1. MOVING STORIES: Educational Pathways of Immigrant Youth C AROLA S UÁREZ -O ROZCO, Ph.D. M ARCELO S UÁREZ -O ROZCO, Ph.D. Co-Directors Immigration Studies @ NYU NYU Steinhardt School of Education www.nyu.education/immigration /

2. Immigration Studies @ NYU Immigrant Youth  Fastest growing child population ~ Currently 1 in 5 ~ Projected 1 in 3 by 2040  Highly diverse ~ National origins ~ Race & color ~ Religion ~ Languages ~ Ethnicity ~ Socio-economic

3. Immigration Studies @ NYU ADAPTATION PATTERNS  Three Pathways ~ Some Outperform Native Born ~ Some Overlap with Native Born ~ Some Achieve Below Native Born  Epidemiological Paradox ~ Physical Health ~ Mental Health ~ Engaging in risk behaviors ~ Academic performance

4. Immigration Studies @ NYU Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation Study  Longitudinal interdisciplinary, & comparative  Documenting continuities and discontinuities in immigrant youth’s educational attitudes and adaptations over time  Youth originated in Central America, China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, & Mexico  Ages 9 & 14 at beginning of study  Recruited from 51 schools in 7 school districts in the Boston & San Francisco areas [Ethnographic observations occur in 20 schools]  Thirty graduate level bicultural and multi-lingual research assistants  Funded to date by the National Science Foundation, the W.T. Grant Foundation and The Spencer Foundation.

5. Immigration Studies @ NYU Research Questions  How does academic performance change over time for newcomer immigrant youth?  What are the pathways of immigrant student performance?  What are the factors that best account for performance?  What is the role of cognitive, relational, and behavioral engagement in academic performance?

6. Immigration Studies @ NYU

11. Facilitating Immigrant Student Achievement  Recognize protracted nature of academic English language acquisition  Build on strengths while recognizing transient English language limitations  Scaffold on all available linguistic and cultural resources  Mediate learning in a variety of ways  Maintain high but realistic expectations  Foster supportive relationships in school & in after-school contexts  Provide emotional & tangible supports  Between all partners ~teachers and students ~teachers and parents ~inter-student  Recognize diversity not just as a challenge but also as a resource for learning  Embrace immigrant children’s hopes and harness their energies