Hello everyone,

I am concerned about the many stories of immigrant youth who are being 
turned away from high school that are surfacing as part of this 
discussion. Unfortunately, even though by law they should be accepted, 
this is one of the unintended consequences of NCLB as schools know if 
they accept these students their test scores and/or graduation rates may 
be adversely affected. I believe we should gather as much data on 
instances where this is happening as possible and pass this information 
along to advocacy groups such as the National Coalition for Literacy who 
can see that this issue comes to the attention of the U.S. Department of 
Education as well as other immigrant advocacy groups. Clearly policy 
decisions should be made that allow immigrant youth to have a fair 
access to education.

Marilyn Gillespie


Dottie wrote:


>We're having a similar problem here in Charlotte, NC.. As a refugee 

>resettlement agency, our caseworkers take the newly arriving families to the 

>public school "international" office to enroll the children & then to the 

>assigned schools.  Since Aug., we've had 3 or 4 young Montangard boys/men 

>(18-19 yrs.) rejected by the local high school.  Although NC law apparently 

>allows kids to remain in H.S. until age 21, admitting them after turning age 

>18 is "at the principal's discretion."  To add insult to injury, some of 

>their birthdays are "government issued" (1-1- 19xx).  [If the date were 

>later, say 12-12-19xx, the boys would have been admitted.]

>

>We're concerned that they're being rejected because of a perceived 

>"inability to succeed" - especially w/all the mandated testing.  The 

>caseworkers & I think they'd benefit greatly from the 6 hrs./day of classes, 

>esp. since we can offer only 3-6 hrs. /week of classes.

>

>On the other side, we've had a recently-arrived 16 yr. old (who was in high 

>school) quit because he wanted to work & help his family when his dad was 

>laid-off.  Now we're having trouble getting him back into school.

>

>Are there no good answers for these kids?

>

>Dottie Shattuck

>HIAS-NC 

>

>

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-- 
Marilyn Gillespie, Ed.D.
Educational Researcher
SRI International
1100 Wilson Blvd., Suite 2800
Arlington, VA 22209-2268
Phone: (703) 247-8510
Fax: (703) 247-8493
marilyn.gillespie at sri.com