The U.S. Department of Education has released a Newcomer Tool Kit to help U.S. educators and others who work directly with immigrant students and their families. It is designed to help elementary and secondary teachers, principals, and other school staff:
- expand and strengthen opportunities for cultural and linguistic integration and education,
- understand some basics about their legal obligations to newcomers,
- provide welcoming schools and classrooms for newcomers and their families,
- provide newcomers with the academic support to attain English language proficiency (if needed) and to meet college and career readiness standards, and
- support and develop newcomers’ social emotional skills.
The Newcomer Tool Kit provides
- discussion of topics relevant to understanding, supporting, and engaging newcomer students and their families;
- tools, strategies, and examples of classroom and schoolwide practices in action, along with chapter-specific professional learning activities for use in staff meetings or professional learning communities; and
- selected resources for further information and assistance, most of which are available online at no cost.
Download the toolkit at www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/new-comer-toolkit/ncomertoolkit.pdf.