Meeting the Needs of Migrant Students

Over the past several months, public schools across the United States have experienced a surge of migrant students.1 This sudden influx of these students has caught many schools and teachers off-guard as they struggle to find and pull together available resources to meet the newcomers’ needs. Although the U.S. has a long history of receiving immigrants from all over the world, the educational response schools provide immigrant students remains a controversial topic. In this column, I would like to briefly introduce the historical context into which public school education is situated in addressing immigrant students. Then I’ll share some research-informed advice for teachers to consider as they receive migrant students into their classroom. While I do not intend to be overly theoretical, I do hope that these research-informed ideas will inspire and intrigue teachers to learn from the migrant students and create a welcoming environment that better meets the needs of migrant students.