Serving Newcomer Students at the Secondary Level

English language learners (ELLs) represent the fastest-growing student segment of the K-12 population in the U.S. Among ELLs, newly arrived immigrant adolescents represent one of the most at-risk subgroups for academic failure—especially those with gaps in their formal education and low levels of English literacy. Profiled districts generally define newcomer students as immigrant students who have spent between one and four years in the U.S. school system. This research brief discusses how to meet the diverse educational and social-emotional needs in serving newcomer students in middle and high school.

Consider the “program-within-school” model

60%

percent of secondary newcomer programs profiled by the Center for Applied Linguistics operate a “program-within-school” approach

Research by the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) demonstrates that the program-within-school model, in which select or all school sites operate distinct newcomer programs, is the most common approach. The next most common approach is the “separate-site” model, in which administrators dedicate a separate district facility to the newcomer program. Some programs operate for less than a full day and newcomers attend their zoned schools for the remainder of the time. Students enroll in the program for a limited period of time—in most separate-site programs, students stay for only a year. Administrators at District B and District E had been serving newcomer students through the separate-site model. In addition to a program-within-school model, administrators at District C operate a “whole-school” model, which is the least common approach for newcomer programs. In this model, district administrators dedicate one or more full, four-year high schools to serve only newcomers. This school serves as the home school for newcomers for all four years.

Proactively identify newcomers’ academic and social-emotional needs

Administrators at most profiled districts use a centralized enrollment system in which all new students register at a centralized district office. In serving newcomer students, administrators conduct assessments and/or interviews with students and their parents to gather information on students’ educational backgrounds and social-emotional needs. Administrators use information from these meetings to determine appropriate grade placement decisions and to connect families with school-based and community-based resources. Administrators use this intake process to ensure that all newcomers receive comprehensive evaluations for their academic and non-academic needs.

Today, schools across the country serve over two million foreign-born children aged five to seventeen, which comprises approximately 4.1 percent of the total student population.

Provide extended day and summer enrichment programming

All ninth-grade newcomers at District G attend hour long after-school academic sessions, four days a week. Teachers dedicate one day every week to each core content area (i.e., English, math, science, history). In each session, content-area teachers reinforce material from the week and assist students with their homework. Administrators also require all incoming ninth and 10th grade newcomers to attend a four-week-long, half-day summer enrichment program. In the summer program, students learn new content in the core content areas to prepare for the upcoming school year. Administrators at District G target extended day and summer programming to ninth and 10th grade students because these students are the most at-risk for dropping out of school.

Research suggests that ELLs need at least four to eight years to attain the average academic performance of native English speakers.

Expedite ESL certification pathway

Administrators at both District B and District F partner with local universities to offer an expedited and less expensive pathway for general education teachers to gain ESL certification. Contacts at both profiled districts expect that an expedited pathway to ESL certification will encourage more general education teachers to earn their ESL certification—thus increasing newcomer program staffing at middle schools and high schools in serving newcomer students.

The state in which District B is located mandates that teachers complete coursework related to ESL certification and pass the English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Praxis exam, to attain ESL certification.