Promoting Academic Engagement Among Immigrant Adolescents Through School-Family-Community Collaboration

Abstract

Schools are receiving students of immigrant origin in unprecedented numbers. Using an ecological framework, the authors reviewed the community, school, familial, and individual challenges that immigrant adolescent students encounter. They examined cognitive, relational, and behavioral dimensions of student engagement as well as culturally sensitive strategies for parental involvement. Varying academic trajectories were identified revealing that although some students performed at high or improving levels over time, others showed diminishing performance. The implications for school counselors' roles in school-family-community collaboration and intervention and practice are discussed.

School Counselors Supporting African Immigrant Students' Career Development: A Case Study

“…According to Suárez‐Orozco et al (), school counselors gain knowledge of immigrant student populations when they take the time to understand the populations’ culture of origin and immigration history. Knowledge of their student population gives school counselors an opportunity to design career development strategies relative to the strengths and challenges their students face.…”

“…The unprecedented number of recent immigrants is reflected in the changing demographics of many schools across the country. Today, one in five children in the United States is a child of immigrants (Grieco et al, ), and by 2040, more than one in three children are expected to be children of immigrants (Hernandez, Denton, & Macartney, ; Suárez‐Orozco, Onaga, & de Lardemelle, ).…”

“…Suárez‐Orozco et al () noted that the risk of academic underachievement has enormous consequences on the postsecondary opportunities of immigrant youth in today's knowledge‐based economy “where opportunities are limited for the undereducated” (p. 16). In this service‐oriented, knowledge‐based economy, high school dropouts are relegated to low‐income jobs with little promise of mobility (Portes & Rumbaut, ).…”

“…Within the school counseling literature, there is a growing interest in identifying culturally responsive ways in which school counselors can support the career and college readiness of a wide variety of students, including immigrant, low‐income, and minority student populations (Holcomb‐McCoy, ; Suárez‐Orozco et al, ). Lapan, Aoyagi, and Kayson () contended that career development practices are linked to student academic engagement, which facilitates academic achievement and overall satisfaction with career choice after high school.…”

“…Lapan, Aoyagi, and Kayson () contended that career development practices are linked to student academic engagement, which facilitates academic achievement and overall satisfaction with career choice after high school. To facilitate career development in immigrant students, school counselors need to recognize and understand both the sociocultural (Suárez‐Orozco et al, ) and contextual factors (Stead, ) that influence career choice among immigrant populations.…”