Learning A New Land: Learning A New Land: Immigrant Students in American SocietyImmigrant Students in American Society

MARCELO SUÁREZ-OROZCO, Ph.D.The Courtney Sale Ross University Professor at NYUCo-Director Immigration Studies @ NYUNYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, & Human Development www.nyu.education/immigration/

Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families, June 23, 2008

Immigration Studies @ NYU

Immigration Studies @ NYU

The LThe Longitudinalongitudinal I Immigrantmmigrant S Studenttudent A Adaptationdaptation Study 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

Immigration Studies @ NYU

Triangulated Data Collection StrategiesTriangulated 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

Immigration Studies @ NYU

Data Analytic StrategiesData Analytic StrategiesData Analytic StrategiesData Analytic Strategies Simple Chi-Squares & ANOVAs

Multiple & Logistical Regressions

Nagin Cluster Analyses

Hierarchical Linear Modeling

Multiple-Case Study Analysis

Narrative Analysis

Immigration Studies @ NYU

Goals of Learning a New LandGoals 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

Immigration Studies @ NYU

15%

6%

30%

49%

Family Comes All Together

Separated from Mother only

Separated from Father only

Separated from Both

From Whom Was Child Separated During Immigration?From Whom Was Child Separated During Immigration?

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

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

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

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~English proficiency

Achievement Test

PREDICTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES--GRADES

Home Factors~2 Adults in home~Mother’s Education~Working Father

11% of variance

Immigration Studies @ NYU

Challenge of Learning EnglishChallenge 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

Immigration Studies @ NYU

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

70 or below 71-85 86-100 101-115 116 -130 131 or above

Standard Scores

Per

cen

t o

f S

tud

ents

samplenorm

English Language ProficiencyEnglish Language Proficiency

Immigration Studies @ NYU

Academic English-Academic English-Country Comparisons Year 5Country Comparisons Year 5

English Language Proficiency

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

China DominicanRepublic

Central America Haiti Mexico

Avera

ge S

tan

dard

Score

Immigration Studies @ NYU

Academic Performance Pathways[based on Nagin Cluster Analysis of sample size of 284]

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

Low [14.4%] 2.08 1.99 1.58 1.41 1.45

Improving [10.9%] 2.32 2.27 2.34 2.64 3.06

Precipitous Decline [26.8 %]

2.91 2.89 2.55 2.01 1.68

SlowDecline [24.3%]

2.96 3.02 3.02 2.73 2.47

High [23.6 %] 3.47 3.63 3.61 3.50 3.46

Year 1 Mean

Year 2 Mean

Year 3 Mean

Year 4 Mean

Year 5 Mean

Immigration Studies @ NYU

Recommendations for Best PracticeRecommendations for Best PracticeRecommendations for Best PracticeRecommendations 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