Learning a New Land

Immigrant Students in American Society

Carola Suárez-Orozco

Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco

Irina Todorova

  • 2007 Virginia and Warren Stone Prize, awarded annually by Harvard University Press for an Outstanding Book on Education and Society

[Learning a New Land] examines how the children of immigrants are doing in American schools. It's a discouraging picture, and should be a wake-up call to anyone who cares about education.
   --Josh Green, San Francisco Chronicle

This book offers the results of a five-year study that followed 400 children from China, Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, all newly arrived in the United States. These kids' struggles are so poignant. The statistics are amazing, too: One of every five children in America is the child of an immigrant, and one in five immigrant children has only one native English-speaking friend.
   --Nell Casey, Cookie

In the fierce national debate about immigration, too many ignore the millions of children trying to find their way in a society that wants their parents' work, does not want to give them rights, but expects them to meet intense academic demands in a language they don't command, in communities from which their families may be expelled. The Suárez-Orozcos' remarkable study of immigrant students on both coasts challenges us to think about the consequences and to help these children realize their potential.
   --Gary Orfield, Co-Director, Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, University of California, Los Angeles

This is a compelling report on a groundbreaking study of immigrant adaptation to America. The authors offer a comprehensive overview of the possibilities and challenges immigrant children face in public schools, and make a strong case for practical strategies and new policies to enable them to become successful students and citizens. This is a must-read for teachers, policymakers, and educators who are invested in the future of our nation's increasingly multicultural schools.
   --Kathleen McCartney, Harvard Graduate School of Education

  • Cover: Learning a New Land
  • A photo of the author

photo of Marcelo and Carola Suárez-Orozco

Carola Suárez-Orozco is Associate Professor of Applied Psychology and Teaching & Learning and Co-Director of Immigration Studies at New York University.

Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco is Courtney Sale Ross University Professor of Globalization and Education and Co-Director of Immigration Studies at New York University.

Irina Todorova is an international health psychology consultant in Boston.