The Achievement Gap Among Newcomer Immigrant Adolescents: Life Stressors Hinder Latina/o Academic Success

This study compares life stressors and school outcomes among newcomer immigrant adolescents from Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean. Participants attended a predominantly low-income, urban international public high school in the northeast. The Latina/o students were exposed to more life stressors and had lower attendance and achievement than non-Latina/o students. Life stressors mediated the relationship between ethnicity and academic outcomes. Results deepen experts’ understanding of the achievement gap, suggesting that newcomer immigrant adolescents from Latin America face unique risks and deserve intervention efforts focused on sociocontextual stressors that may prevent these students from achieving their full academic potential.     

The Education of Students with Immigrant Background in Iceland: Parents’ and Teachers’ Voices

In recent years Icelandic schools have seen an increase in students with immigrant background. These changes require schools and teachers to respond to the educational needs these students may have. The aim of this article is to examine these changes by looking at the experience of teachers and parents of immigrant students regarding their education. As part of this qualitative research, 38 teachers were interviewed in focus groups with a view to the challenges and experiences of teaching immigrant students. Ten parents were also interviewed individually about their experiences of Icelandic schools and their children’s education. The findings revealed that teachers are unsupported in their quest for understanding and managing multicultural education and that the Icelandic school system challenges foreign parents’ understanding of school as a traditional place for learning. It is suggested that addressing the lack of collaboration and discussion between both parties on students’ needs and parents’ expectations could improve the education of immigrant students.     

The role of counselors serving deaf or hard of hearing students in public schools

Since enactment of Public Law 94-142, residential schools for d/Deaf or hard of hearing (d/Dhh) students have lost enrollment to public schools. Public school counselors now must meet d/Dhh students' counseling needs. There is little literature on if and how counselors are doing this. The present study used a survey to evaluate the job satisfaction and expectations of 22 counselors working with d/Dhh students in programs across the United States. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 6 participants functioning as counselors for d/Dhh students. Results indicated that the counselors were generally pleased with their role, which, however, diverged markedly from the American School Counselor Association (2003) national model. The interviews revealed 5 themes that may be unique to counselors serving d/Dhh students in public schools: Authority Based on Experience, Director     

Employing a social justice framework to promote postsecondary transition for students with intellectual disability

Transition from high school to postsecondary education (PSE) and employment can be challenging for all youth, and particularly for youth with intellectual disability (ID). Promoting equity and access to PSE for students with ID is a social justice mandate, and high school counselors are uniquely positioned to assist youth with ID in accessing appropriate PSE options. This article describes how high school counselors can effectively support the postsecondary transition needs of students with ID through applying a framework of advocacy and social justice, using the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies.     

School Counselors in International School: Critical Issues and Challenges

This study sought to examine the views of school counselors in international school settings; international schools being those that enroll students from varying nationalities (both English speaking and non-English speaking countries) and follow an American/International college preparatory education curriculum. Results were pursued in regard to three important areas: (1) mental health needs of students (e.g., coping with cultural transitions, aggression, self-esteem), (2) their own professional development needs (e.g., multicultural development, networking), and (3) their interactions with teachers, administrators, and parents (e.g., lack of knowledge of the counselor’s role, lack of trust in the counselor, lack of teamwork). Implications for supporting international school counselors are provided. An earlier version of this article was presented at the International Counseling Psychology Conference, Chicago, Illinois (2008).     

Young girls in science: Academic ability,perceptions and future participation in science

Given the lack of information in either the school counseling or the gifted education fields on how school counselors and educators of the gifted work together, research into how individuals from both professions collaborate to serve gifted students and their families becomes important. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine gifted teachers' and coordinators' experiences working with school counselors. Fourteen participants, serving in a variety of K–12 settings, engaged in interviews regarding their different experiences working with their school counselors. Five primary themes resulted from these participants' reported experiences, including educators'/counselors' training and preparation, meeting gifted students' needs through service delivery, school counselors' perceptions and beliefs, systemic barriers and facilitators of collaboration, and teacher and counselor collaborative efforts. These findings are discussed with regard to current literature on gifted education, school counseling, and professional collaboration.     

Leading in the Context of Immigration: Cultivating Collective Responsibility for Recently Arrived Immigrant Students

Although school based discourses often frame immigrant students as in need of intervention, leaders can challenge this exclusionary logic, encouraging educators to help students develop linguistic and academic skills while affirming students' rich transnational experiences. This article provides ethnographic images from schools that are effectively serving recently arrived immigrant youth to consider the dimensions of leadership that engender collective responsibility for immigrant youth. In doing so, it considers how school leaders influence how immigrant students are positioned within the sociocultural practices of schools, as well as structures and practices that empower teachers to develop rigorous and responsive curriculum and to support students varied needs.     

ISSUES IN COUNSELING IMMIGRANT COLLEGE STUDENTS

The immigrant population of urban community colleges has grown in recent years, creating new challenges for college counselors. Counseling intervention is essential to enable immigrant students to cope with the stresses of immigration and the effects of those stresses on their college performance. Acculturation is a process that changes with time and that affects students of different ages differently. Cultural variations among immigrants affect social and academic performance in college as well. Developing English language fluency both accompanies and is accompanied by other adjustment issues. College counselors can facilitate both student' adjustment and the college's recognition of immigrant students' cultural perspective.     

Assigned to the margins: Teachers for minority and immigrant communities in Japan

As communities of immigrant families gather in the low-income neighbourhoods of Tokyo and neighbouring cities, Japanese teachers face new challenges as well as the stigma of classrooms for immigrant children. Within the intricate politics of assignment in Japanese school districts, teachers and administrators can find themselves with students who are barely acknowledged and poorly served by mainstream Japanese schools and other community services. The interviews with teachers, principals, immigrant translators and other cultural intermediaries as well as numerous school visits focused on the ways in which teachers had been required to interrogate their pedagogies, practices and prejudices in order to be effective teachers of low income and immigrant youth. The results reveal strains in the lives and careers of teachers who work with marginalised youth in Japan and are addressed within a critical view of how Japanese schooling is responding to the needs of an increasingly heterogeneous urban population.     

Primary and secondary effects in the explanation of disadvantage in education: the children of immigrant families in France

This paper explores the prospective transition of immigrant and native students in France from lower to upper secondary school. Because they are more likely to be tracked to less prestigious (vocational) tracks, immigrant and immigrant‐origin students are significantly disadvantaged at this key academic stage in comparison with the children of native families. Primary and secondary sources of educational disadvantage are explored to explain this phenomenon. Primary effects appear to account for the entire initial disadvantage, while secondary effects could have a positive impact for immigrant‐origin students. Nonetheless, immigrant families appear to be more conservative than native families and may need stronger evidence that their children will succeed in upper secondary school.     

Competing purposes of education: The case of underschooled immigrant students

Recent global events have led to a striking rise of displaced people and refugees worldwide. Every year, the United States resettles nearly 70,000 refugees, with a large minority resettling in one California school district. Approximately 3000 students from refugee families are enrolled in local schools, many of whom lack prior formal education in their home countries. Further compounding the challenge is the recent onset of rigorous local and state policies. While several studies exist on teachers’ sensemaking of educational policies more generally, no studies deal with the role of teachers in mediating the intersection of policy and underschooled immigrant students. Using a sensemaking perspective, this qualitative study explores how teachers conceptualize their role as mediators between policy and student needs. Analysis of district policy-related documents, classroom observations, and interviews with school and district staff revealed that teachers balanced multiple layers of factors in their sensemaking of broad-based district policy in the case of underschooled immigrant students. Though the district presented a unified policy message related to graduation requirements, participants articulated different purposes of school for underschooled immigrant students. These differing perceptions affected how teachers conceptualized their role. This study’s contributions to research and theory, as well as implications for policy, practice, and future research are also discussed.     

Educational experiences of immigrant students from the former Soviet Union: a case study of an ethnic school in Toronto

This paper explores the academic and psychosocial outcomes of immigrant students from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in an ethnic school in Toronto. Based on interviews with the principal, teachers, students and parents, together with questionnaire responses, the paper describes school programmes and practices that contribute to FSU immigrant students' high academic achievement, within the categories of curriculum, pedagogy, discipline policy and teacher–student relationships. The creation of this ethnic school suggests that Canada's educational system has not met the needs of the immigrant group. The paper seeks to further understanding of educating FSU immigrant students, and discusses the implications of ethnic schools for educating children in a multicultural society.     

The Role of Community College Financial Aid Counselors in Helping Students Understand and Utilize Financial Aid

Financial aid counselors are a primary source of information that many students rely upon to understand financial aid and how to pay for college. However, little is known about financial aid counselors at America's community colleges and their interactions with the students they serve. Using original survey data, this study examined the role these counselors play in helping community college students understand and make use of financial aid. The majority of counselors in the sample reported the counselor-to-student ratio at their college was one counselor for every 1,000 students (or higher), suggesting these counselors do not have the time or resources to meet the needs of every student who needs their advice. Counselors also identified common pitfalls their students experience during the financial aid process. These findings serve as the basis for recommendations intended to improve the utilization of financial aid among community college students.     

Family assessment in K‐12 settings: Understanding family systems to provide effective,collaborative services

Professional school counselors, school psychologists, and other professionals working in K‐12 settings have a complex job of meeting the needs of all students. Often, referral to outside counseling is necessary; however, an effective and comprehensive counseling model advocates for school mental health professionals to employ a wide variety of techniques to ensure equitable distribution of services to all students and their families. This article explores using family assessment tools to support both students' academic achievement and their families within a school context. A case study illustrates how a professional school counselor could employ and collaborate with family assessment tools to support the student, family, and school systems. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Training School Counselors To Work with Students with Handicapping Conditions

As students with handicapping conditions have been integrated into public schools, the role of the school counselor has been expanded to meet these students' needs. As a result, counselor training programs need to be adjusted to include theory and practice in working with exceptional children. In this article the authors discuss the issue of students with handicapping conditions in public schools and provide suggestions for training school counselors.     

Ethnicity,Religion, and Academic Preparedness: A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Supplementary Secular Schools and Nonsecular Church-Affiliated Schools

Little academic attention has been given to the supplementary education experience of immigrant students in the Canadian research literature, especially in a non-English speaking context such as Quebec. Yet these schools are important for understanding the influence of ethnicity as well as religion on the academic preparedness and social integration of immigrant/minority students in the public school system. From a comparative perspective, this study explores the role that secular Chinese language schools and nonsecular, church-affiliated schools play in responding to the educational needs of Chinese youth in the public schools. Data were collected through ethnographical observation in the two school contexts, as well as through in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrant students, their parents, school personnel, and church ministers. Through a Foucauldian analysis of discourse, the author found that attendance at Chinese supplementary schools benefitted these students’ academic preparedness in a variety of ways, such as the reinforcement and development of ethnic identity. In secular Chinese language schools, ethnicity seems to function through the interaction of cultural attributes and social ethnic structures, whereas in church-affiliated, nonsecular schools, the influence of ethnicity seems to shift to the impact of Christian discipleship. Through this process, church schools actually act as socializing agents that facilitate positive interpersonal relationships among peers and families.     

Responsibility for career transition preparation

Summary The continuing need and desire for assistance in planning for, entering, and progressing in a career is well-documented over the past decade. Although assistance with finding and securing a job is a part of this need, it is but one aspect of the competencies needed by students to be aware of the world of work and how this world differs from the educational world they are leaving. The ability of students to adjust and contribute to many roles in their post-high school world is crucial for a successful and lasting transition.The competencies needed by students as they prepare for and implement their transition to the occupational world can serve as the focal point of the career guidance program in the high school. Such competencies must go beyond the acquisition of occupational information and job search and interview skills. Competencies expected of students must be those that will allow them to adjust, mature, and succeed in the world of work and allow them to satisfy the multiple roles they will have throughout their careers.School counselors must become an integral part of the program to assist students to acquire and use competencies that will ensure their successful adjustment and development in the occupational world. Career guidance programs must be expanded and maintained to meet the continuing needs of students and counselors must revive or renew the competencies and the skills necessary to serve students during their transition to the world of work.Edwin A. Whitfield is Associate Director, Division of Educational Services, Ohio Department of Education, Columbus, Ohio     

School ethnic composition and aspirations of immigrant students in Belgium

This article examines the association between school ethnic composition and immigrant students’ intentions to finish high school and to move on to higher education. We used data from 1324 immigrant and 10,546 native students gathered in the school year 2004–2005 in a sample of 85 Flemish (Belgian) secondary schools. Logistic multilevel analyses (HLM6) show that students attending schools with a majority of native students (enrolling less than 20% immigrant students) were twice as likely to plan to finish high school and to plan for higher education than those attending high concentration schools (more than 50% immigrant students). These associations were due to students’ socio‐economic status (SES) and there was no difference in aspirations between high and low concentration schools after controlling for students’ SES and the SES context of the school. All else being equal, immigrant students in high concentration schools tended to aspire to finish high school and move on to higher education slightly more than those attending medium concentration schools (20–50% immigrant students). The analyses further show that these differences between high and medium concentration schools can be explained by the more optimistic culture in high concentration schools. The main conclusion is that high concentration schools are not necessarily detrimental for students’ educational aspirations.