As asylum seekers and refugees have arrived in significant numbers in Europe and North America in recent years, many countries have struggled to address the newcomers’ basic reception needs and provide effective integration services. Young children comprise a substantial share of these arrivals, and many have experienced significant trauma and stress that pose serious risks to their cognitive, psychosocial, and physical development. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs present an important opportunity to mitigate many risks these children may face, improving their education trajectories and supporting longer-term success. They can also play a critical role in the integration of refugee parents and families more broadly. In many countries, however, services for young refugee children are highly limited and lack the capacity to meet their learning and development needs.

This webinar marks the release of an Migration Policy Institute report examining the challenges and successes major host countries in Europe and North America are experiencing in providing high-quality ECEC services. The report draws on fieldwork conducted in nine countries: Belgium, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States. It is an initiative of the Transatlantic Forum on Inclusive Early Years, a consortium of European and U.S. foundations convened by the Brussels-based King Baudouin Foundation.

During the webinar, authors, Maki Park and Margie McHugh discuss the report’s findings, highlighting promising policies and practices identified in field research, as well as key areas in which ECEC services for this population need to be strengthened. They are joined by Anna Österlund, from the Swedish National Agency for Education, who highlights innovative national and local policies in Sweden that support young refugee children in their early learning experiences.

Across many early childhood education and care (ECEC) and K-12 school systems in the United States, the diversity of languages spoken, countries of origin, and other characteristics of the young child population is rapidly rising. An increasing number of communities in the United States are experiencing conditions of “superdiversity,” creating learning environments that require different instructional strategies and approaches than those used in more homogeneous or bilingual settings to support Dual Language Learners’ access to high-quality early childhood services that can support their healthy development and future academic success.

This webinar marks the release of two research reports that illustrate the challenges and opportunities related to teaching and learning in a superdiverse environment, pointing to promising approaches to work effectively in multilingual, multicultural classrooms. The reports focus on patterns of home language use across different ECEC program types, and the potential of the Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL) model to improve instruction and outcomes for Dual Language Learners in superdiverse settings. During the webinar, authors present findings and highlights from their work, and key implications for policy and practice will be discussed.

The reports discussed are:

The Language of the Classroom: Dual Language Learners in Head Start, Public Pre-K, and Private Preschool Programs

Supporting Dual Language Learner Success in Superdiverse PreK-3 Classrooms: The Sobrato Early Academic Language Model

With immigration increasingly visible in the news and the political space in the United States and internationally, getting access to accurate, high-quality data is essential for publics and policymakers to understand immigration’s demographic effects and impacts on the economy, education and labor systems, and the communities in which immigrants and their families live and work.

This event marks the release of an updated version of the popular Immigration Data Matters guide, which directs users to more than 220 international and U.S. data sources, and explains how to navigate sometimes complex datasets issued by government statistical agencies, international organizations, and reputable research organizations. This handy online guide includes data sources covering everything from the size of foreign-born population stocks and flows to citizenship applications, children in immigrant families, refugee admissions, migrant deaths, international student enrollment, global remittance flows, enforcement activities, and much more. 

At a time of proliferating data sources on immigration and immigrants, the presenters (Jeanne Batalova, MPI Senior Policy Analyst and Data Hub Manager, MPI; Mark Mather, Population Reference Bureau Associate Vice President for U.S. Programs; Elizabeth M. Grieco, Pew Research Center Senior Writer/Editor and former U.S. Census Bureau Foreign-Born Population Branch Chief; and Marc Rosenblum, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director of the Office of Immigration Statistics at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) discuss where some of the most user-friendly data can be accessed, including MPI’s own Migration Data Hub. They share their insights on how to avoid common pitfalls in using existing immigration data and highlight relevant data sources available from international organizations and national governments, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  

Immigrants, who account for 17 percent of the U.S. labor force, are twice as likely as native-born workers to work in industries where core labor and safety standard violations are widespread. Many immigrants have been driven into low-wage, under-regulated work by a confluence of immigration policies and economic transformations in which companies now routinely contract out for their labor needs, such as occurs in the cleaning, warehousing, food preparation, construction, and transportation sectors. In these sectors, it is commonplace for employers to misclassify workers as independent contractors to avoid paying employer-related taxes and workers compensation, and to evade responsibility for compliance with labor standards. Pushing back against the deterioration of labor standards in these sectors requires robust and strategic enforcement, but both government and private-sector driven enforcement are stymied by limited resources and disincentives for workers to file complaints.

State and local governments, with their broad enforcement powers, access to tax and insurance data, and their role in regulating unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation, are uniquely positioned to respond. As a Migration Policy Institute report outlines, state innovations in enforcement can benefit both native-born and immigrant workers alike, increase state tax revenue, and level competition in the marketplace for law-abiding employers. However, since states also contend with limited resources, strategic enforcement of workplace statutes that change employer behavior is key. 

At this report release discussion, the authors, Muzaffar Chishti, Director, MPI's office at New York University (NYU) School of Law, and Andrew Elmore, NYU School of Law Acting Assistant Professor and former New York Office of Attorney General Labor Bureau Section Chief, discuss the dynamics in low-wage workplaces and immigration law that have contributed to systematic violations of labor standards. They also highlight the new and effective enforcement strategies that state and local governments across the United States are utilizing. And California Labor Commissioner Julie Su and Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Administrator Abbie Hudgens discuss how they have leveraged existing resources to more effectively enforce labor laws. 

As the number and share of Dual Language Learners (DLLs) continues to grow across the United States, diversity within this population is also increasing. Although Spanish remains the most commonly spoken language among DLL families in most states, other minority languages have substantial representation in many school districts, cities, and counties. DLLs also span a wide range of races and ethnicities, countries of origin, levels of education, and migration histories. This “superdiversity” has important implications for early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs, schools, and other systems that face the challenge of building the capacity to effectively serve children with unique learning strengths and needs. And while a strong research base has proven the benefits of bilingual education models in supporting DLLs’ academic development, much less is known about effective strategies to serve these children in classrooms where multiple languages and cultures are represented, and no single non-English language is dominant.

This webinar marks the release of a Migration Policy Institute report that provides an analysis of the diversity within the DLL population nationwide and at the state and local levels. The report also offers a closer look at three rapidly growing subgroups within the DLL population: Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander DLLs and young children of refugees. This is the first in a series of three reports that will explore the implications of superdiverse contexts for ECEC programs and systems.

On the webinar, authors of the report, Maki Park and Jie Zong, provide an overview of its findings and policy implications. This was followed by reflections from KaYing Yang, Director of Programs and Partnerships at the Coalition of Asian American Leaders in Minnesota, who discussed on-the-ground challenges and responses related to early learning service provision in superdiverse settings. 

The arrival of hundreds of thousands of children during the migration crisis exacerbated existing structural limitations in how school systems support children with migrant backgrounds, including insufficient teacher capacity and training, and underdeveloped systems for identifying and diagnosing needs. Faced with rising levels of language learners in their classrooms, some schools have turned to innovations in technology and pedagogy—such as personalized learning and differentiated instruction, translation software, ‘flipped’ classrooms, and massive open online courses (MOOCs)—to support teachers and help diverse learners keep up.

Do these innovations represent new solutions, partial supports, or a distraction from the broader challenges of supporting diverse learners? How can educators and integration policymakers use these tools to improve the outcomes for the most disadvantaged students, without widening existing inequalities? And what are the broader structural reforms needed to rethink the way that schools are designed, operated, and staffed to update education systems for diverse populations?

This Migration Policy Institute Europe webinar considers what the future of education might hold for diverse learners. It marks the release of a report, Mainstreaming 2.0: How Europe’s Education Systems Can Boost Migrant Inclusion, produced in the framework of its Integration Futures Working Group. 

Following the arrival of large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers in Europe from 2015 onwards, many non-traditional actors—from tech start-ups to social enterprises—have pioneered innovative solutions to foster the social and economic inclusion of newcomers. In the context of this experimentation, business has played a fundamental role, with companies on both sides of the Atlantic leveraging their potential as employers, donors, and partners in innovative alliances. This two-day conference reflected on how innovative initiatives for refugee inclusion can grow beyond pockets of good practice and inspire large-scale, long-term change. The event brought together a diverse group of public officials, business leaders, service designers, social entrepreneurs, civil society organisations, and refugee initiatives from Europe, the United States, and Canada.

The final interactive panel session “From Niche to Mainstream: Unlocking the Potential of Innovation for Lasting Change” included contributions from:

• Chair: Elizabeth Collett, Director, Migration Policy Institute Europe
• Louisa Taylor, Director, Refugee 613, Canada 
• Ben Mason, Project lead on digital innovation around refugees and migration, Betterplace lab, Germany
• David Manicom, Assistant Deputy Minister, Settlement and Integration Sector, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
• Laura Corrado, Head of Unit Legal Migration and Integration, DG HOME, European Commission

Following the arrival of large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers in Europe from 2015 onwards, many non-traditional actors—from tech start-ups to social enterprises—have pioneered innovative solutions to foster the social and economic inclusion of newcomers. In the context of this experimentation, business has played a fundamental role, with companies on both sides of the Atlantic leveraging their potential as employers, donors, and partners in innovative alliances. This two-day conference reflected on how innovative initiatives for refugee inclusion can grow beyond pockets of good practice and inspire large-scale, long-term change. The event brought together a diverse group of public officials, business leaders, service designers, social entrepreneurs, civil society organisations, and refugee initiatives from Europe, the United States, and Canada.

This workshop on Employer Engagement: Innovative Approaches to Training and Hiring Refugees featured:  

• Chair: Laurent Aujean, Policy Officer, Unit Legal Migration and Integration, DG Home, European Commission
• Sayre Nyce, Executive Director, Talent Beyond Boundaries, United States
• Peter O’Sullivan, Resettlement Officer, UNHCR, Bureau for Europe
• Mustafa Alroomi, Web Developer & Askim Kintziger, Innovation Consultant, Cronos Groep, Belgium

Following the arrival of large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers in Europe from 2015 onwards, many non-traditional actors—from tech start-ups to social enterprises—have pioneered innovative solutions to foster the social and economic inclusion of newcomers. In the context of this experimentation, business has played a fundamental role, with companies on both sides of the Atlantic leveraging their potential as employers, donors, and partners in innovative alliances. This two-day conference reflected on how innovative initiatives for refugee inclusion can grow beyond pockets of good practice and inspire large-scale, long-term change. The event brought together a diverse group of public officials, business leaders, service designers, social entrepreneurs, civil society organisations, and refugee initiatives from Europe, the United States, and Canada.

In the opening session on the second day of the conference, Maher Ismaail, DaliliNow.com Co-founder and Saeed Kamali Dehghan, a journalist from The Guardian, engaged in a discussion on refugees as agents of innovation. 

Following the arrival of large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers in Europe from 2015 onwards, many non-traditional actors—from tech start-ups to social enterprises—have pioneered innovative solutions to foster the social and economic inclusion of newcomers. In the context of this experimentation, business has played a fundamental role, with companies on both sides of the Atlantic leveraging their potential as employers, donors, and partners in innovative alliances. This two-day conference reflected on how innovative initiatives for refugee inclusion can grow beyond pockets of good practice and inspire large-scale, long-term change. The event brought together a diverse group of public officials, business leaders, service designers, social entrepreneurs, civil society organisations, and refugee initiatives from Europe, the United States, and Canada.

This panel is entitled "Business, not as usual: Private sector innovation for refugee inclusion”, and the speakers are:

• Chair: Irini Pari, European Economic and Social Committee
• Pastora Valero, Vice President, Government Affairs, EMEAR, Cisco
• Justina Spencer, Manager, Global Corporate Responsibility, Deloitte
• Samuel Engblom, Policy Director, TCO Swedish Confederation for Professional Employees, Sweden
• Kavita Brahmbhatt, Co-founder, Action Emploi Réfugiés, France

This webinar marks the release of a Migration Policy Institute report that explores some of the responses made by school districts to bring immigrant and refugee newcomer students up to speed in English and basic academic skills, all while focused on the educational system’s ultimate goal of high school completion with the skills necessary for today’s college and career demands. During the webinar, the author, Julie Sugarman, summarizes findings based on insights from interviews and activities conducted for MPI’s Learning Network for Newcomer Youth Success, a private network that brings together administrators and practitioners in the education, social services, and health and mental health fields who are engaged in providing services to immigrant and refugee newcomers ages 12 to 21. The discussion focuses on how schools create and expand systems around the identification of students’ immediate and ongoing academic and socioemotional needs, and how they design programs and curricular pathways to balance these needs with state policy constraints.

Also in this webinar, two practitioners illustrate specific responses to serving newcomer youth. Nicole Mitchell discusses the efforts of Los Angeles Unified School District's School Enrollment Placement & Assessment Center to address the academic and socioemotional needs of incoming newcomer students. Marguerite Lukes discusses how educators in schools supported by the Internationals Network for Public Schools create systemic supports, such as team teaching, to ensure quality instruction for ELs.

Since the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law in December 2015, community-based groups have been working with states to ensure that English Learners (ELs) are appropriately included in the state accountability system. These systems are complex, leading to questions about the best practices states should adopt and processes to hold schools and states accountable for ELs’ achievement in the fairest and most accurate manner. This webinar, with MPI's Delia Pompa and Margie McHugh, and Susan Lyons from the National Center for Assessment, provides an overview of the decisions states are making. 

MPI has released a related set of 13 state fact sheets that provide a sketch of EL demographics, student outcomes, and accountability mechanisms under ESSA and its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). These fact sheets (covering California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington) are on MPI's web page, English Learners and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The web page offers one-stop access to a number of resources that could help policymakers, community groups, parents, and others understand ongoing issues surrounding implementation of ESSA regulations at the state level.

Nearly 2 million college-educated immigrants in the United States are unemployed or working in low-skilled jobs, resulting in both a waste of the education and training they obtained as well as billions in forgone earnings and lost tax revenue. Foreign-trained doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, and other professionals face diverse barriers to accessing skilled employment, including difficulty gaining recognition for education and training completed abroad, filling gaps in academic or work experience, building professional-level English proficiency, and navigating the U.S. job search and application process. Unnecessary licensing requirements also frequently prevent individuals with years of experience in their home countries from practicing in the United States.

This webinar marks the release of a Migration Policy Institute report examining programs and initiatives that ease the barriers to credential recognition, employment, and relicensure facing foreign-trained immigrants, as well as recent policy developments and ongoing challenges in the field. Speakers talk about lessons from policies and practices being pioneered across the United States to overcome obstacles to career re-entry, and discuss recommendations for community-based organizations, employers, and state and local governments to expand successful efforts aimed at preventing brain waste. They also examine recent initiatives launched by Michigan’s Office for New Americans that are designed to improve immigrants’ access to professional English-language instruction, employment services, and licensing guidance. 

The United States has long attracted some of the world’s best and brightest, drawn by the strong U.S. economy, renowned universities, and reputation for entrepreneurship and innovation. But because of language, credential-recognition, and other barriers many of these highly skilled, college-educated immigrants cannot fully contribute their academic and professional training and skills once in the United States. As a result they work in low-skilled jobs or cannot find a job—a phenomenon known as brain waste.

On this podcast, MPI experts give a presentation of the first-ever U.S. estimates on the economic costs of this skill underutilization for immigrants, their families, and the U.S. economy, along with estimates on forgone earnings and tax payments for: California, Florida, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Washington. The panel discusses the factors linked to immigrant skill underutilization; highlight the potential for current city, state, and U.S. labor policy (including implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) to reduce this brain waste; and offer an employer-based view of skill underutilization and how it can be addressed.

The report and related state research can be found here: https://bit.ly/mpiuntappedtalent

The slowdown in migration from Mexico since the 2008-09 recession has had a little-noted effect on farm labor in the United States: Increased use of the H-2A guestworker program. The H-2A program, long criticized by employers for cumbersome regulations, has doubled in size since 2007 and now provides workers to fill more than 150,000 farm jobs. Since agriculture relies on newcomers from abroad to replace farm workers who exit for nonfarm jobs, farm labor markets are ideal for observing employer adjustments to the reduction in the arrival of immigrant labor. Often identified as the source for unauthorized migration from Mexico because of the Bracero program, agriculture may also provide the template for future immigration reforms that involve legalizing currently unauthorized workers and making it easier to hire guestworkers in the future. 

This discussion features data that could help inform future reform debates. It also focuses on some of the adjustments that farm employers are making, including increased mechanization, improved wages and benefits, and the increased use of the H-2A program.  

As record numbers of refugees and migrants undertake journeys across the Mediterranean, policymakers are faced with the challenging tasks of receiving, protecting, and integrating new arrivals—at every stage of their migration journey—while maintaining public confidence in an increasingly immigration-skeptic climate. 
  

The educational needs of immigrant students in primary and secondary schools pose a growing challenge for policymakers and educators, whether in countries such as the United States, where nearly 10 percent of students are learning English, or in Germany, which is dealing with record numbers of asylum seekers. Many local schools lack the resources and capacities to meet the needs of these students, particularly given that many have limited or interrupted formal education, coupled with low or no proficiency in the language of instruction.