"The term 'newcomers' refers to any foreign-born students and their families who have recently arrived in the United States. Throughout our country’s history, people from around the world have immigrated to the United States to start a new life, bringing their customs, religions, and languages with them. The United States is, to a great extent, a nation of immigrants. Newcomers play an important role in weaving our nation’s social and economic fabric, and U.S. schools play an important role in helping newcomers adapt and contribute as they integrate into American society."

"In 2019, the Oakland International Learning Lab commissioned a landscape analysis to examine the trends, policies, and practices related to K-12 newcomer education across the state. Partnering with the Sobrato Family Foundation, the International Networks for Public Schools, and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Public Policy, OIHS supported a policy fellow in conducting a literature review, interviewing over thirty policymakers and practitioners, and analyzing state level student data.

The infographic on the right summarizes our data findings along with relevant law and policy recommendations. The data comes directly from the California Department of Education, and allows us to examine demographic and enrollment information for Title III Immigrant Students (newcomers) in detail for the first time."

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"Helping Newcomer Students Succeed in Secondary Schools and Beyond addresses the successes, challenges, and day-to-day implementation of newcomer programs, drawing from information provided by the programs that participated in the national survey and those that served as case study sites. This report shows how successful newcomer programs develop students’ academic English literacy skills, provide access to the content courses that lead to college and career readiness, and guide students’ acculturation to U.S. schools and their eventual participation in civic life and the global economy."

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"In order to achieve integration into American culture and society—and into American schools in particular— newcomer students and their families need myriad forms of support from multiple sources. Newcomers and their families have four basic needs, each of which are discussed in this tool kit:

1. A welcoming environment (Chapter 2)

2. High-quality academic programs designed to meet the academic and language development needs of newcomer students (Chapter 3)

3. Social emotional support and skills development to be successful in school and beyond (Chapter 4)

4. Encouragement and support to engage in the education process (Chapter 5)

By recognizing these needs and developing strategies to meet them, schools can help newcomers build the necessary foundation to thrive both socially and emotionally and to achieve academic success."

When evaluating whether their chosen EL services and programs meet civil rights requirements. These standards, established in Castañeda v. Pickard, include a three-pronged test:

1. First, is the program based on an educational theory recognized as sound by some experts in the field or considered a legitimate experimental strategy?

2. Second, are the programs and practices (including resources and personnel) reasonably calculated to implement this theory effectively?

3. Third, does the program succeed in producing results indicating that students’ language barriers are being overcome within a reasonable period of time?