On February, 28, 2024 A coalition of educators, researchers, and advocates launched the National Newcomer Network Policy Platform to encourage support for newly arrived students to the U.S. and to make recommendations for their civil rights protections and services. The recommendations call for federal legislation and dedicated state funding to support wraparound services for students, including a proposal to strengthen newcomer case manager roles in school districts in partnership with community-based organizations.
The platform recommends:
-Developing and improving statewide intake procedures for newcomer students through targeted funding.
-Technical assistance should be provided to districts to implement this guidance.
-Authorizing funding for federal pilot programs to develop and expand instructional models for secondary students who are newcomers;
-Creating guidelines within the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) Office of English Language Acquisition for how administrators can best support newcomer students;
-Requiring the USDE to monitor the implementation of student programs and teacher training; and
-Designating federal funds to assist states in disaggregating data to support resources to meet the needs of newcomer students.
Meanwhile, to help meet the growing need for multilingual staff, some schools are developing higher ed. partnerships to recruit teachers who work with English learners and newcomer students. As a result, dual immersion programs have grown increasingly popular in California schools over the last several years.
To read more from K-12 Dive on the Newcomer Network Policy Platform, click here.
To read more from K-12 Dive on addressing the need for multilingual staff, click here.