and Technical Education

Three students in a digital filmmaking class set up a camera

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

Increasing equitable access to educational opportunities is a major focus for U.S. educators and others. For English Learners, the hands-on courses offered through career and technical education (CTE) programs can play an important role in helping them stay engaged in school, graduate, and get on a path to a career providing a family-sustaining wage. This report explores policies and practices to support their participation in CTE, as well as persistent barriers.

Commentaries

November 2022

Apprenticeship Programs Are a Promising Solution to Bring More Multilingual Workers into Early Childhood Field

Photo of a preschool teacher reading to students.

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

Shortages of workers continue to plague early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems across the United States. With the field already struggling to effectively serve young children in families that speak languages other than English, apprenticeship programs offer a promising solution to bring more—and more multilingual—workers into early childhood careers.

Featured

English Learners and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes a number of new requirements for the education of English Learners (ELs), including standardized criteria for identifying EL students and inclusion of English proficiency as a measurement of school quality. Resources on this page can help inform decisions such as how quickly schools must improve and how states can intervene with struggling districts.

Featured

ELL Information Center

The English Language Learner (ELL) Information Center provides informative fact sheets, maps, and state-level data resources that chronicle the demography and trends of immigrant families and their children.

Recent Activity

Fact Sheets August 2012 Relief from Deportation: Demographic Profile of the DREAMers Potentially Eligible under the Deferred Action Policy By Jeanne Batalova and Michelle Mittelstadt	Reports April 2012 Changing Demography and Circumstances for Young Black Children in African and Caribbean Immigrant Families By Donald J. Hernandez
Reports March 2012 The Educational Trajectories of English Language Learners in Texas By Stella M. Flores , Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Reports November 2011 Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Multimedia August 12, 2011 The New Demography of U.S. Schools	Multimedia August 12, 2011 English Language Learners and Their Performance in U.S. Public Schools
Fact Sheets December 2010 Top Languages Spoken by English Language Learners Nationally and by State, 2009 By Jeanne Batalova and Margie McHugh	Fact Sheets December 2010 Updated Estimates of the 2010 DREAM Act

Recent Activity

Fact Sheets

August 2012

Relief from Deportation: Demographic Profile of the DREAMers Potentially Eligible under the Deferred Action Policy

This fact sheet provides an estimate of the number of DREAMers—unauthorized immigrants potentially eligible for a two-year reprieve from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals initiative—based on eligibility criteria outlined by the Department of Homeland Security. It also offers a detailed analysis of the demographic characteristics of prospective beneficiaries.

Reports

April 2012

Changing Demography and Circumstances for Young Black Children in African and Caribbean Immigrant Families

This report finds that the 813,000 U.S. children under the age of 10 who have Black immigrant parents from Africa or the Caribbean generally fall in the middle of multiple well-being indicators, faring less well than Asian and white children but better than their native-born Black and Hispanic peers. Citizenship status, English proficiency, parental characteristics, poverty, housing, and access to social supports are examined.

Reports

March 2012

The Educational Trajectories of English Language Learners in Texas

Texas has the second-largest number of English Language Learner (ELL) students in the nation. Using a unique longitudinal data set that tracks ELL and non-ELL students in Texas from first grade through high school, this report examines the trajectories and performance of individual groups.

Reports

November 2011

Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults

The story of immigrant integration in the United States has historically been one of generational progress, with the gains for second-generation Hispanic women particularly impressive, as this report reveals. It profiles first- and second-generation young adults ages 16 to 26, examining this diverse population's education and career pathways.

Video

August 12, 2011

English Language Learners and Their Performance in U.S. Public Schools

In this video, Michael Fix and Margie McHugh examine key indicators of ELL students' performance on standardized tests, among other topics.

Video

August 12, 2011

The New Demography of U.S. Schools

In this video, Michael Fix and Margie McHugh discuss the distribution of English Language Learners across the country, their growth in enrollment, and more.

Fact Sheets

December 2010

Updated Estimates of the 2010 DREAM Act

In 2010, based on changes to the DREAM Act legislation pending in Congress, MPI issued revised total and state-level estimates of the unauthorized youth and young adults who might be eligible for conditional legal status, updating its DREAM vs. Reality fact sheet.

Fact Sheets

December 2010

Top Languages Spoken by English Language Learners Nationally and by State, 2009

This fact sheet, based on analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2009 American Community Survey, documents the top languages spoken by English Language Learners (ELLs) nationwide and on a state level.

About the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy

The demographics of the child population in the United States and its elementary and secondary schools are changing rapidly as a result of record-high immigration, growing national origin and linguistic diversity, and immigrants’ increasing geographic dispersal. Sustained high levels of immigration have also led to a rapid increase in the number of children with immigrant parents.

Immigrants represent one in eight of all U.S. residents, and their children represent nearly one in four of all children under age 18. While immigrant youth are often among the top performers in schools nationwide, large numbers of them have low-educated parents, come from low-income families, and arrive in U.S. schools speaking very little English. These factors can make their path to educational success more difficult.

The growth of immigrants is mirrored in the growth of English Language Learner (ELL) students in U.S. public schools. Federal regulations require that schools identify ELLs and implement language instruction programs for them, and that these students make yearly gains in English proficiency. In addition, ELLs must be tested in academic content areas using standardized state tests and their scores must be separately reported as a subgroup, with schools held accountable for the ELL subgroup’s performance.

The research offered here examines the early childhood and K-12 realities experienced by the children of immigrants.

Resources

Media Resources

Experts

Margie McHugh is Director of MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. Full Bio >
Delia Pompa is Senior Fellow for Education Policy at MPI, where her work focuses on educational services for immigrant students and English Learners. Full Bio >

Media Contact

Michelle Mittelstadt
202-266-1910
[email protected]

Programs

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Data

Featured Publication

Supporting Self-Sufficiency: Considerations for Refugees’ Transition out of Sponsorship and Complementary Pathways Programs

Programs

NCIIP: Early Childhood and K-12 Education

Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Families through Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Services

Refining State Accountability Systems for English Learner Success

Recent Immigrant Children: A Profile of New Arrivals to U.S. Schools

ESSER: Moving the Needle on Equitable and Adequate Education Funding for English Learners

Unlocking Opportunities: Supporting English Learners’ Equitable Access to Career and Technical Education

Apprenticeship Programs Are a Promising Solution to Bring More Multilingual Workers into Early Childhood Field

English Learners and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

ELL Information Center

Recent Activity

Relief from Deportation: Demographic Profile of the DREAMers Potentially Eligible under the Deferred Action Policy

Changing Demography and Circumstances for Young Black Children in African and Caribbean Immigrant Families

The Educational Trajectories of English Language Learners in Texas

Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults

The New Demography of U.S. Schools

English Language Learners and Their Performance in U.S. Public Schools

Top Languages Spoken by English Language Learners Nationally and by State, 2009

Updated Estimates of the 2010 DREAM Act

Pages

Recent Activity

Relief from Deportation: Demographic Profile of the DREAMers Potentially Eligible under the Deferred Action Policy

Changing Demography and Circumstances for Young Black Children in African and Caribbean Immigrant Families

The Educational Trajectories of English Language Learners in Texas

Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults

English Language Learners and Their Performance in U.S. Public Schools

The New Demography of U.S. Schools

Updated Estimates of the 2010 DREAM Act

Top Languages Spoken by English Language Learners Nationally and by State, 2009

Pages

About the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy

Programs

Topics see all >

Regions see all >

Data

Featured Publication

Programs

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