Crossroads: The Psychology of Immigration in the New Century

that it is essential to make “long-term investments in
systematic language support” (Christensen & Stanat, 2007, p.
2) and to provide preservice and professional development
training for teachers to help them appropriately support
their ELL students. Although ideology often competes with
scientific evidence in determining how children should
be taught to develop new language skills, some efforts
are demonstrating real promise in facilitating language
acquisition. The diversity of political and ideological climates
means that in each district, certain programs are more or less
likely to be adopted, regardless of their proven effectiveness.
However, innovative approaches are being developed in
divergent contexts and offer a range of options worthy of
study and emulation (see Christensen & Stanat, 2007; C.
Suárez-Orozco, Suárez-Orozco, & Sattin-Bajal, 2009).
To effectively educate and integrate all immigrant-origin
students, every educator and support staff member in the
school should consider immigrant students’ education as
part of their responsibility. Instruction of immigrant-origin
children resides almost exclusively in the domain of a small
cohort of ELL teachers, who are marginalized along with
their students and receive little guidance or support (Trickett
et al., 2012). As a result, the rest of the school community
may not feel sufficiently involved in ensuring these students’
academic success (C. Suárez-Orozco, Pimentel, & Martin,
2009). These students’ needs go beyond second-language
development to include cultural adaptation, social support,
and assistance in general academic subjects. Therefore,
schools should provide ongoing professional development to
all faculty and staff on how to work with immigrant-origin
children.
Just as teachers across academic disciplines are being
called on to incorporate literacy-building activities into
their lessons, the same must be true for taking on the
education of immigrant-origin students as a schoolwide
endeavor. School personnel will also require training in
effectively communicating with parents of different national,
cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. The importance of
family involvement in children’s education has been well
substantiated in the research literature (Fantuzzo, McWayne,
Perry, & Childs, 2004). Immigrant children’s need for
parental involvement and support may be particularly
acute, given that they are simultaneously adapting to a new
country, a new educational system, and often a new language
(Birman & Ryerson-Espino, 2007).
Immigrant Populations in Educational Contexts
Recognizing the varieties of cultural models of family
involvement immigrant families bring with them will
reduce some educators’ inaccurate stereotyping of immigrant
parents’ commitment to their children’s education (C.
Suárez-Orozco et al., 2008). Regardless of parents’ preferred
form of involvement, keeping them abreast of their
children’s academic progress, sharing important notices
and events, and communicating information about school
policies are some of the most critical ways in which school
districts can work to promote parental involvement.
In many cases, however, immigrant parents face substantial
challenges to engaging with their children’s school and
understanding the information they receive, not the least
of which are language and communication barriers. Efforts
to provide professional, culturally relevant translation and
interpretation services can go a long way toward improving
home–school relationships, bolstering communication,
and increasing immigrant families’ sense of comfort with
their children’s school and their teachers’ understanding of
the family’s circumstances. Ultimately, children can benefit
tremendously when their parents are well-informed about
their education, but this can only happen when parents
have access to the information they need to support their
children and intervene when necessary (Birman & Ryerson-
Espino, 2007; C. Suárez-Orozco, Suárez-Orozco, & Sattin-
Bajal, 2009).
Increasingly, higher educational credentials have become
basic requirements for entry into the skilled labor market.
Awareness of the importance of acquiring postsecondary
credentials and the process it takes to access these
opportunities is a key issue related to the successful
integration and education of children of immigrants.
Navigating the maze of colleges, universities, and vocational
and technical programs that exist in different societies is a
challenge for anyone who is among the first generation of
his or her family to go to college, but even more so for those
with parents who do not speak the language and have no
familiarity with the national educational system (C. Suárez-
Orozco, Gaytán, & Kim, 2010). It is critically important
to assist immigrant families in the process of searching
for schools, applying for admissions, and securing grants
and loans. Without such assistance, a generation of youth
may end up undereducated, underemployed, and unable
to participate in the global economy and our society (C.
Suárez-Orozco, Gaytán, & Kim, 2010).
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