Rights, Students

Tags: American Indian ELL Students; Asian ELL Students; Intervention; Latino ELL Students; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.); Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: What are the disparities in well-being among U.S racial and ethnic groups?

Findings:

Asian Americans in New Jersey, with the highest Index scores, experience levels of well-being that, if current trends continue, the country as a whole will reach in about fifty years. At the other end of the spectrum, Native Americans in South Dakota lag more than a half-century behind the rest of the nation in terms of health, education, and income. Asian Americans in New Jersey live, on average, an astonishing 26 years longer, are 11 times more likely to have a graduate degree, and earn $35,610 more per year than South Dakota Native Americans.
• Asian Americans live the longest (86.6 years), followed by Latinos (82.8 years);
• African American life expectancy today is on par with that of the average American three decades ago;
• Latinos outlive whites, on average, by over four years, and in all but four states, Latinos either equal or surpass the national average in life span.
• In no U.S. states do African Americans, Latinos, or Native Americans earn more than Asian Americans or whites;
• Asian Americans and whites earn the most; Latinos and Native Americans earn the least. Native Americans' median earnings are less than $22,000, while whites' are more than $30,000;
• African Americans in Maryland earn almost $16,000 a year more than African Americans in Louisiana.
• Nearly one in five Asian American adults has a graduate degree;
• Latinos lag in education; nearly four in ten adults age 25 and older did not complete high school;
• In Florida, Maryland, and Virginia, about one in five Latino adults age 25 and older have obtained at least a bachelor's degree.

• Read the Full Report

Lewis, K. & Burd-Sharps, S. (2010). A Century Apart: Revealing Alarming Disparities in Well-Being among U.S. Racial and Ethnic Groups. Brooklyn, NY: American Human Development Project.

Tags: Latino ELL Students; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are the trends regarding racial demographics and distribution over the past few decades?
• what are they expected to be in coming years?
• What implications does the shifting demography have on the U.S.?

Findings:

• More children live in the United States than ever before, but they represent the smallest share of the population in U.S. history.
• Children are the most diverse racially and ethnically of any age group now or in the country's history, accounted for especially by immigrants from Asian and Latin American countries.
• Immigrant youth—those who migrated to the U.S. or who were born to immigrant parents—currently account for about one–quarter of all children.
• Four of every five immigrant children are U.S.-born; three–quarters of the children of unauthorized immigrants are also born in the United States.
• Children of immigrants live in every state, but their numbers and shares differ dramatically from state to state. Three–fourths of immigrant children live in just ten states:Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington. Nearly half of all immigrant children live in just three states (CA, TX, and NY), and CA alone is home to 28 percent of this group).
• Within about 25 years, immigrant youth will represent about one–third of an even larger number of children.
• Because of their numbers and the challenges facing the country, immigrant youth will play an important role in the future of the United States. Their integration into American society and their accumulation of human capital require continued attention from researchers, policy makers, and the public at large.

• Read the Full Report

Passel, J.S. (2011). "Demography of Immigrant Youth: Past, Present, and Future." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=539.

Tags: Books and Other Reading Materials; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Placement; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are the demographics of LEP and LEP students with disabilities?
• What kind of instructional services do LEP and LEP with disabilities receive, and how do they align with statewide standards?
• What are the outcomes of LEP and LEP with disabilities?

Findings:

• In 2001–02, LEP comprised 8.4 % of the student population, with the majority in lower elementary grades.
• Spanish is the most common native language of LEP by far.
• Although the largest portion of the LEP student population is enrolled within only a few districts, there are many districts across the U.S. serving small numbers of LEP students.
• Instructional services for LEP vary greatly, especially in the areas of extent of services provided, and extent of use of native language, and for Sp–Ed LEP–services provided outside vs. inside the classroom.
• There has been a shift in the past 10 years in LEP instructional services toward services provided in English.
• There has been a dramatic increase (350%) in the number of teachers who work with at least one LEP student from '92–'02.
• 6/10 teachers who worked with three or more LEP students reported a median of four hours of relevant in–service training.
• District coordinators reported that the instruction LEP and Sp–Ed LEP students received was less aligned with State standards than that of non–LEP students.
• Many school districts and schools had considerable difficulty in providing a count of SpEd–MEP students.
• Fewer LEP students were in special education than the entire student population as a whole. (9.2& vs. 13.5%)
• Compared to LEP students, SpEd–MEP students are less likely to receive LEP instructional services, and more likely to receive instruction in English.
• Instructional services for Spanish–language SpEd–MEP students differed from services received by SpEd–MEP students from other language backgrounds.

Policy Recommendations:

• As mainstream classes become more diverse, in ethnicity, English proficiency, and instruction, teachers and aides face new challenges, which should be answered with additional training.
• Districts should keep better records on LEP and former LEPs, and consider both when analyzing student outcomes.
• Schools need to determine as early as possible if students' difficulties stem from second language learning or from a disability, and provide support accordingly.
• Further efforts are needed to define effective instruction for SpEd–MEP students, and to promote increased collaboration across the LEP and special education programs in providing SpEd–MEP services.

• Read the Full Report

U.S. Department of Education. (2002). To assure the free appropriate public education of all children with disabilities: Twenty-fourth annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Act. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.

Zehler, A. M., Fleischman, H. L., Hopstock, P. J., Pendzick, M. L., & Stephenson, T. G. (2003). Descriptive study of services to LEP students and LEP students with disabilities (No. 4 Special topic report: findings on special education LEP students). Development Associates, Inc.: Arlington, VA.

Tags: Intervention; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: How can data be used to determine ways to improve students’ success in community colleges in California?

Findings:

• Students who followed certain enrollment patterns did much better (i.e. earning at least 20 credits within the first year.) Unfortunately few students followed those patterns; therefore efforts should be made to encourage those habits/trends.
• There are bleak disparities between races/ethnicities (i.e., even lower success rate among blacks and Latinos) and given demographics trends (i.e., increase in Latinos) solving this problem is critical for our nation.
• Too many students fail to attain their 2-year degree. (After 6 years of enrollment 70% of students-80% of Latinos had not finished, and only 15% were still enrolled.)
• Transfer success is low. (Only 23% ultimately transferred to a 4-year university; and of Latinos specifically only 14%).
• Completion rates and levels of disparity vary widely across comparable colleges; therefore some colleges do actually find ways to promote completion, while others are lacking.
• For-profit sector's role is growing. (More students are transferring into for-profit sector.)

Policy Recommendations:

• Collect data and act upon it.
• Create a public agenda for higher education.
• Develop a reward system for student success.
• Maintain transfer function of community colleges so successful students will continue on to a state university.

• Read the Full Report

Moore, C. & Shulock, N. (2010). Divided We Fail: Improving Completion and Closing Racial Gaps in California’s Community Colleges. Sacramento, CA: California State University’s Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy.

Tags: Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Early Education

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What is the current role of early education among immigrant children?
• What is the future potential?

Findings:

• For infants, toddlers, and preschool–age children, immigrants have lower rates of participation in any nonparental care and center–based care, though participation varies greatly based on geographic region and county of origin.
• Comparing immigrant and native children, the participation gap for three–year–olds is smaller than that for four–year–olds; additionally, early education participation increases with age. These findings suggest a narrowing gap, which may be a result of expansion of state–funded programs.
• Among those in care, preschool–age immigrant children are as likely as native children, if not more likely, to be in center–based ECE programs, especially if one looks at the arrangement where children spend the most time.
• Much of the participation gap can be explained by just a few economic and sociodemographic factors, such as low parental education or low family income. Thus, lower use of care may result not from being an immigrant child per se but from factors associated with disadvantaged groups.
• The data for California indicate that center–based care environments are falling short of benchmarks associated with high–quality care for both immigrant and native preschool–age children alike. Though these results may not extend to other states, at least in the state with the largest share of immigrant children, so ECE quality needs to be improved.
• Well–designed targeted programs serving infants and toddlers can produce short–term developmental benefits, but findings are ambiguous as to longer–term gains for school performance and adult outcomes.
• Immigrant children face many different barriers to participating in early education programs: structural, informational and bureaucratic, cultural, and those caused by misperceptions.

Policy Recommendations:
To improve ECE access and quality, policy makers can consider options that pertain both to disadvantaged children in general, as well as to immigrant children in particular.

• Publicly funded universal provision of ECE would benefit all children, including and especially immigrant children because it would remove issues of affordability, and, moreover, eligibility.
• Geographic targeting could be especially effective in assisting immigrant children because it would give eligibility regardless of legal status, and could encompass whole ethnic neighborhoods.
• Language–accessible communication strategies
• Development of formal peer–to–peer networks for immigrant parents
• Applications for ECE could be improved by: streamlining paperwork; translated paperwork; applications that ask for SSN of child instead of parent.
• Professional development of teachers and staff, ie cultural competency, teaching ELLs, foreign language acquisition
• Implementation of curricula and other practices that support English learners.

• Read the Full Report

Karoly, L., Gonzalez, G. (2011). "Early Care and Education for Children in Immigrant Families." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=541.

Tags: Bilingual Instruction; Language Proficiency; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What are the current state policies and practices related to ELLs with disabilities?

Findings:

State-level personnel report a:

• Lack of qualified personnel trained in ELL or bilingual education to manage state-wide ELL needs;
• Lack of appropriate assessment instruments in languages other than English;
• Cultural barriers in communicating with ELL parents; and
• Need for sustained collaboration between bilingual education and special education personnel.

Policy Recommendations:

The authors offer a number of recommendations that include improved:

• Local accountability
• Statewide policies and guidance
• Teacher training and licensure
• Coordination between special education and ELL professionals

• Download full report (64KB PDF)*

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
NASDSE 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 320 Alexandria, VA 22314

Keller-Allen, C. (2006). English Language Learners with Disabilities: Identification and Other State Policies and Issues. Project Forum, National Association of State Directors of Special Education: Alexandria, VA.

Tags: Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Education advocates, parents, students, teachers, and administrators.

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What is the history of Title I implementation and the enforcement of the comparability provision during the past 40 years?
• What is the current context of school funding and its relation to the comparability provision?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the comparability provision and their implications?
• How do we close the comparability "loophole"?
• What have school districts done to address these inequities and provisions?

Findings:
N/A

Policy Recommendations:
N/A

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Center for American Progress 1333 H Street NW 10th Floor Washington, D.C. 20005

Podesta, J., Brown, C., McClure, P., Wiener, R., Roza, M., and Hill, M. (2008). Ensuring Equal Opportunity in Public Education: How Local School District Funding Practices Hurt Disadvantaged Students and What Federal Policy Can Do About It. Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress.

Tags: Intervention; Motivation; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• In what ways and to what extent are today's children underserved by parents and adults in general?
• What are the essential resources children require that will assure their success in the future?
• How can parents and communities work to provide these resources to all children?

Findings:

• Children who enjoy the sustained and cumulative benefit of having at least four of the Five Promises across various contexts of their lives are much more likely to be academically successful, civically engaged and socially competent, regardless of their race or family income.
• Having enough of the Five Promises helps to mitigate the disparities among our nation's young people, for instance those based on race/ ethnicity or family income. Though access to these resources remains deeply unequal in America, their presence in critical mass can be a great equalizer. Regardless of race, gender or family income level, children who enjoy at least four of these five core resources are more likely to thrive.
• Only 31% of young people today are receiving enough of the developmental resources that will give them genuine reason for confidence about their success as adults.
• 21% —or over 10 million 6–to–17–year&ndash'olds— have a very low chance of success.
• The stereotype of children and teens as slackers with a weak work ethic is a myth. Young people are looking for more help from adults, but not a handout. They are willing to work hard to reach their goals.
• The greatest returns to society result from a balanced investment strategy throughout childhood, not just in early childhood. The biggest economic benefits result from targeting interventions toward underserved youth. These returns take the form of increased high school graduation rates and college enrollment, reduced involvement with the criminal justice system and reduced welfare dependency, which in turn provide direct and indirect economic benefits to our nation.
• Some of the areas that access to the 5 Promises positively effects are: overall health, grade and school attendance, drug use, social competence, school dropout rates, crime.

Policy Recommendations:

• The bottom–line implication from this research is clear: For maximum return, start investing in young people at an early age—and don't stop.
• Consider the "Whole Child" ie educational reforms should go beyond the school.
• Engage all sectors of society.
• View investments as more than programs—without minimizing their role: Cost–effective, targeted programs may offer the best strategy for mitigating the risk factors otherwise working against children placed at major disadvantages.
• Focus attention on the young people who are most underserved.

• Read the Full Report

"Every Child Every Promise: Turning Failure Into Action." Washington, DC: America's Promise Alliance. Retrieved from http://www.americaspromise.org/Resources/Research-and-Reports/~/media/Files/About/ECEP%20-%20Full%20Report.aspx

Tags: Comprehension; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: How can educators assess students' mastery of subject matter while minimizing the role of the student's English proficiency in its measurement?

Findings:
Considerations important to planning assessments:

• Test purpose
• Defining the construct (what is being assessed)
• Developing the assessment specifications (ie domain of knowledge and skills, number and types of items or tasks, relative weight of tasks and skills, etc)
• Developing test items and scoring criteria (ie defining expectations
• The insights external reviewers provide can help test developers understand how students are likely to interpret test materials and how members of different populations may respond to test items, even better than internal reviewers.
• For ELLs, the primary goal of testing accommodations is to ensure that they have the same opportunity as native English speakers to demonstrate their knowledge or skills in a content area, so unless language proficiency is part of the construct being measured, it should not play a major role in whether an examinee can answer a test item correctly.

Policy Recommendations:

• In developing assessment specifications, consider domain of knowledge and skills, number and types of items or tasks (offer variety of manners to demonstrate knowledge), relative weight of tasks and skills, assessment and response forms, and cultural background and diversity.
• In developing test items and scoring criteria:
*Match the task to the purpose *Define expectations *Write appropriate directions *Use accessible language *Use clear presentation/formatting
• Evaluate tasks ahead of time through tryouts
• Familiarize test scorers with common styles found in ELL-produced answers so they can understand them better and more accurately score their work.
• To the extent practical, decide on accommodations for individual students, not as a collective group.

• Read the Full Report

Pitoniak, M.J., Young, J.W., Martiniello, M., King, T.C., Buteux, A., and Ginsburgh, M. (2009). Guidelines for the Assessment of English Language Learners. Princeton, New Jersey: Educational Testing Service.

Tags: Intervention; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• How does the educational attainment vary among subgroups of immigrants?
• What factors account for these differences?
• What barriers do some immigrant students face? What is the payoff to postsecondary education in U.S. society?

Findings:

• Mexican and Latin American immigrants have, on average, relatively low rates of participation and success in postsecondary education.
• Language barriers and lack of familiarity with U.S. social institutions create difficulties, but it is not immigrant status per se that explains the unsatisfactory outcomes for these immigrant populations.
• Overall, immigrants and their children are actually more likely than natives (of the same countries of origin) to earn college degrees.
• The gaps among groups from different countries of origin are large. Those from China, Japan, and many African countries have high success rates. Those from Mexico, Guatemala, Haiti, Laos, and Cambodia fare less well.
• The children of immigrants who benefited from postsecondary education in their countries of origin are likely to succeed in the United States. The children of parents who are not in a position to help them prepare for and navigate the postsecondary system are likely to struggle.

Policy Recommendations:

• Because immigration has become such a divisive political issue in the United States, focusing on the benefits to society of opening doors to higher education for all is the most promising strategy.
• Sometimes, changes in motivation and behavior resulting from financial incentives, rather than the extra funds themselves, can be central to improved postsecondary success. Judith Scott–Clayton, for example, found that West Virginia's state grant program increases college completion rates by establishing clear academic goals and providing incentives to meet them.
• Policies to improve the elementary and secondary school experiences of all children are likely the most important components of a strategy to improve the postsecondary success of immigrant children.

• Read the Full Report

Baum, S., Flores, S.M. (2011.) "Higher Education and Children in Immigrant Families." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=545.

Tags: Content Areas: Math; Intervention; Language Proficiency; Latino ELL Students; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: How Far Behind in Math and Reading are English Language Learners?

Findings:

• The ELL achievement gap widens at higher grades.
• Nationally, ELL students tend to trail further behind their peers in reading than in math.

Policy Recommendations:
None given

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
n/a

Fry, R. (2007). How Far Behind in Math and Reading are English Language Learners? Pew Hispanic Center: Washington, D.C.

Tags: Intervention; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.); Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• In what conditions do children of immigrants to America live?
• How can their well–being be improved?

Findings:

• Depending on their country of origin, immigrant children vary widely in their educational achievement, legal and health status, living arrangements and economic resources.
• Although participation in early childhood education programs can offset multifarious problems, immigrant children attend such programs at lower rates than do native children due to various barriers.
• Performance of immigrant children in K–12 education varies by generational status and national origin. Poor parental education, poor–quality schools, and segregated neighborhoods, however, pose risk factors for immigrant children generally.
• Youths from Asia and the Middle East are better represented in postsecondary educational institutions than those from Latin America, Laos, and Cambodia.
• There are formidable barriers to postsecondary education for youth who lack legal status despite having attending U.S. schools previously and qualifying for admission to college.
• Achievement disparities between immigrant children who do not speak English fluently and English–proficient students are wide and persistent.
• Immigrant children are less likely than native children to have health insurance and regular access to medical care.
• Although disadvantaged immigrant families face formidable barriers to upward mobility, their children can overcome these obstacles through simultaneously learning the language and culture of the host society while preserving their home country language, values, and customs.

Policy Recommendations:

• The U.S. should invest in immigrant youth to enable them to contribute to national prosperity.
• Strengthen immigrant children's access to high–quality education: enable more immigrant children to attend preschool, offer effective English language instruction, and reduce financial and nonfinancial barriers to participation in college.
• Resolve legal status issues of immigrant children.

• Read the Full Report

Tienda, M., Haskins, R. (2011) "Immigrant Children: Introducing the Issue." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=538.

Tags: Instructional Programs; Intervention; Language Proficiency; Latino ELL Students; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Placement; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: This issue brief is designed to help inform future dialogue on assessment and accountability. The brief examines the progress and manner in which states have implemented the federal law's accountability and testing provisions with respect to ELLs.

Findings:
NCLB implementation with respect to ELLs has failed to live up to the law's promise. State and district accountability systems not only must include ELLs, they must be implemented in a way that effectively closes the existing academic achievement gap for ELLs.

Policy Recommendations:

• The U.S. Department of Education should increase research and investment in the development of a range of appropriate assessments and testing accommodations, including native-language and simplified English tests for ELLs.
• The U.S. Department of Education should provide firm guidance to states regarding the law's directive to assess ELLs "to the extent practicable, in the language and form most likely to yield accurate data."
• With enforcement by the U.S. Department of Education, states and districts must continue to assess ELLs and include them in AYP determinations.
• The Administration and Congress should fine-tune the definition of AYP for ELLs.
• The U.S. Department of Education and Congress should enhance accountability measures for secondary ELLs, particularly late-entrant ELLs. The U.S. Department of Education, states, and districts should improve reporting of assessment data and other AYP indicators to parents of ELLs.
• The U.S. Department of Education and Congress should ensure equitable access to supplemental services for ELLs.
• The President and Congress must increase the federal investment in English language learner programs (Title III).
• The U.S. Department of Education should increase its investment in the development of assessments for ELLs The President and Congress should increase federal support for Parent Assistance Programs.
• States should ensure fiscal equity in their education finance systems, with adequate inclusion of resources for ELLs.

• Go to full report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR)
Attention: Office of Publications
Raul Yzaguirre Building
1126 16th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tel: 202.785.1670
Fax: 202.776.1794

Lazarín, M. (2006). Improving Assessment and Accountability for English Language Learners in the No Child Left Behind Act. National Council of La Raza: Washington, DC.

Tags: Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: What are the consequences of losing a Lawful Immigrant Parent to deportation? How can these experiences affect future reform and prevent further separation of loved ones?

Findings:
We estimate that more than 100,000 children have been affected by LPR parental deportation between 1997 and 2007, and that at least 88,000 of impacted children were U.S. citizens. Moreover, our analysis estimates that approximately 44,000 children were under the age of 5 when their parent was deported. In addition to these children, this analysis estimates that more than 217,000 others experienced the deportation of an immediate family member who was an LPR.

• Read the Full Report

In the Child’s Best Interest? The Consequences of Losing a Lawful Immigrant Parent to Deportation. (2010). University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved January 13, 2011 from: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Human_Rights_report.pdf

Tags: Intervention; Motivation; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What elements of the Healthy School Community (HSC) project yield the best results for improving school health?

Findings:

• The single most important factor is having an engaged and effective principal who fully embraces the HSC model, actively participating but also distributing tasks among a team.
• Collaboration of various forms is crucial. This includes letting parents have a say in matters, getting community members involved and personally invested in the success of the school, and networking with other healthy schools for strategies.
• "Healthy" schools that focus on the "whole child" are the best kind because teachers can teach to their fullest abilities and students can learn to their highest potential.

Policy Recommendations:

• Build a team dedicated to improving school health that is led by a principal but broken into teams, which incorporates parents, teachers, and stakeholders of the community.
• Enact systemic, rather than programmatic change, by making foundational changes such as rewriting mission/goals and getting everyone involved in changes as opposed to the principal making decisions singlehandedly.

• Read the Full Report

ASCD (2010). Learning, Teaching, and Leading in Healthy School Communities. Alexandria, VA: ACSD.

Tags: Intervention; Libraries; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: Are provided resources to migrant children equal to those provided to non-migrant children?

Findings:

• Migrant children consistently achieve at lower levels than their counterparts.
• Professional staffing levels are generally higher at schools with large numbers of migrant children, and there are lower student-teacher ratios.
• Schools with large numbers of migrant children engaged in a number of special schooling initiatives.
• Regarding library books and computer technology, there was no consistent pattern that favored either group of children.
• There were no reports from the principals of schools that children at schools with no migrant children were being afforded disproportionate resources by the district at the expense of migrant children.

Policy Recommendations:
It is time to consider other and different institutional and structural changes apart from what has been offered in the past in order to truly provide migrant children true equal education opportunity in our public schools.

• Read the Full Report

Migrant Students: Resources for Migrant Children Similar to Other Students but Achievement Still Lags. (2007). Florida State Advisory Committee.

Tags: Intervention; Rights, Students; Struggling Readers;

Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• Have gaps in performance between student groups decreased over time?
• Have all groups of students gained over time?
• What is the magnitude of the gap between groups?
• How does each group of students currently perform relative to their counterparts in other schools, districts, or states?

Findings:

• Six states-Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, and West Virginia-and the District of Columbia narrowed more of the gaps between student groups than did most other states. On the other hand, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, and Washington were least likely to have closed gaps and, in fact, saw more gap widening than anywhere else in the nation.
• Student groups in Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, and the District of Columbia were more likely to have improved than their peers in other states. In contrast, student groups in Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and West Virginia were more likely to have declined.
• Eight states stand out for smaller-than-average gaps: Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Oklahoma, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Five others, however-California, Connecticut, Illinois, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin-as well as the District of Columbia, have gaps between groups that are much wider than the national average.
• Low-income and minority students in Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, and Vermont typically perform higher than such students in other states. At the same time, low-income students and students of color in Arizona, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Nevada typically perform below their peers elsewhere
• Ed Trust analysts combined the results from all four of these perspectives and found four states were making the most progress. Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, and Texas emerge as frontrunners for earning top scores on the gap-closing sections of their RTT applications, along with Vermont-a racially homogenous state that nevertheless generally performs well across the income spectrum. They differ greatly in size, diversity, and a host of other measures, but each state's recent performance on the achievement gap is among the best in the nation.
• However, an analysis of the four perspectives shows the outlook isn't as rosy elsewhere. Arizona, California, Michigan, Mississippi, and Rhode Island have some of the worst track records in the country when it comes to closing the gap, which should net them a big goose-egg in some sections of the RTT scoring rubric.

• Read the Full Report

New Achievement Gap Analysis Suggests Four Ways to Gain a More Comprehensive Picture of Equity. (2010). The Education Trust. Retrieved January 10, 2011 from: http://www.edtrust.org/sites/edtrust.org/files/publications/files/NAEP%20Gap_0.pdf

Tags: Instructional Programs; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Rights, Students;

Target Population: High school

Research Questions the Report Poses: How well served are out-of-school immigrant youths in the state of California in general? How well served are out-of-school immigrant youths who receive services and resources from California's Migrant Education Program (MEP)?

Findings:

• Though the California Migrant Education Program's attempts to offer educational resources to OSYs, its limited funds and eligibility requirements only allow it to service about 80,000 OSYs.
• California OSYs are some of the most disadvantaged individuals in the state because their legal statuses often make access to public services difficult.
• California OSYs are very eager to continue their education, but they are often unable to do so because of a need to work.
• Approximately 80% of OSYs said their families depended on their incomes to survive.

Policy Recommendations:

• Increase funding to the California MEP
• Change eligibility requirements for receiving MEP funds so that more OSYs are able to receive them
• Offer educational opportunities that allow OSYs to both work and learn

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Public Policy Institute of California
500 Washington Street
Suite 800
San Francisco, California 94111
E-Mail:merina@ppic.org
Telephone: (415) 291-4400
Fax: (415) 291-4401

Hill, Laura., and Hayes, Joseph. (2007). Out-of-School Immigrant Youth. San Francisco, California: Public Policy Institute of California.

Tags: Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: Are Hispanic students well-informed about their financial aid options for higher education? How does knowledge about financial aid affect Hispanic students' choices to pursue higher education?

Findings:

• 98% of respondents in the survey said that they felt it was important to have a college education
• 38% of respondents did not feel the benefits of college outweigh the costs
• Not being able to work and incurring debt were the opportunity costs associated with going to college
• The opportunity costs associated with going to college were not being able to work and incurring debt
• More than 50% of the respondents incorrectly thought students have to be U.S. citizens to apply for college financial aid
• Few respondents could accurately estimate the cost of attending either the University of California or California State University
• Overall, respondents demonstrated a lack of familiarity with government grants for education

Policy Recommendations:

• Students need to be better informed about the "less tangible, but real, social status differences that exist between the college-educated and the non-college educated" so that they feel that the opportunity costs of attending college are worth paying
• Because of misperceptions about how much college actually costs, Latino students may continue to be underrepresented on college campuses. To this end, perceptions must be corrected by presenting students with information about the realistic costs of attending college.
• Latino students need to be better informed about Cal Grants and Pell Grants, as well as other grant and loan opportunities available through state and federal government.
• Students and their parents both need to be educated about the system of college finances, including scholarships, loans, grants, and government guaranteed loans.
• Student perceptions about the significance of legal residency status vs. U.S. citizenship status need to be corrected, especially given the citizenship status of many students' parents

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
n/a

Zarate, E.Z., and Pachon, H.P. (2006). Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth. Tomas Rivera Policy Institute: Los Angeles, CA.

Tags: Instructional Programs; Intervention; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: What are the individual states' policies on English language learners and how are they impacting ELLs' achievement?

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Purchase a copy for $6.00 at www.edweek.org/go/buyQC or by calling 1-800-445-8250. Or subscribe to Education Week: www.edweek.org/go/subscribe.

Education Week. (2009). Portrait of a Population: How English Language Learners are Putting Schools to the Test. Bethesda, Maryland.

Tags: American Indian ELL Students; Asian ELL Students; Bilingual Instruction; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Curriculum; Latino ELL Students; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.); Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Placement; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population:

• All students in preschool, elementary, middle or high school in the Latino community.
• Parents of students attending preschool, elementary, middle or high school in the Latino community.

Research Questions the Report Poses: This article raises the question of the importance of the No Child Left Behind Act to improve the education for limited English proficient students in the Latino community.

Findings:

• Limited English Proficiency students are the fastest growing population in elementary schools in the US.
• Limited English proficient students are concentrated in a few states but are spreading rapidly throughout the nation.
• While five states—California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois—are home to almost 70 percent of all LEP students in elementary school, growth in this student population has been more rapid in other destinations.
• The majority of LEP elementary school students are concentrated in a small number of schools: nearly 70 percent of the nation’s LEP students enroll in only 10 percent of elementary schools.
• The incidence of poverty and health problems is significantly higher in high-LEP than in other schools.
• Instructional contexts vary significantly across schools: high-LEP schools are more likely to offer support and remedial programs (pre-K, enrichment, after-school, summer school).
• Native language instruction is more prevalent in high- than low-LEP schools. The difference in use of other LEP-targeted instructional techniques, though significant, is less marked.
• High-LEP schools face more difficulties filling teaching vacancies and are more likely to rely on unqualified and substitute teachers than schools with few or no LEP children.
• High-LEP schools are more likely to be involved in parental outreach and support activities than schools with lower concentrations of LEP students.
• Teachers in high-LEP schools are more likely to hold ESL/bilingual certification in addition to their main certification.
• Teachers in high-LEP schools are more likely to have provisional, emergency, or temporary certification than are those in other schools.
• High-LEP schools have more new teachers than schools with fewer or no LEP students, and these teachers are substantially more likely to be uncertified than those at other schools.
• Teachers in high-LEP schools tend to report receiving more professional development than do teachers in other types of schools.
• There was a great deal of variation in the way districts with high-LEP schools implemented NCLB testing requirements in both subject areas and ELP (English Language Proficiency).
• Parents of ELL students in high-LEP enrollment schools professed to have very little knowledge of the requirements of NCLB.

Policy Recommendations:

• The U.S. Department of Education should make the development of an appropriate English language proficiency test a national priority and require its use by all states and districts.
• States should ensure that (a) policies are in place to conduct subject matter testing of ELL students using appropriate tests and accommodations and (b) reasonable exemptions are granted.
• The inclusion of pre-K education should be considered in the reauthorization of NCLB. While it is evident from our study that NCLB is changing pre-K education in high-LEP schools, including this component of the educational system in the law would enforce and standardize these changes across all districts and states.
• The NCLB provisions for school choice and Supplemental Educational Services (SES) should be reexamined. These provisions do not seem to be having the intended effect and their feasibility and effectiveness should be studied.
• Teacher Quality
• Districts should assume responsibility for the training and professional development of teachers—including bilingual/ESL teachers—to assist them in meeting the NCLB requirements for high-quality teachers. This assistance might include working with local colleges to increase the production of high-quality bilingual/ESL teachers and to offer courses in areas where current teachers need to acquire credits for certification. Local colleges and alternative certification programs should be encouraged to incorporate courses on ELL instruction as part of the required general teacher education curriculum. These courses should be required for certification or employment of all teachers, at least in high-ELL-enrollment districts but preferably in all districts.
• More effective strategies are needed for conducting parental outreach and information efforts with parents of ELL students. Districts and schools must acquire a greater understanding of effective strategies to reach this group of parents, who face many barriers to understanding the requirements of NCLB and their role in supporting its goals.

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
The Urban Institute 2100 M Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037

Consentino de Cohen, Clemencia and Beatriz Chu Clewell. (2007). Putting English Language Learners on the Education Map: The No Child Left Behind Act Implemented. Washington, D.C. The Urban Institute.

Tags: Intervention; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• If discrimination doesn't play a role in the achievement gap in the 21st century then what does?
• What efforts have been undertaken to close the gap in the past; and learning from those efforts, how can we close the gap in the future?

Findings:

• The problem of the 21st century is the problem of the skill gap.
• Eliminating the racial skill gap will likely have important impacts on income inequality, unemployment, incarceration, health, and other important social and economic indices.
• We now know that with some combination of investments, high achievement is possible for all students.
• Closing the racial achievement gap is the most important civil rights battle of the twenty-first century.

• Read the Full Report

Fryer, R.G. (2010, August). Racial Inequality in the 21st Century: The Declining Significance of Discrimination. National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved January 5, 2011 from: http://www.nber.org/papers/w16256.pdf?new_window=1

Tags: Rights, Students;

Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What does the Closing the Racial Achievement Gap report say and how is it biased?

Findings:

• Making causal inferences on the effects of reforms by comparing student groups from the nation and Florida on purely descriptive test score averages presented in charts and graphs.
• A failure to account for the influence of fundamental policy changes on test score averages and racial achievement gaps in grade 3-4 students. In particular, Florida instituted a grade retention policy from 2002 that resulted in 14-23% of largely Black and Hispanic third-grade students being held back in grade 3 if they performed poorly on the state reading test. This policy of screening out the weakest readers, along with the presence of unknown numbers of older grade repeaters in the grade 4 samples, changes the composition of the students tested in grade 4 and invalidates comparisons concerning student performance as a whole as well as results concerning ethnic group achievement gaps.
• The decision to look only at grade 4 NAEP Reading scores and the resulting inflated conclusions. The evidence on Florida's NAEP achievement trends and gaps is mixed when other grade levels and subject areas are examined between 2002 and 2009.
• A failure to examine relevant literature on well-documented issues, including the negative impact of grade retention on children's long-term academic progress4 and high school dropout levels,5 as well as a failure to provide empirical research support for the multiple reforms endorsed in the report.

• Read the Full Report

Chatterji, M. (2010, November). Review of Closing the Racial Achievement Gap. National Education Policy Center. Retrieved January 5, 2010 from: http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/learning-from-florida

Tags: Intervention; Rights, Students;

Target Population: High school

Research Questions the Report Poses: To what extent, if any, have ELLs actually been included in New York City's small high schools reform initiative?

Findings:

• As a result of the new schools program, ELL students are largely sequestered to a few schools with high percentages of ELLs while many other schools offer very little, if any, instruction or resources for ELLs.
• Because new schools are not being built in areas where ELLs are highly concentrated, ELLs are being kept from new schools.
• Most schools classified as small by this report (about 500 students) fail to provide adequate resources for ELL instruction.
• Because small schools are inadequately prepared to instruct ELLs, these students are forced to go to large, failing schools, which are the type of schools that the new schools plan was supposed to cut down on.

Policy Recommendations:

• Increase ELLs' access to small schools by building more small schools in areas where ELLs most commonly reside.
• Improve the high school admissions process so that ELLs are not excluded or kept out of small schools because of their ELL status.

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Advocates for Children of New York
151 West 30th Street — 5th Floor
New York, NY 10001
E-Mail: info@advocatesforchildren.org
Phone: (212)-947-9779
Fax: (212)-947-9790

The New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children of New York. (2006, November). So Many Schools, So Few Options: How Mayor Bloomberg's Small High School Reforms Deny Full Access to English Language Learners. New York, NY: The New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children of New York.

Tags: Asian ELL Students; Intervention; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: What general circumstances do Southeastern Asian Americans tend to experience?

Findings:

• Limited English skills
• Systematic communication between students, parents, and teachers
• Discrimination
• Widespread feelings of alienation from mainstream schools

Policy Recommendations:

• Disaggregate and disseminate more data.
• Promote Southeast Asian studies, courses, and personnel.
• Support community organizations.
• Create new systems for financial and technical support.

• Read the Full Report

Yang, K.Y. (2004) “Southeast Asian American Children: Not the ‘Model Minority.’” Children of Immigrant Families 14 (2). The Future of Children. Retrieved from http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=39&articleid=129&sectionid=850.

Tags: Intervention; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Middle, High School, Post-Secondary (all adolescents)

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• How do Latino adolescents navigate the different social settings and institutions that they encounter in life?
• Within the current environment, are school and work viewed by Latino youth as a great "equalizer," part of an opportunity structure that can give them the tools and security to succeed and progress?
• Or, do Latino youth perceive these settings as further reinforcing the broader inequalities that they already face?
• Do young Latinos feel that they are treated differently within such settings, and if so, in which specific ways do they experience and interpret these differences?
• Broadly speaking, how do young Latinos' interactions within all of these systems affect their sense of well-being, identity, and belonging in U.S. society?

Findings:

• Latino youth tend to have an optimistic outlook on the role of education and a strong desire to achieve successful careers. These attitudes are often associated with the hopes and expectations of their immigrant parents and with their own desire to contribute to their community and nation.
• Despite these optimistic attitudes, the teenagers expressed a pervasive sense of being negatively stereotyped by institutional actors as varied as teachers, employers, and police officers. They described how assumptions about Hispanic youth and Latinos in general are manifested within the different social settings discussed.
• Latino youth report significant ethnic stereotyping at school by teachers, administrators, and peers. Such stereotyping, they feel, often leads Hispanic students to be overlooked, excluded, or negatively tracked, and results in unequal educational opportunities.
• The youth often perceive the workplace as a site of unfair practices based on racial and ethnic assumptions on the part of employers. Many of these youth's perceptions of discrimination in the workforce were directly related to the experiences of their parents and other community members.
• Across all focus groups, the youth emphatically described feeling unfairly and habitually profiled by law enforcement as a result of negative assumptions regarding Hispanic youth, gangs, and immigrants. Such regular contact with the police, which takes place in a variety of spaces, compounds feelings of vulnerability and distrust in their communities.
• One of the most consistent findings across the focus groups was the teenagers' pervasive sense of being racialized-or constructed as different, as "other"-on a regular basis, and in practically all realms of experience.

• Read the Full Report

Foxen, P. (2010, October, 21)."Speaking Out: Latino Youth on Discrimination in the United States" National Council of La Raza. Retrieved January 3, 2011, from: http://www.nclr.org/index.php/publications/speaking_out_latino_youth_on_discrimination_in_the_united_states/

Tags: Intervention; Rights, Students; Struggling Readers;

Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What progress has been made in raising achievement among ELLs?

Findings:

• Overall, the study finds that ELLs have made progress in reaching state proficiency benchmarks in reading and math in elementary, middle, and high school, although more gains were made at the elementary and middle school levels. In grade 4, increasing percentages of ELLs have reached three achievement levels-basic, proficient, and advanced- with the highest proportion of states making gains at the proficient level.
• However, according to the study, very large differences in percentages proficient exist between ELLs and non-ELLs. In high school reading, for example, 27 states have differences of more than 30 percentage points between ELLs and non-ELLs, and 18 states have differences of more than 40 percentage points. Differences in test performance for high school students are smaller, however, in math than in reading.

• Read the Full Report

Chudowsky, N. & Chudowsky, V. (2010, April 7). State Test Score Trends Through 2007-08: Has Progress Been Made in Raising Achievement for English Language Learners?. Center on Education Policy (CEP). Retrieved January 6, 2011 from: http://www.cep-dc.org/index.cfm?DocumentSubTopicID=34

Tags: American Indian ELL Students; Asian ELL Students; Differentiated Instruction; Latino ELL Students; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.); Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students; Struggling Readers;

Target Population: Parents, teachers, and advocates of elementary and middle schools' education.

Research Questions the Report Poses: This article raises the question of the impact of school mobility and its negative effects on student's educational outcomes.

Findings:

• Hispanic immigrants show the highest mobility rates in states like North Carolina and California.
• Current data shows that a student and its family move from state to state more than three times a year during the first grades of elementary school.
• The negative effect of constant moving is the disruption it causes in the new classroom and in the children involved in this moving process.

Policy Recommendations:

• School districts should monitor students' mobility, especially those students who are moving constantly causing academic disruption in any new classroom.
• School districts should also provide counseling to families who are flagged by mobility rates to ameliorate this situation and prevent constant moving.

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Hard copies can be ordered from CALDER and the Urban Institute.

Xu, Z., Hannaway, J., and D'Souza, S. (2009). Student Transience in North Carolina: The Effect of School Mobility on Student Outcomes Using Longitudinal Data. North Carolina: National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research.

Tags: Motivation; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: How are immigrants adapting to life in the United States, particularly considering their country of origin?

Findings:

• First, immigrant children and children of immigrants (that is, the first and second generations) tend to have higher ambition (aspirations or expectations, or both) than their third–generation and higher counterparts and have generally superior academic performance.
• Immigrants of different national origins vary significantly in both ambition and performance. (Asian–origin groups tend to have higher and more stable expectations and to perform better in school; Mexican, Latino, and Caribbean immigrants scatter toward the opposite end of the spectrum.)
• Girls consistently have higher ambition and perform better than boys.
• Aspirations and academic performance are strongly correlated, although it is hard to say which causes which.
• Along with their aspirations and expectations, the self–identities and self–esteem of children of immigrants are key to their assimilation.
• Place of birth and length of residence in the host society are powerful determinants of self–identity.
• Education promotes a dual or "transnational" identity.
• Immigrant youths of color such as blacks, mulattoes, mestizos, and Asians are more likely to experience discrimination and, hence, to develop a reactive ethnicity and adopt ethnic labels that they usually regard as very important.
• The American racial hierarchy has resulted in a plurality of self–designations among children of immigrants, into four categories: nonhyphenated Americans, hyphenated Americans, pan–ethnics, and nonhyphenated foreign nationals.
• Fluent bilingualism is associated with higher cognitive development, academic performance, and self–esteem in adolescence.
• Fluency in the language of the host society is almost universal among second–generation youths; fluency in the parental languages is much less common.
• All national origin groups make significant progress from the first to the second generation in educational attainment, with second–generation outcomes approaching average outcomes for native whites.
• Although all national origin groups make educational progress, second–generation Mexicans and Central Americans fall significantly behind native whites in rates of high school completion and college graduation.
• Male incarceration rates increase for all national origin groups between the first and second generations, with Mexican and Latin American the highest and Asian the lowest.
• Female fertility rates in adolescence and early adulthood decline across generations for all Latin national origin groups, while Asian fertility rates are extremely low and decline further between generations.
• Although there is educational progress between the first and second generations, subsequent generations stagnate educationally and occupationally. They never catch up with the native–white averages.

Policy Recommendations:

• A first urgent policy measure is the legalization of 1.5–generation youths who are unauthorized migrants.
• Legislation like the DREAM Acts needs to be passed lest the immigrant youth population devolves into a self–fulfilling prophecy in which youths barred from conventional mobility channels turn to gangs and other unorthodox means of self–affirmation and survival.
• The available evidence supports the paradox that preserving the linguistic and cultural heritage of the home countries often helps migrant children move ahead in America.

• Read the Full Report

Portes, A., Rivas, A. (2011) "The Adaptation of Migrant Children." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=547.

Tags: Differentiated Instruction; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: How can American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds be used more effectively to address the needs of English language learners?

Findings:

• Though the ARRA stimulus package is aimed to assist all children in the nation, ELLs in particular need additional support because: they are a rapidly–growing population, there is an achievement gap between ELLs and non–ELLs, and there has been inadequate progress in Title I.
• Schools and districts should specifically target both the English language proficiency and academic content needs of ELLs (including those reclassified as fluent).
• Data systems that enable longitudinal tracking of student progress are especially important for ELLs, whose designation status often varies by district and changes as they develop their English proficiency.
• The knowledge base on effective science instruction for ELLs is inadequate, so methods should be evaluated and developed to improve it.

Policy Recommendations:

• Regarding Title I help for disadvantaged students: Improve assessment and accountability, instructional materials, support and extended time, dropout prevention, native language support, and parental engagement.
• Establish better coordination systems between special education and language support services and to support the extension of language support services to ELL students in special education programs.
• Purchase technology that enables visualization and stimulation such as smart boards and document projectors.
• Expand professional development that explicitly addresses the needs of ELLs, and fund incentives and career ladders for prospective English as a Second Language and bilingual education teachers.
• Develop and improve preschool programs for ELLs.
• Address the recruitment, certification and mentoring of teachers of ELLs in a comprehensive and systematic way.
• Develop adequate and appropriate data and assessment systems to track the long-term educational prospects for ELLs.

Working Group on ELL Policy. (2009). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Recommendations for Addressing the Needs of English Language Learners. Retrieved from: http://ellpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ELL-Stimulus-Recommendations.pdf

Tags: Intervention; Motivation; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: How can community colleges increase the number of students who apply for financial aid?

Findings:
It is not the lack of available information on filing for FAFSA to blame for the lower percentages of community college students applying for financial aid, but rather the failure of community colleges to disseminate information and reach out to students individually and proactively. Because community colleges face funding limitations themselves, they must use more creative methods to reach students. Community colleges must consider their respective circumstances and student populations; however the most consistently applicable strategies are initiating personal interactions and suggesting practical solutions.

Policy Recommendations:
Short-Term:

• Increase student access to financial aid information (ie bilingual services and materials; evening and weekend office hours; multimedia.)
• Involve the community (ie inform parents, coordinate with high schools, collaborate with community organizations that provide the same help.)
• Link financial aid application with college registration
• Conduct workshops/information sessions about financial aid geared to specific audiences

• Survey students on how they get their community information.
• Establish a common/statewide system for financial aid administration.
• Establish mentor and then transition programs in high schools.

• Read the Full Report

College Board Advocacy & Policy Center. (2010). The Financial Aid Challenge: Successful Practices that Address the Underutilization of Financial Aid in Community Colleges. New York, New York: College Board.

Tags: Intervention; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: How do “economic models of segregation, information-based discrimination, peer dynamics, and identity” relate to/affect the achievement gap between blacks and whites?

Findings:

• Segregation is an unlikely answer unless one finds evidence that suggests the price of segregation changed drastically over the relevant time period.
• Models of information-based discrimination are also unlikely to explain the trends in the racial achievement gap. This class of models has the troubling feature that the return on investment is lower for the group who is discriminated against. Yet, data suggest the opposite.
• Models of peer dynamics and identity -both relatively new to the field of social economics-have the potential to explain the data. Their differences are subtle: the identity model depends on a shift in preferences which eschews achievement; a peer dynamic framework predicts that achievement and social mobility will be negatively correlated. Further data and refinement of these models are needed to eventually solve this important puzzle.

• Read the Full Report

Fryer, R.G. (2010, August). The Importance of Segregation, Discrimination, Peer Dynamics, and Identity in Explaining Trends in the Racial Achievement Gap. National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved January 5, 2011 from: http://www.nber.org/papers/w16257

Tags: Asian ELL Students; Intervention; Latino ELL Students; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.); Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What challenges and risk factors do immigrant children face?
• What are the implications of the living arrangements of immigrant children, especially of the three most vulnerable groups (Mexican, Southeast Asian, and Black-Caribbean)?
• What unique qualities of immigrant families work to children's advantages?
• How do U.S. immigrant and integration policies shape immigrant families' circumstances?

Findings:

• Recent immigrants are more likely than more settled immigrants to live in extended families, and these are more often of lateral extension (ie co–residence with a relative in a similar stage of life) than vertical extension adults with their parents). While this offers support in the short–term, it does not have long–term benefits.
• Single–parent families have markedly higher child poverty rates than married–parent families; Cohabiting–couple families generally have child poverty rates between the two.
• Children of immigrants are considerably more likely to live with married parents than are children of natives.
• Compared to native children of their same race, immigrant children are more likely to live with extended family, but less likely to live with grandparents.
• The major challenge facing Mexican immigrants and their children is their limited opportunity for economic integration, owing in large part to their low education, skills, and financial resources, coupled with limited English proficiency and, frequently, unauthorized legal status.
• Recent Mexican immigrants are far more likely to have two–parent families, and this tendency decreases with each generation.
• Living arrangements and challenges especially vary among Southeast Asian immigrants, based on origin, refugee/nonrefugee status, and generation of arrival.
• Black Caribbean immigrant children are far more likely than other ethnicities to live in single–parent homes, specifically female–headed families due to demographics and norms in their home countries.

Policy Recommendations:

• The office of Citizenship and Immigration should work to reduce backlogs of immigrants awaiting citizenship so as to reduce time of separation within families and improve children's lives.
• To reduce immigration backlogs: adequate staffing; affording some citizens' privileges to Legal Permanent Residents, specifically reduced waiting time to bring over children and spouses, even if not parents.
• Current admission criteria need to be reevaluated and updated to account for more recent trends.
• Decrease workforce raids, and deportation in general, when children are involved.
• Though complicated and difficult, it would be very advantageous to develop policies to reduce marital dissolution and nonmarital childbearing.
• More attention and resources should be directed toward immigrant settlement. Legal immigrants and their children should be granted greater access to the social safety net regardless of citizenship status. At the very least, immigrant parents need accurate information about social welfare benefits for which they and their children are eligible.

• Read the Full Report

Landale, N., Thomas, K., Van Hook, J. (2011). "Demography of Immigrant Youth: Past, Present, and Future." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=540.

Tags: Intervention; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are the current circumstances of health status among immigrant youths?
• What are the policy implications of these troubling trends and how can they be reversed?

Findings:

• Foreign–born children face several risk factors: poverty, family separation, political violence, and low rates of health insurance coverage and health care use.
• Nevertheless, researchers consistently find an immigrant health advantage across a variety of medical outcomes, for three proposed reasons:
  1. 1) Foreign–born immigrant children engage in more positive health behaviors than their U.S.–born peers (ex. Drinking and smoking less);
  2. 2) Foreign–born children tend to live in two–parent and multigenerational households with high levels of family and social support.
  3. 3) Children who immigrate may be a selectively healthy group as compared to those who stay in their home country despite problematic situations.
• The current evidence clearly indicates a link between racial discrimination and health: Youth who experience discrimination report more anxiety, more depressive symptoms, more risky health behaviors, lower self–esteem, and reduced academic motivations and expectations. There is also a link to physical health outcomes in minority children, including conditions associated with high rates of coronary heart disease and inflammatory disorders.
• Children who immigrate at younger ages have health–risk profiles similar to children born in the United States to foreign–born parents: They tend to adopt more risky health behaviors such as alcohol use, smoking, and early sexual activity, and they face a higher risk of psychiatric disorders such as depression.
• Foreign–born children experience better outcomes than do children in U.S.–born families, but this advantage fades over time and across generations.
• While first– and second–generation children fare well on many aspects of physical well–being, this advantage relative to their native peers does not always translate into good mental health.
• In 2008, nearly 45 percent of noncitizen U.S. residents, 18 percent of naturalized citizens, and 13 percent of U.S.–born citizens lacked health insurance coverage. Because most children depend on their parents to obtain health insurance, parental citizenship and immigration status can influence children's health insurance status.
• Parents of U.S. citizen children may forgo public health insurance and other services because of their own legal status and mistaken fears that they will be deemed a "public charge" if their children receive public health insurance benefits. Immigrants deemed a public charge can be denied U.S. citizenship or prohibited from sponsoring the immigration of a family member.
• When immigrants face challenges obtaining physician–based medical care, they may turn to complementary and alternative medical providers such as acupuncturists or spiritual healers.

Policy Recommendations:

• To better understand the developmental consequences of migration, national longitudinal data on the children of immigrants are also sorely needed.
• Health care providers need to be sensitive to immigrants' cultures and their preferences for particular modes of delivery (that is, times, locations, and language). For example:
  1. 1) Lay health adviser programs to educate natural leaders in immigrant communities.
  2. 2) Improved access by locating clinics within immigrant communities or near public transportation.
  3. 3) Clinic hours that extend beyond the standard 9–5 schedule.
• Policy makers need to reduce additional structural barriers limiting the ability of immigrant children and their parents to access care.
• Policy makers can also remove state and local ordinances requiring a patient to show proof of citizenship before receiving care provided by local public health departments and community clinics.
• States need to invest in outreach to increase enrollment in health insurance programs and use of existing services.

• Read the Full Report

Perreira, K.M., Ornelas, I.J. (2011) "The Physical and Psychological Well–Being of Immigrant Children." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=546.

Tags: Intervention; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Post-secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: How do grant aid limit college assess and persistence among low-income and moderate income graduates?

Findings:

• Large-scale mismatches exist and are growing between the aspirations and qualifications of these high school graduates and where they are able financially to enroll in college.
• Triggered by increasing family financial concerns about college expenses and financial aid, these mismatches are shifting initial enrollment of qualified students away from 4-year colleges.
• Shifts in initial enrollment are consequential because where qualified high school graduates are able to start college (access) largely determines their likelihood of success (persistence).
• Exacerbating the negative impact of enrollment shifts, persistence rates today appear to be lower, especially for qualified high school graduates who are unable financially to start at a 4-year college.
• Maintaining financial access to 4-year public colleges for qualified high school graduates is of paramount policy importance.
• Between 1992 and 2004, initial enrollment rates of academically qualified low- and moderate-income high school graduates in 4-year colleges shifted downward: from 54 percent to 40 percent, and from 59 percent to 53 percent, respectively.
• The cause appears to have been an increase in the importance of college expenses and financial aid to parents and students between 1992 and 2004 (Table 4, page 17). Differences in family financial concerns accounted for 45 percentage points difference in 4-year college enrollment for in 2004.
• High school graduates from low-income families who started at a 4-year college earned a bachelor's degree over three times more often than their peers who started at a 2-year college, 62 percent vs. 20 percent. Their peers from moderate-income income families earned the degree nearly twice as often, 67 percent vs. 34 percent (table 7, page 26). Given current policies, shifts in enrollment from 4-year to 2-year colleges have implications for degree completion.
• Persistence of low-income high school graduates five years after starting at a 4-year college has fallen from 78 percent to 75 percent; for those from moderate-income families, persistence has remained at 81 percent (figure 25, page 27). For those starting at a 2-year college, persistence has fallen significantly .

Policy Recommendations:

• In addition, given steadily rising net prices and cumulative loan burdens, and the considerable impact of parent financial concerns in 10th grade on college enrollment behavior, a national experiment is required. Its purpose would be to determine the impact on family financial concerns of current features of the federal student loan programs - in particular, the income-contingency and forgiveness provisions. This study should determine how the programs might be improved to offset the negative effects of financial concerns on students taking the steps of testing, applying, and enrolling in a 4-year college (exhibit five, page 35).
• Improving academic preparation alone might raise the rates to only 27 percent and 39 percent, respectively (table 13, page 37).
• Improving access (enrollment) alone might raise the rates to only 33 percent and 42 percent, respectively (table 14, page 38).
• Improving persistence alone might raise the rates to only 34 percent and 45 percent, respectively (table 15, page 39).
• Conduct a National Loan Experiment.
• Implement a Comprehensive Federal Strategy.

• Read the Full Report

“The Rising Price of Inequality: How Inadequate Grant Aid Limits College Access and Persistence”. (2010). Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. Retrieved August 3, 2010 from: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010015.pdf

Tags: Latino ELL Students; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Middle and high school students

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are Latino parents' perceptions of their own participation in their children's education?
• What are schools' and teachers' expectations of parental involvement?
• How do parents' and schools' expectations match?
• What are Latino students' perceptions of their parents' role in their education?
• What are the programmatic initiatives that address parental involvement?

Findings:

• Schools and school districts need to have clear goals and objectives to increase parental involvement in middle and high schools.
• Latino parents most often define the word education (educación) as their parental involvement in their children's lives, and, as a consequence, this will help students in their academic performance in school.
• Latino parents describe the communication between parents and teachers/administrators/counselors in middle or high school as rather impersonal and inadequate.
• Language, for Latino parents, is still the main factor that discourages them from actively participating in school activities and events.
• The second, most important reason for low Latino parental involvement is work demand.

Policy Recommendations:

The author recommends:

• Statewide and national accountability requirements measuring parental involvement
• Legislation that allows flex time or work-leave for school meetings
• Increased bilingual staffing
• Funding for innovative parent engagement models
• Large-scale partnerships between communities, universities, and schools
• Clear goals for increasing parental involvement
• Compensation for teachers with strong records of parental engagement
• Increased professional development

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning and Development 650 Childs Way, Lewis Hall, Suite 102 Los Angeles, California 90089-0626

Zarate, Maria Estela. (2007). Understanding Latino Parental Involvement in Education: Perceptions, Expectations, and Recommendations. Los Angeles, California. The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute. University of Southern California.

Tags: Latino ELL Students; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students; Vocabulary;

Target Population: General

Research Questions the Report Poses: This article raises the question of what constitutes the Hispanic/Latino/Spanish ethnicity based on the definition adopted by the US Congress in 1976.

Findings:

• The 1976 U.S. Congress act defines Hispanic/Latino/Spanish to be "Americans of Spanish origin and descent." (Passel and Taylor, 2009).
• The upcoming 2010 Census will count as Hispanic/Latino/Spanish all persons who define themselves as Hispanic. The Census will consider their origins, but it will take their word as the determining factor.
• The 1976 U.S. Congress act defines Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic/Latina/Spanish to be a leader in the Supreme Court.

Policy Recommendations:
N/A

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Pew Hispanic Center 1615 L Street, NW Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036-5610

Passel, Jeffrey and Paul Taylor. (2009). Who's Hispanic? Washington, D.C. Pew Hispanic Center.

Tags: Rights, Students;

Target Population: Preschool, Elementary, Middle, High School, Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: What connections exist between segregation by race, segregation by poverty, and unequal opportunity?

Findings:
N/A

Policy Recommendations:

The authors recommend:

• A concerted effort to avoid high concentrations of low-income students within isolated schools.
• Assignment and choice policies that foster more diverse schools.
• Housing and land use policies designed on a regional basis to foster access for all students to strong schools and educational diversity.
• Examining the social consequences of proposals to terminate desegregation plans that lower isolation by race and class.
• Examining the impacts of Latino segregation and of multiracial schools.
• Encouraging schools to examine classroom segregation by class and race.
• School reforms designed to address rapidly changing socioeconomic realities.
• Fostering racial and economic diversity in charter schools.
• Court orders and remedial plans designed to address findings of educational inadequacy.

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
The Civil Rights Project / Proyecto Derechos Civiles 8370 Math Sciences, Box 951521 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1521

Orfield, G. and Lee, C. (2005, January). Why segregation matters: Poverty and educational inequality. Cambridge, MA: Civil Rights Project Harvard University.