The Center for Education Equity at MAEC is pleased to release this report, Creating New Futures for Newcomers: Lessons from Five Schools that Serve K-12 Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylees. We initiated this effort in response to a critical need articulated by principals, staff, resettlement organizations, and families. In this report, we provide information from five schools demonstrating effective practices addressing the multiple and complex needs of newcomers. The report shares the experiences and expertise of educators who teach and nurture our newest Americans. The report was written for MAEC by BethAnn Berliner, Principal Researcher at WestEd. Given the influx of immigrants and refugees over the past several years, newcomer students are found in the classrooms of small towns, suburbs, and big cities across the country and they bring with them a world of culturally diverse experiences and knowledge. Newcomers face myriad challenges to adapt and succeed in their new home and schools. They must learn how to navigate a new culture socially, master a new language, and adjust to a new, and typically different, educational system. Many of these students enter our schools with little or no formal education or fluency in English. Some have fled terrible conditions in their homelands. Others are here without their families. Despite these challenges, all share dreams of being successful students and productive members in our communities, while remaining linked to their cultures and native languages as they become first generation Americans.

Electronic reproduction.

Part 1. Newcomers and newcomer schools: Newcomers -- Newcomer Schools -- Selecting Newcomer Schools to Learn From -- The Five “Bright Spots” -- Part 2. Eight promising practices -- 1. Teach newcomers to be students -- 2. Lead with skill, purpose, and vision -- 3. Cultivate a qualified and supported workforce -- 4. Deliver effective English language and content instruction using multiple approaches -- 5. Use liaisons to build cultural understanding and student success -- 6. Support the whole child -- 7. Help parents to support student success -- 8. Partner with community resources -- part 3. Profiles: Lewiston High School, Lewiston, Maine -- Newcomer Academy, Louisville, Kentucky -- Rochester International Academy, Rochester, New York -- The Manhattan International High School, New York, New York -- Winooski Newcomer Program at John F. Kennedy Elementary School, Winooski Middle School, and Winooski High School, Winooski, Vermont -- Part 4. Conclusion -- Part 5. Resources -- Reports -- Websites -- Appendix.