SW320 - Policy Analysis: Ensuring Education for Immigrant Students

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the formal and informal expressions of education policies impacting immigrant students. It discusses governmental responses and actions outside formal systems, highlighting challenges such as language barriers and cultural integration. The analysis references key documents like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and explores the interplay between formal policies and community actions aimed at supporting immigrant students' access to education. The essay emphasizes the importance of addressing socio-economic disadvantages and promoting equal educational opportunities, with reference to supreme court decisions and various initiatives by governmental and non-governmental agencies. Desklib is a valuable resource for students seeking similar essays and study tools.

Running head: SOCIAL SCIENCE
Social Science
Name of the student:
Name of the university
Author note

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1. Formal expressions: Governmental responses
a. In the current increasingly globalized world, there has been rising number of disparities where
most of the population lives a life full of daily challenges. Immigration has been one of the
polarizing topics for most of the years (Banks, 2014). The current administrative documents
revealed the challenges faced by millions of undocumented immigrants and their elevated issue
towards their educational system. There lies a wide range of laws, executive decisions regarding
the policies in connection to the rights of the primary or the basic education to the immigrant’s
children. The affected groups of population are the immigrant’s students and some of the major
challenges they face are the barriers in language and in communication. Furthermore getting
used to custom and the cultural practices are some of the challenging factors for the immigrant
students.
b. The right of the education to the children towards compulsory and free primary education has
been long overlooked in the history of the culture of the right of the child. In the concept of the
international legal basis, the right to education is generally illustrated in the international law on
the article 26 of the universal declaration of human rights and in the article 13 and 14 in the
international social and the cultural rights (Perez, 2015). Policies related to the education among
the children have been reaffirmed by the UNESCO conventions and the protocol relate to the
convention of the human rights. Stemming from the 1948 universal declaration of human rights,
the rights of all the children towards education irrespective of the social and the economic status
affirm the development of the personality of human together with the respect for the human
rights.
c. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly in the
year 1948, 10 December (Callahan & Humphries, 2016). The formation of the rights related to

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the universal declaration of human rights was the result of the experience related to the second
world war. The policy in connection to the right to free and compulsory education of the children
was developed under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt. The documentation of human
rights was first written by shah in the Cyrus cylinder depicting the freedom in relation to opinion
and other basic human rights.
Some of the basic influencer to the policy maker of the international UN Commission is
the society and the social norms regarding the development of the country and the people.
The effected group of people in this connection is the immigrant families with very low
socio economic status. It is them who do not have that much of power to address the issue.
Many of the immigrant students and their families tend to experience fear and anxiety towards
their future (Nienhusser, 2014). The concentration of the immigrants students in the schools
tends to have adverse effect on the integration efforts but the major factor of disadvantage is the
concentration of the socio economic disadvantages that hinders the success and the achievement
of the student.
d. The right to education among the children is the basic human rights. In the context of the
human rights to education, the makers of the policy axiomatically tend to relate on the notion of
the value neutral education (Nienhusser, 2015). The strategy in connection to the human rights
and education is a long term strategy with the aim towards the need of the upcoming generations.
The education for the future is essential towards the construction of innovative educational
programs for the advancement of the human development, democracy, peace and the respect
towards the rule of law.

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Some of the best alternatives for the challenges in connection to the education system of
the students can be the provision of the information to the immigrant parents in the options of
schooling that is available for their children, limitation of the extent to which the advantaged
schools tends to select the students regarding their socio economic status, the retain policy and
the attraction of more advantaged issues in the schools for the hosting of the immigrant students.
2. Informal expressions: Outside of the formal government systems
e. Some of the action which is taken collectively and individually outside the formal systems for
addressing and discussing the challenges of the immigrant students includes finding ways for
enhancing and achieving the self awareness of the cultural heritage among the students.
Promotion, facilitation and participation of the immigrant students I the activities for the increase
in their knowledge of the cultures, helping the students to understand the language related to
communication and conversation with the emphasis on earning for speaking fluently. Some of
the other actions may include provision of effective support services for the immigrant families,
orientation programs for the new immigrants, free and reduced proc for the lunch programs for
the immigrants, after school child care programs for support in home work and the ESL classes
for both the immigrant’s students and their families.
f. A brief history regarding the educational policy of the immigrant students includes the school
based strategies encompassing the issues of the students. Public schools are some of the complex
environments where all the aspects related to the developmental requirements of the students
tend to be addressed. Meeting the requirements of such diverse immigrant family and the child
tends to require commitment, knowledge and the strategies related to emotions. It all started
when families from one country flew down to another due to the employment purpose and found
it utterly difficult to adjust in the new environment especially in terms of language and

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communication. The policy in relation to the education of the immigrant students was formed
keeping in mind the challenges and the barriers they face in the school with the students from
other countries which is a hurdle in the pathway of their success.
g. In the year 1982, the supreme court of United States issues a decision regarding the challenges
and the factors affecting the immigrant children and their right towards the primary education
(Darling-Hammond, 2015). The Supreme Court based is decision in the notion of the equal
protection clause of the UDHR and the constitution. In the notion of the information context,
agencies working for the rights of the immigrants are making things happen.
h. The policy regarding the education of the immigrant students are supported by the federal
government and the United Nations on the basis of the basic human rights towards education.
The community actions are one of the basic instances how the government poses its influence on
the issues of the immigrants.
3. Interplay of formal & informal
The government and the governmental agencies working for the rights of the immigrants
are working towards the enforcement of policies to address the challenges faced by the
immigrant students in the foreign countries (Rindermann & Thompson, 2016). One of the major
issues that the immigrant students face is the language and the communication barriers. The
governmental agencies like United We Dream, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of
Canada, Center for immigration studies are initiating training and education programs of ESL for
helping the immigrant students. The government furthermore should introduce new policies for
improving the educational system for the immigrant students.

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References
Banks, J. A. (2014). Diversity, group identity, and citizenship education in a global age. Journal
of Education, 194(3), 1-12. DOI: 10.3102/0013189X08317501
Callahan, R. M., & Humphries, M. H. (2016). Undermatched? School-based linguistic status,
college going, and the immigrant advantage. American educational research
journal, 53(2), 263-295. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4820317/
Darling-Hammond, L. (2015). The flat world and education: How America's commitment to
equity will determine our future. Teachers College Press.
http://aasa.org/uploadedFiles/Publications/Journals/AASA_Journal_of_Scholarship_and_
Practice/Summer2012_JSPFINAL_v2.pdf#page=33
Nienhusser, H. K. (2014). Role of community colleges in the implementation of postsecondary
education enrollment policies for undocumented students. Community College
Review, 42(1), 3-22. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?
doi=10.1.1.939.3138&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Nienhusser, H. K. (2015). Undocumented immigrants and higher education policy: The
policymaking environment of New York State. The Review of Higher Education, 38(2),
271-303. DOI: 10.1353/rhe.2015.0006
Perez, W. (2015). Americans by heart: Undocumented Latino students and the promise of higher
education. Teachers College Press.
http://www.mvcsp.com/accreditation/Evidence/Evidence/Undocumented-Student.pdf

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Rindermann, H., & Thompson, J. (2016). The cognitive competences of immigrant and native
students across the world: An analysis of gaps, possible causes and impact. Journal of
biosocial science, 48(1), 66-93. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021932014000480