Osman is an example of a limited formal schooling student. He escaped the terrorism of his country at age five and spent the next seven years of his life in refugee camps in Kenya. In Minneapolis–St. Paul his family is struggling to adjust to living in a new country. Osman’s academic challenges seem overwhelming. He had no previous schooling and cannot read or write in his home language. He is living in a new country, trying to learn a new language, and also trying to learn school subjects at the middle school level. He is starting school at age twelve. He does not have very much time to develop the academic content knowledge and academic English he will need to graduate from high school in five years. His teachers will need to give him specific kinds of support so that he can learn English and the content he needs, but even with the best instruction, the chances of his succeeding academically are slim

The most obvious kind of mismatch occurs when students enter school speaking a language other than English. Teachers generally recognize that English learners need to develop a new language to function in school. What is frequently overlooked is that these students may also need to learn new ways to use language. Heath writes, “Not only is there the general expectation that all children will learn to speak English but also the assumption that they have internalized before they start school the norms of language used in academic life” (1986, 148). Schools require children to use language in certain ways. If children’s patterns of language use at home are different in significant ways from the uses at school, children may experience difficulties. Heath (1983) has written extensively about differences between uses of language, or ways with words, between homes and schools. She points out that “for all children, academic success depends less on the specific language they know than on the ways of using language they know” (144). For example, in school students are expected to answer questions that a teacher asks, even when it is obvious to them that the teacher already knows the answer. Outside of school, people seldom ask questions to which they already know the answer.

A context-free interpretation that was once widely accepted is genetic inferiority. The argument has been that certain ethnic groups do better than others because of genetic factors. Oftentimes the groups labeled as inferior have been the newest immigrants to arrive; so, for example, at one time, the Irish received this label, at another time, the Polish immigrants did, and more recently, the Latinx have. Unfortunately, this view has not entirely disappeared. A Hmong leader who publishes a Hmong-English newspaper described the kinds of calls the paper sometimes receives in an interview: Some of the people who called me at my office were terrifying, telling me that American people don’t need the Hmong; Hmong people came to America to collect American tax dollars; Hmong people are lazy, just like the Hispanic and African-American people. Hmong people just want to produce babies after babies and they don’t want to work. (Yang 1992, 9) The calls this publisher received reflect a genetic inferiority perspective, which blames a group’s genetic makeup for their failure to succeed. It precludes any possibility for change, since hereditary genetic factors are permanent. No consideration is given to Hmong individuals, such as the newspaper publisher, who is obviously succeeding, nor to the factors that affect the Hmong or Latinx or Blacks in society.

An understanding of the various elements that influence student school performance can help teachers in several ways. First, it can keep teachers from blaming themselves, the curriculum, or student ability if emergent bilinguals are not doing well. Second, when teachers understand the role of external factors, they can begin to work for changes that would benefit their students in areas beyond the classroom. They can do this by working with families and community organizations

Teacher knowledge and skills as well as teacher attitudes impact the school context. Emergent bilinguals have a greater chance for success in a school with adequate numbers of highly qualified teachers with background in second language acquisition, second language teaching, linguistics, and cross-cultural communication. The presence of counselors with training in working with second language students is also essential. School resources, including bilingual libraries and adequate technology access, are important for success as well. As is true in all schools with strong parent involvement, programs that include the parents of culturally and linguistically diverse students result in better outcomes for emergent bilingual students.

Children in these communities often do not have access to extracurricular school activities either. Evidence suggests that children who participate in high-quality after-school programs spend more time on educational activities and perform better academically

Other Trump immigration policies included the deportation of parents and sometimes families who have lived in this country for years without legal status. Many of these deportees have contributed in important ways to their communities.

“Whether or not immigrant students will be successful educationally is determined by a convergence of factors” (108). They list social factors, family capital, student resources, and the kinds of schools immigrants attend. They conclude by writing, “This complex constellation of variables serves to undermine, or, conversely, to bolster students’ academic integration and adaptation” (108).