Humanizing Education for Immigrant & Refugee Youth: 20 Strategies for the Classroom & Beyond
Companion Resources
This important book offers strategies, models, and concrete ideas for better serving newcomer immigrant and refugee youth in U.S. schools, with a focus on grades 6–12. The authors present 20 strategies grouped under three categories: (1) classroom and instructional design, (2) school design, and (3) extracurricular, community, and alumni partnerships. Each chapter provides research-based information, classroom examples, tips for implementing each strategy, and additional resources. Readers will find engaging profiles of schools, students, and alumni interspersed throughout the book, offering both varied perspectives and practical advice. Humanizing Education for Immigrant and Refugee Youth will assist today’s educators, school leaders, policymakers, and scholars interested in the holistic success and well-being of immigrant and refugee students.
Resources by Strategy
Strategy 1 Translanguaging and English Language Development
Report “Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning English: Promising Futures”
Strategy 2 Honoring Histories and Heritages
Article “Culture in the Classroom”
Strategy 3 Purposeful Grouping
Report: Helping newcomer students succeed in secondary schools and beyond
Report: The Internationals Network for Public Schools: Educating Our Immigrant English Language Learners Well (PDF)
Strategy 4 Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design
Strategy 5 Additional Support for Students with Limited and Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE)
Article on Supporting SLIFE Students
Book: Students with Interrupted Formal Education: Bridging Where They Are and What They Need
Strategy 6 Holistic and Continuous Assessment
Article on Language Assessment in Standards-Based Education Reform (PDF)
Strategy 7 Advisory Period
EdWeek article on Creating Meaningful Advisories
Report on “The Power of Advisories”
Strategy 8 Democratic School Governance
Strategy 9 Intentional Staffing
Strategy 10 Coaching for Culturally Responsive Teaching
Strategy 11 School Language Policies
New York State Home Language Questionnaire (available in 44 languages)
Article “Unlocking the Research on English Learners” (PDF)
Strategy 12 School Climate and Culture
Strategy 13 Health and Wellness
Article and Film on how to Support Newcomers’ health and well-being
Strategy 14 Dual Enrollment and Early College
Strategy 15 After-School and Summer Programming
Article on the Refugee Youth Summer Academy
Video about the Sullivan High School Soccer Team
Strategy 16 Family Engagement
Article on “Home Visits 101”
Article on “Community Walks”
Strategy 17 Legal Services
Strategy 18 Community Partnerships, Social Support, and Civic Engagement
Report: Broadening the base: School/community partnerships serving language minority students at risk
Resources and curriculum guides developed by scholar Tatyana Kleyn
Strategy 19 Internships and Career Preparation
Strategy 20 Alumni Engagement and Community Building
Article on Alumni Mentorship for High School Students
Article on “Indigenous-Language Radio Show In Oakland”
Video Playlist
A curated a video playlist of excellent resources that can help educators and school leaders further explore strategies, resources and opportunities for working with newcomer youth.
The City University of New York (CUNY) Initiative on Immigration and Education (IIE) has a series of videos called “Supporting Immigrants in Schools.” There four videos are approximately 10 minutes each.
The organization Colorín Colorado produced a 20-minute video entitled “You are Welcome Here” about how schools can support social and emotional health. It profiles schools in Michigan.
PBS produced a short (17 minute) documentary entitled “Immigrant High” about Pan American International High School in Queens, New York.
See the documentary at PBS
This 10-minute video discusses the Community Walks that Oakland International High School carries out each term and was created by an alum of the school.
I Learn America features five newcomer youth at International High School at Lafayette in Brooklyn, New York: https://ilearnamerica.com/the-film/.
The film is accompanied by a curriculum to support immigrant students as they compose and record their own life stories: https://ilearnamerica.com/curriculum/. Youth facilitators trained by the organization travel to high schools cross the country to implement the curriculum. Finally, immigrant youth from across the U.S. have recorded their own stories; these can be accessed in the I Learn Library: https://ilearnamerica.com/human-library-2/.
See the film at https://ilearnamerica.com/the-film/
Short Videos (under 10 minutes long)
Video from the organization New America showcases the Internationals Network for Public Schools’ approach to professional development for educators of newcomers:
EdWeek Video about how Minnesota schools work to welcome Somali immigrant students.
Video from EdWeek shows how educators can differentiate instruction for English Learner.
Video about Oakland International High School.
Video about Rudsdale Newcomer High School in Oakland.
Video about the Soccer Team at Sullivan High School in Chicago.
Video about making space for native languages in newcomer classrooms.
