Concerns of newly arrived immigrant students: implications for school counselors

Professional School Counseling, Oct, 2003 by Franklyn C. Williams, S. Kent Butler

RESPONSES TO NEWLY ARRIVED IMMIGRANT STUDENTS

Some school districts simply overlook or ignore the needs of newly arrived immigrant students. However, for those that do attend to these needs, two responses have been identified: (a) schools created solely for these students (commonly known as newcomer schools) and (b) individual school-based initiatives such as transition programs or support groups that are contained within the larger school context (Feinberg, 2000). Neither of the latter two responses is counseling specific. Nevertheless, they still warrant an examination in this discussion.

Newcomer Schools

As of 1996-1997, there were seven newcomer high schools across the country. One such school is Liberty High School in New York City. Another is Newcomer High School in San Francisco, which was actually the first newcomer school when it opened in 1979 (Perkins, 2000). As noted previously, newcomer schools are those that only serve newly arrived immigrant students. In other words, these schools are strictly devoted to addressing the special needs of these students. This is done within the context of a complete educational program or state-approved curriculum. These schools are fully staffed by administration, teachers, counselors, and support personnel just as any other school. Students are expected to remain at such schools anywhere from one year to--in the case of high schools--the full 4 years. The length of attendance depends on the school and upon predetermined time limits on attendance.

With regard to counseling and guidance, these schools may or may not offer specific mental health or other social services. As a matter of fact, most of them focus more so on language issues than any other issues. Even when mental health and other social services are offered, they may not necessarily be guidance and counseling specific.

School-based Initiatives

School-based initiatives designed to help newly arrived immigrant students include a variety of services that addresses their special needs. These initiatives vary from school to school and from district to district. According to data from the Center for

Applied Linguistics (2000), there were more than 110 programs in 26 states that catered to the special needs of newly arrived immigrant students. Most of these programs are designed as separate programs within regular middle or high schools (Short, 2000). Many of them are full school-day programs, some are half day, and others are after school programs. For the most part, the instructional components of many of these programs focus on developing both language and academic skills so that students might eventually transfer to the regular ESL or bilingual programs within their schools or districts of origin (Short). Further, to assist newly arrived immigrant students with becoming more familiar with life in American public schools and American society, many of these school-based programs offer courses in cultural orientation.

Support groups are also an important component of some school-based initiatives. One example of a successful support group is the bicultural group offered at one Los Angeles public high school (Cardenas & Taylor, 1993). Newly arrived immigrant students in this group meet regularly during a set time in the school day. They discuss issues that are important to them such as difficulties with language, lack of adequate social support, and academic performance in a new environment and atmosphere of learning. Participants in this specific group claimed that is has been invaluable in providing them with the motivation and support that they need to be successful in their new school environments in this country (Cardenas & Taylor). One young man even shared how the support group was a key factor in convincing him to remain in school until graduation. For sure, there are other programs around the country that embody the same mission and produce the same results as this above-mentioned group.