The Importance of School Climate for Immigrant Students
A positive school climate, where students feel safe, supported, and have a strong sense of belonging, is critical for academic success and healthy development. However, current school climate measures often fail to consider the unique experiences of immigrant origin students.
Moving Stories
(Im)migration is an experience that almost everyone in the United States shares somewhere in their family history. Whether it is recent or took place generations ago; by choice or through forced migration; for adventure, to seek a better life, or for refuge—except for native peoples—migration is at the center of nearly every family history. Reflecting upon our moving stories, listening to one another explore, relating to those experiences, and learning from those narratives are powerful ways to find common ground. This is ever more important as immigrant-origin students are experiencing polarized and stereotype-ridden public narratives about their (and their families’) place in our nation. Finding ways to connect, listen and engage around narratives of migration provides a crucial opportunity for immigrant-origin students to feel supported in their social, emotional, academic and civic growth and for their peers to explore their own families’ migration histories, their misperceptions around migration, and to find common ground.
Longitudinal Student Immigrant Adaptation Study
This large scale, interdisciplinary, longitudinal, and comparative study, illuminated the relationships between immigration, family life and education by addressing the various ways in which schools and other institutions are changing the lives of newcomer immigrant youth. This data set has been the foundation of many publications (including Harvard University Press’ Learning a New Land: Immigrant Students in American Society) as well as numerous scholarly articles and dissertations.
UndocuScholars Project
This national survey focused on the college experiences of undergraduate UndocuScholar students. Its goals were to expand knowledge about the range of UndocuScholars’ experiences in order to challenge false assumptions and damaging misperceptions, and to use this knowledge to better inform on-campus practice and services as well as local and national public policy.
A positive school climate, where students feel safe, supported, and have a strong sense of belonging, is critical for academic success and healthy development. However, current school climate measures often fail to consider the unique experiences of immigrant origin students.
