Education Reform in a Changing Georgia: Promoting High School and College Success for Immigrant Youth

Georgia has experienced one of the fastest rates of growth in immigration in the United States over the past two decades, and immigration has profoundly altered the makeup of the state's educational institutions. ​Together, immigrants and the U.S.-born children of immigrants made up almost one-fifth of Georgia's youth in 2012. These young adults stand to play a decisive role in the current and future workforce competitiveness of the state.

But these first- and second-generation youth in Georgia—particularly those who are English Language Learners (ELLs)—lag considerably behind their nonimmigrant peers in terms of high school graduation, college access, and postsecondary degree completion. For example, 44 percent of ELLs in Georgia’s high schools graduate in four years, compared to 70 percent for all students. ELLs often face extra hurdles as they seek to develop academic English-language skills, complete high school course requirements, navigate the transition to college and careers, and finance postsecondary education—often while juggling work and family responsibilities.

This report describes these hurdles, and shows that Georgia’s recent education reform efforts—while ambitious in scope—often do not address the unique needs of Georgia's immigrant youth, and particularly those who are ELLs. Moreover, state policies have created barriers to entry into the very institutions that are designed to provide basic education and English language instruction for low-skilled adults, as well as the flagship universities that educate the state’s most promising students.

This report provides one of the first analyses of the educational experiences and outcomes of immigrant youth ages 16 to 26 across the education systems in Georgia, encompassing K-12, adult education, and postsecondary education. By examining these separate-but-interconnected elements of Georgia’s education system together, the analysis offers a set of linked strategies for advancing the educational attainment of Georgia’s immigrant youth. The findings draw from qualitative fieldwork including site visits and interviews in Georgia's educational institutions in Gwinnett and DeKalb counties, and quantitative analyses of the most recently available data from the U.S. Census Bureau and state education agencies.