Why+is+being+undocumented+a+challenge+amongst+elementary+school+students?

Brittany Wardell

=** Why is being undocumented a challenge amongst elementary school students? ** = = =

** 1) ** Lal, P. (2011, January 12). Texas GOP Proposes Witchhunt of Undocumented K-12 Students. //Change.org.// http://news.change.org/stories/texas-gop-proposes-witchhunt-of-undocumented-k-12-students

** Summary: ** This article is about Texas state legislator Debbie Riddle would like to mandate a new law for all public schools in Texas. She would like for schools to form a list of how many undocumented students are in their school, their names, and where their family and them live. She says it is good for taxpayers to know where their money is going. The author, Prerna Lal, believes legislator Riddle and friends may be hoping to create a climate of fear in Texas schools such that parents pull their children out of schools when administrators come around asking for their papers.

** Response: ** I am also curious as to the reasoning behind this potential immigration law. What does she plan to do with such knowledge considering public schools are not allowed oust students based on their immigration status? A list with that personal information on it makes the children and their families vulnerable to such extremes as deportation if the list is given to the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). I believe real immigration reform is what legislators should be working on instead of possibly targeting children who may even be unaware of their citizenship status.

**2)** Rodriguez, A. (2010) //The Right Thing To Do.// nacacnet.org. http://0vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.helin.uri.edu/hww/results/external_link_maincontentframe.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.44

** Summary: ** This article is about author Arnaldo Rodriguez's personal experience admitting a student to Pitzer College that was undocumented. The student had an excellent application file filled with community service, AP courses, a perfect GPA and ranked first in her class. The only issue was that she was undocumented. The reason undocumented students are not permitted at Pitzer College and many others is because they would have to be considered "international students" which do not receive any kind of financial aid. Because this particular student had such an outstanding application, Mr.Rodriguez brought the student's information to the President of the school who agreed the applicant should be handled differently. The applicant, Luiza, was given a full tuition scholarship for all four years at Pitzer College! This has now become an annual scholarship for one student that high school counselors in California can nominate.

** Response: ** I think that Pitzer College and the people working there have started something that has the potential to grow immensely. Giving away one annual scholarship to an outstanding student gives all undocumented students motivation to succeed in high school and hope for the future. Pitzer is a very small college which makes creating a scholarship like that a very bold move, hopefully more established schools will follow in their foot step.

**3)** Crosnoe, R. Turley, L. (2011, Spring) //K-12 Educational Outcomes for Immigrant Youth.// EBSCOhost. http://0web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=75be8a64-df65-4895-a679a07ffd057628%40sessionmgr104&vid=6&hid=107

** Summary: ** This article summarizes some K-12 patterns, paying special attention to differences in academic functioning across different parts of the immigrant population defined by generational status, race, ethnicity, and national origin. There is evidence in this article that points to an immigrant advantage in multiple indicators of academic progress. This means that many youths from immigrant families outperform their peers in school. This advantage is often referred to as the immigrant paradox. It occurs despite the high rates of social and economic disadvantages in this population as a whole. Bilingualism and strong family ties help explain immigrant advantages in schooling. However, school, community, and other contextual disadvantages may suppress these advantages or lead to immigrant risks. The article ends with offering several solutions for immigrant students. One is the DREAM Act, proposed federal legislation to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented youth who meet certain criteria. Another effort includes culturally grounded programs to support the college preparation of immigrant teens and the educational involvement of immigrant parents with young children.

** Response: ** This article was full of information and positivity. I believe the authors of this article are on the path to discovering what methods can truly help undocumented students have successful lives in the United States. It had a lot of information on elementary school immigrants, which many of the other articles lacked. The biggest problem for undocumented students is certainly when they are out of high school and applying to colleges because they are denied financial aid in most states. However this article also approached studies on children in high school, middle school, and elementary school to see if there was any patterns or things that could be done differently to form a successful strategy.

**4)** Reich, G. Barth, J. (2010, August) //Educating Citizens or Defying Federal Authority? A Comparative Study of In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students.// EBSCOhost. http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=d5faa5cc-c5e2-457a-abc0-e97f70f43221%40sessionmgr113&vid=14&hid=107

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">** Summary: ** This article argues that outcomes for whether undocumented students should receive in-state tuition if they should to go to a secondary school are determined by the manner the policy is presented and debated within state legislatures. Kansas and Arkansas are the two main states talked about in the article because they reached different outcomes on the decisions for in-state tuition bills. The different outcomes can be traced back to the way the policy was presented. In Kansas, legislators focused on positive evaluations of undocumented high school students, portraying them as “proto-citizens”. In Arkansas, debate became centered on the state's jurisdictional authority to enact such a policy, an issue frame that effectively killed the legislation. This article suggests the importance of both social constructions and issue framing when state legislatures become the lead actors in crafting immigration policies.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 19pt;">** Response: ** The outcome of the legislation for in-state tuition depends on the states opinion of undocumented students themselves, which is a very heated topic. On the one hand, they are semi-permanent or even permanent, state residents, whose presence is often desired by local business and whose situation is often seen as a product of unfortunate circumstances in their homelands. On the other hand, they reside in the United States in violation of federal immigration law and their presence is often invoked as a threat to internal security and order. In my opinion, I believe that undocumented high school students should have an achievement standard, and that all who reach that standard may receive in-state tuition. It is unfair to deny all students, even the ones who are intellectual and driven.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> **5)** Morse, S. Ludovina, F. (1999, September) //Responding to Undocumented Students in Schools// // . // ERIC Digest.  <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19pt;"> []

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 150%;">** Summary: ** This Digest considers education policies related, in particular, to serving undocumented students well in U.S. schools and recommends strategies for meeting students' needs and ensuring access and equity in their schooling. <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 25px;">United States policy on education includes all children, including undocumented immigrant children, partly because education creates productive workers and taxpayers who contribute to the general well-being of the nation. Nonetheless, the mandate to educate the children of "illegals" sometimes provokes anger towards immigrants, from which these children need special protection.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 150%;"> ** Response: ** Immigration has always sparked controversy. This articles explains the perspective on illegal immigrants in this country and goes into detail of the laws pertaining to education in the United States. I can see the stress and fear that goes into trying to make a better life for their child. In the Supreme Court Ruling for Plyler vs. Doe, the court believed that denying undocumented children access to education unfairly punished the children for their parents undocumented status. Just filling out vaccination reports for their children can strike fear in the parents of undocumented students. Some required school forms request a social security number, such as the free-lunch application. Not filling that part out can put a red flag up for that student then their family. Such small things that most Americans overlook as nothing can make such an impact on an illegal family it may deter undocumented parents from even enrolling their children into school!