Publication:
The National Emergence of Newcomer Schools: Their Growth, Characteristics, and Outcomes

Date

2023

Authors

Davis, Elizabeth

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Research Projects

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Abstract

This empirical study examines the growth and characteristics of newcomer schools, as well as the associations between newcomer school characteristics and student outcomes. Newcomer schools are specialized schools for children newly arrived in the U.S. with limited English language proficiency and often interrupted education. To conduct this study, I constructed a school-by-year dataset for school years 1986-2018 that incorporates student demographics, student outcomes, school characteristics and quality indicators, district resources and demographics, and migration data. The dataset is comprised of data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA), the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), the U.S. Census, and New York City Department of Education data. The dataset includes approximately 80,000-100,000 schools per year and over 400 variables. Analysis draws upon contexts of reception theory to examine the classroom, school, and district level contexts and conditions of newcomer schools and the ways that these contribute to the educational outcomes of newcomer students. Findings show that newcomer schools have spread from mostly coastal, urban areas to locations throughout the country, and serve a diverse range of students. Newcomer schools tend to have greater financial resources and smaller support staff to student ratios than non-newcomer schools, but are more likely to employ less experienced educators, offer fewer rigorous courses, and have higher rates of student absenteeism than non-newcomer schools. Still, attendance at a newcomer school is associated with positive effects in Algebra I and English standardized exams. Findings from this study can inform policy and practice to better allocate resources to meet the needs of shifting demographics and to meet the educational needs of English Learners (ELs) by building responsive contexts of reception. Findings can also support the improvement of educational equity among newcomer schools and between newcomer schools and non-newcomer schools. Furthermore, this study informs future research through the identification of additional data collection needs to strengthen understanding of the effect of newcomer schools on newcomer education.

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Keywords

immigrant students, immigration, newcomer education, newcomer schools

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