Dive Brief:
- When Jim Rollins took over as superintendent of the Springdale Public Schools in Arkansas in 1980, the district served 5,000 mostly white students, and now it has 21,500 students — many of whom come from Central America or the Marshall Islands, in the Central Pacific.
- In its Leaders to Learn From series, Education Week highlights Rollins’ ability to maintain services and support among the original local population while adapting to meet the needs of newcomer immigrants and find ways to engage their whole families in the school community.
- A family-school liaison helps build bridges to the Latino community, family literacy programs allow parents to learn English alongside their children, a special high school for new arrivals with little formal education helps prepare teenagers for academics as well as life in the U.S., and a partnership between the district and the University of Arkansas greatly expanded the number of teachers certified to teach English learners.
Dive Insight:
For a long time, cities and states bordering Mexico were the main receiving areas for most immigrants, but rural areas and suburbs across the country have changed dramatically. While some public services can go largely unaffected by the new populations, schools are immediately impacted. No matter the immigration status of the parent, U.S. schools serve immigrant children.
Increasing the number of teachers with certification to teacher English learners is an important step. School districts can also help teachers better understand the cultural norms of their new students and build culturally inclusive content into their curricula. It is virtually impossible for the workforce to turn over as quickly as the student population, but districts can bridge the gaps by focusing on inclusion and diversity awareness among the majority-white workforce.