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OS Guidance: Effective Interpretation Process for ELs & Families

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OS Guidance: Effective Interpretation Process for ELs & Families

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A new online resource is up and running for Michiganders looking to help welcome the approximately 1,300 Afghan refugees expected to resettle in Michigan in the coming months.

The Afghan Arrivals site allows volunteers to share specific resources they can offer for the variety of tasks needed to help support and welcome individuals and families to the state. Michigan residents can volunteer in person or remotely and can donate a variety of goods and services, including financial resources.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Office of Global Michigan and the Michigan Community Service Commission announced the new website in an Oct. 7 press release.

"We urge everyone to join us in welcoming these Afghan families to Michigan and ensuring they have the resources they need to succeed," Whitmer said. "We will continue to embrace our duty to honor and protect these families as they flee from violence and political persecution."

There are opportunities for individuals, families, community teams, nonprofits and corporate teams to volunteer.

Those who register to become part of the Volunteer Michigan Afghan Resettlement Team will complete a survey to indicate what skills and donations they'd like to offer, and will receive updates about opportunities to serve within those selected topics.

Global Michigan has worked with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) to secure $500,000 of MSHDA funds to temporarily house the arrivals until resettlement agencies can secure their permanent housing.

Faith-based organizations are leading the effort to accommodate people who fled Afghanistan after the United States ended military operations in late August.

Arriving Afghans are being assigned to one of the state's five resettlement agencies that have the expertise to offer support: Grand Rapids-based Bethany Christian Services, Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County, Samaritas in metro-Detroit and West Michigan, St. Vincent Catholic Charities in mid-Michigan, and United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) - Dearborn.

"Volunteers and donations from our communities will play a critical role in supporting Afghan Nationals arriving in the coming weeks and months. Together, with our state and local partners, we will work hard to ensure those community contributions are put to good use as we provide arriving men, women and children with the essential services and support they need to begin to rebuild their lives here in Michigan," the five Michigan resettlement agencies saidin a joint statement.

The Michigan Community Service Commission is supporting organizations serving Afghan evacuees across the state by identifying volunteer roles and donations to support the transition to Michigan for these individuals and families. The Afghan Arrivals website will help coordinate and channel the flow of resources to these organizations.

"We are so appreciative of the many Michiganders who want to volunteer or offer resources for the Michigan Afghan Resettlement initiative," Ginna Holmes, Michigan Community Service Commission Executive Director, said. "We encourage residents to sign up to serve and support our new neighbors."

Displaced after the Taliban took control of the country, the 1,300 Afghan nationals represents the largest number of refugees Michigan has received in any single year since the Trump administration slashed admissions in 2017 and the most refugees from Afghanistan since at least 2010.

Read more: About 1,300 Afghan refugees are coming to Michigan. That's more than we've seen in the last decade.

The timing of arrivals will partially depend on how soon refugees complete security and medical screening and how long it takes to process their legal status.

Refugees are arriving in the U.S. under a few different kinds of legal statuses, which provide differing access to benefits funded by the State Department. Benefits are not automatic and must be applied for.

Most are expected to be admitted through humanitarian parole, a category used to quickly resettle people during an emergency. Afghan parolees are not eligible for resettlement benefits.

The maximum period for humanitarian parole is normally one year, but the U.S. government announced that Afghans will be eligible for parole for up to two years. Resettlement agencies rely on private donations and volunteer sponsors to support Afghans with parole status.

Afghans who worked for the U.S. government and their families can receive a special immigrant visa. Recipients are sponsored by a resettlement agency and receive basic living assistance for the first 30 to 90 days after arrival.

Refugee resettlement agencies receive $1,225 for each refugee it sponsors.

Visa holders can apply for cash assistance, medical assistance, employment preparation, job placement, English language training, and other services offered through the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Refugees are also eligible for benefits such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Special immigrant visa recipients are granted permanent residency status and can normally apply for U.S. citizenship in five years.

Stephanie Nawyn, a sociologist at Michigan State University who studies refugee policy, said refugees typically become economically self-sufficient within a few years, but it can take longer to become integrated with the community at large.

"I've heard refugees themselves talk about six years as a sort of magical number when they start to feel like they really have a stable ability to kind of interact with the rest of the community," she said.

That's why resettlement agencies are looking for volunteers to help Afghan families navigate life in Michigan, said Judi Harris, director of St. Vincent's Catholic Charities Refugee Services.

"We really are very dedicated to this mission of saving their lives and responding to this crisis, it's just going to take a lot of support from the community," Harris said.

Read more: Afghan refugees are vetted before coming to Michigan; not all get benefits after arrival

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State of Michigan organizing volunteer support for the 1,300 Afghan refugees expected by end of the year

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A new online resource is up and running for Michiganders looking to help welcome the approximately 1,300 Afghan refugees expected to resettle in Michigan in the coming months. The Afghan Arrivals site allows volunteers to share specific resources they can offer for the variety of tasks needed to help support and welcome individuals and families to the state.

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Guidance: Equitable Intake of K-12 Multilingual Learners

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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OCR Obligations to ELs & Families (with translations)

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OCR Obligations to ELs & Families (with translations)

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The obligation not to discriminate based on race, color, or national origin requires public schools to take affirmative steps to ensure that limited English proficient (LEP) students, now more commonly known as English Learner (EL) students or English Language Learners (ELLs), can meaningfully participate in educational programs and services, and to communicate information to LEP parents in a language they can understand. The following materials include information for students and parents, OCR guidance and resources for education officials about their obligations to EL students and LEP parents, and added resources with related information. For Students and Parents For Education Officials Self-Evaluation Materials Related Resources
U.S. Department of Education Resources

U.S. Department of Education Funded Resources and Partnerships

LEP.gov (federal interagency website on limited English proficiency)

U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

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civil rights; racial discrimination; national origin discrimination; limited english proficient; english (second language); language proficiency; title vi; english learner (el) students; limited english proficient (lep) students; english language learners (ells)

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Schools' Civil Rights Obligations to English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents

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OCR resources about civil rights issues regarding English Language Learning and Limited English Proficient students

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Plyer vs. Doe: Protecting Students' Rights to a Public Education (with translations) 

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Plyer vs. Doe: Protecting Students' Rights to a Public Education (with translations) 

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This week, the Southern Poverty Law Center released two resources for supporting immigrant students and families: Protecting Immigrant Students' Rights to a Public Education: A Guide for Families and Advocates and Protecting Immigrant Students' Rights to a Public Education: A Pamphlet for Families and Advocates.

The guide offers an in-depth orientation to the rights of immigrant students and English language learners, particularly focusing on enrollment and the rights of families. It also explores issues of privacy and additional protections available to some students. Finally, the guide includes sample letters advocates can use to encourage schools and districts to meet their responsibilities to students and families.

Designed to share and available in multiple languages, the pamphlet offers overviews of this information, easy-to-use reference lists and links to further resources.

We caught up with some of our colleagues at the SPLC who helped create these resources. In our conversation with Senior Supervising Attorney Mike Tafelski and Senior Outreach Paralegal Oliver Torres, we learned more about the rights of immigrant students and families-and the ways these resources can help educators and other trusted adults advocate for them.

Both the guide and the pamphlet are designed for families and other student advocates. Can you tell us what readers can expect from them?

This work came out of a listening tour that was done around the Deep South, asking, "What are the biggest issues [immigrant students and families] are facing?"

We know we're continuing to see enrollment issues for immigrant children, for ELL children. And we want to ensure that all children have access to a high-quality education-that they aren't being denied access to public education.

To help ensure that access, these resources outline immigrant students' and families' rights.

It doesn't matter if your family is undocumented or mixed-status or second-generation. The guide offers clear guidelines about what information schools and districts can require to enroll students. It also explains that schools or districts can't deny enrollment based on certain documents a family may or may not have.

It outlines some other protections students and families are granted by the law, as well. For example, if they're experiencing unstable housing, a lot of families don't realize that they may qualify for protection. Their perceived definition of homelessness may be quite different from the way the law defines it. But this guide offers clarification there.

Finally, the resources include advocacy tools. They could be for parents and guardians but also for any advocate. It offers ideas for engaging with schools and districts and sample language that advocates can use to ensure students' rights are respected.

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New Resources for Protecting Immigrant Students' Rights

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This week, the Southern Poverty Law Center released two resources for supporting immigrant students and families: Protecting Immigrant Students' Rights to a Public Education: A Guide for Families and Advocates and Protecting Immigrant Students' Rights to a Public Education: A Pamphlet for Families and Advocates.

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Checklist for Accommodations  Modifications for Newcomers 1-8-19 (002).docx

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Volunteers are needed for a variety of tasks to help support and welcome individuals and families to the United States. Volunteers will assist at various stages of the transition of moving to Michigan. The Michigan Community Service Commission is currently registering potential volunteers to assist the organizations that will support the evacuees as they arrive in Michigan.
Some volunteer needs identified include:

Healthcare Providers

Certified Interpretation or Translation

Food Distribution

Healthcare Coordination

Community Support Liaison

Education Tutor and or Mentor

Education Liaison

Financial Literacy

Data Support (Virtual)

Agency Support (some virtual)

Process Donations of Goods

Warehouse Management

By clicking the "SIGN UP" button, you will be directed to a form where you can select detailed information of how you would like to serve. You will also be included in future updates as information develops.

Before beginning service all volunteers will need to undergo a background screening through the Internet Criminal History Access Tool (ICHAT), Michigan and National Sex Offender Registries, and the Central Registry.

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Volunteers are needed for a variety of tasks to help support and welcome individuals and families to the United States. Volunteers will assist at various stages of the transition of moving to Michigan. The Michigan Community Service Commission is currently registering potential volunteers to assist the organizations that will support the evacuees as they arrive in Michigan.

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Guide to Help Newcomer Families Navigate the U.S. School System

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Guide to Help Newcomer Families Navigate the U.S. School System

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Guide Helps Newcomer Students Families Navigate the U.S. School System | REL Northwest

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The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) conducts unbiased large-scale evaluations of education programs and practices supported by federal funds, such as Reading First and Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

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*This service costs money per use.

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Language Translation and Interpreting Services | LanguageLine Solutions

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LanguageLine is the global leader in interpretation, translation, and localization services. We provide 24/7 language access coverage in 290+ languages.

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Free app & translated texts for home communication

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TalkingPoints - Improving student outcomes through meaningful school-family partnerships.

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TalkingPoints - Improving student outcomes through meaningful school-family partnerships.

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Google’s service, offered free of charge, instantly translates words, phrases, and web pages between English and over 100 other languages.

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PL Series: Equitable Intake for K-12 MLLs

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PL Series: Equitable Intake for K-12 MLLs

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This workshop series will support district teams in developing a research-based, equitable intake process for Multilingual Learners. Participants will engage in collaborative planning utilizing the guidance document, which includes best practices, resources and district planning tools around five Foundational Practices: Develop a shared understanding, determine EL/Immigrant Status, gather information, ensure equitable placement and scheduling, and plan for ongoing support and monitoring of the whole child.

Facilitators:

Sean Dougherty, School Counseling Consultant, Oakland Schools

Kallee Iverson, K-12 ESL Coordinator, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools

Christy Osborne, ESL Consultant, Oakland Schools

Event Audience: It is suggested that district teams register to attend together. District teams should include counselors, EL educators, administrators or any other district staff that is directly involved in student intake.

Wednesday, November 17, 12:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. (virtual)

Thursday, December 2, 12:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. (virtual)

Tuesday, February 1, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. OR 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (in-person, choose one collaborative work session with your district team)

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This workshop series will support district teams in developing a research-based, equitable intake process for Multilingual Learners. Participants will engage in collaborative planning utilizing the guidance document, which includes best practices, resources and district planning tools around five Foundational Practices: Develop a shared understanding, determine EL/Immigrant Status, gather information, ensure equitable placement and scheduling, and plan for ongoing support and monitoring of the whole child.

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Microsoft Translator live is a free translation and transcription service that lets you have translated conversations across multiple devices on iOS, Android, Windows, PowerPoint and web for 1:1 conversations or larger group interactions.

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Memorandum: Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2022

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Memorandum: Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2022

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By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, in accordance with section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the "Act") (8 U.S.C. 1157), and after appropriate consultations with the Congress, I hereby make the following determinations and authorize the following actions:

The admission of up to 125,000 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.

The admissions numbers shall be allocated among refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States in accordance with the following regional allocations:

Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,000
East Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,000
Europe and Central Asia . . . . . . . . . . 10,000
Latin America/Caribbean . . . . . . . . . . 15,000
Near East/South Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,000
Unallocated Reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,000

The 10,000 unallocated refugee numbers shall be allocated to regional ceilings, as needed. Upon providing notification to the Judiciary Committees of the Congress, you are hereby authorized to use unallocated admissions in regions where the need for additional admissions arises.

Additionally, upon notification to the Judiciary Committees of the Congress, you are further authorized to transfer unused admissions allocated to a particular region to one or more other regions, if there is a need for greater admissions for the region or regions to which the admissions are being transferred.

Consistent with section 2(b)(2) of the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 (22 U.S.C. 2601(b)(2)), I hereby determine that assistance to or on behalf of persons applying for admission to the United States as part of the overseas refugee admissions program will contribute to the foreign policy interests of the United States and designate such persons for this purpose.

Consistent with section 101(a)(42) of the Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)), and after appropriate consultation with the Congress, I also specify that, for FY 2022, the following persons may, if otherwise qualified, be considered refugees for the purpose of admission to the United States within their countries of nationality or habitual residence:

Persons in Cuba;

Persons in Eurasia and the Baltics;

Persons in Iraq;

Persons in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras; and

In certain circumstances, persons identified by a United States Embassy in any location.

You are authorized and directed to publish this determination in the Federal Register.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

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Memorandum for the Secretary of State on Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2022 | The White House

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By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, in accordance with section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the "Act") (8 U.S.C.

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OS Guidance: Effective Interpretation Process for ELs & Families

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OS Guidance: Effective Interpretation Process for ELs & Families

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If you are a legal refugee or work-authorized immigrant, we can help you overcome barriers to employment and find a job that matches your qualifications. Contact the Oakland County Michigan Works! office nearest you to review the free services available.

Services and Resources May Include

Determination of eligibility to receive assistance from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs

Assessment of literacy, numeracy, and English-language proficiency, as well as supportive service needs

Job search assistance

Career advising

Workforce and labor market employment information

Assistance in determining eligibility for financial aid

Training and education programs

Information for filing unemployment insurance program claims

Referrals to other needed programs and services

Resource referrals are available for the following services:

English as a second language

Housing

Health care

Child care

Transportation

High school diploma/ equivalency

Public assistance

Financial counseling

Legal

Civil rights

Professional licensure

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If you are a legal refugee or work-authorized immigrant, we can help you overcome barriers to employment and find a job that matches your qualifications. Contact the Oakland County Michigan Works! office nearest you to review the free services available.

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Sonia Pastore wants to help people walking the path that her parents took five six decades ago.

Her parents, who were born just outside of Jerusalem, immigrated from the Middle East in the 1950's seeking to start a new life. Now, as the first U.S.-born person in her family, the Bloomfield Hills resident is continuing to assist in the resettlement of immigrants in Michigan after first helping an Iraqi family of refugees after they fled Iraq during the Syrian Civil War.

Michigan will welcome 1,300 Afghan arrivals, from over 50,000 Afghans being admitted into the U.S., by the end of December. This follows the U.S. military's dramatic and chaotic exit from Afghanistan Aug. 31 that ended a 20-year war and involved the evacuation of thousands of Afghan civilians, special immigrant visa holders who worked with the American military, and U.S. citizens from the Kabul Airport as the Taliban and other militant groups began to move into the city.

As Afghans begin arriving in Michigan, Pastore, working with fellow congregation members at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, remembers vividly helping that Iraqi family who fled Afghanistan several years ago..

"They had nothing but the clothes on their backs," she said. "They didn't speak a word of English. They had never seen winter before. We got them tutoring as the children had not been in school."

Pastore is very willing to help these Afghans because she says it wasn't that long ago that her family was in the same situation, adding that her church has taught her to show her humble side and help people in need.

"My family wouldn't be here without the help of people like Christ Church Cranbrook," she said. "I was the first American born here in my family. My father was here on a student visa and my mother was a refugee. I have a daughter that was born in the Middle East, so we have very close ties."

She added that the Iraqi family that she and her church helped resettle in 2018 remains self-sufficient and still living in southeast Michigan.

Nationwide, tens of thousands of Afghans have already made it through security vetting and have arrived on designated U.S. military bases to be temporarily housed before beginning the process of resettlement.

The U.S. Department of State has approved an initial group of 1,300 Afghans to be resettled in Michigan by five resettlement agencies supervised by the Office of Global Michigan, a state government agency.

Last week, the first Afghans began arriving in Michigan following a mandatory quarantine period that concluded for most of them Oct. 1. As of Oct 12, a total of 54 Afghans have arrived in Michigan with travel scheduled for an additional 209 refugees in the coming days/weeks, according to the Office of Global Michigan.

The Office of Global Michigan is prepared to resettle these Afghans, but admit there are challenges including the sheer number of arrivals in such a short amount of time.

According to the Refugee Processing Center,housed within the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Michigan has welcomed, on average, 2,788 refugee arrivals per year since 2010 with most of them coming from Iraq (15,720) and Burma (3,723). Between October 2010 and September 2021, a total of 526 Afghan refugees have arrived in Michigan.

Troy and Southfield welcomed the most refugee arrivals at 3,442 and 4,330 respectively between 2008 and 2018, according to data compiled by The Associated Press and pulled from U.S. State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

The statewide foreign-born population totaled 684,200 million in 2019, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Oakland County's foreign-born population, the highest of any county statewide, totaled over 162,000. Foreign-born is defined as people residing in the U.S. at the time of the 2019 population survey who were not U.S. citizens at birth.

That was before President Trump reduced the annual nationwide refugee cap to 15,000, the lowest in history. It's a number that President Biden has since raised to 125,000.

Although thousands of refugees are resettled statewide on a yearly basis, this specific group of Afghans are different in that more of them speak English and more of them are familiar with the American culture due to their experiences working alongside U.S. troops, according to Father Bill Danaher, of Christ Church Cranbrook.

Danaher and Pastore agree that familiarity with language and culture allows for a much easier resettlement process.

Poppy Sias-Hernandez, the newly-appointed executive director of theOffice of Global Michigan, said the Afghans will be placed with a resettlement agency and be provided with housing, food, transportation, and other day-to-day necessities. The goal is having the immigrants self-sufficient within the first six months.

"I think that it's important to keep at the forefront that all of this resettlement work is very fluid and that as a state we have a real responsibility to answer this call," she said "We receive weekly updates from the federal government, which includes a list of Afghans with scheduled travel so that the resettlement agencies can meet them at the airports."

Hernandez said her office is working with the resettlement agencies to ensure they have the resources and support needed to provide for these Afghans.

"I think we all have a real sense of the task ahead of us," she said. "There's no denying it. It's important work and it's a very big task. Our state has a real history of welcoming refugees and other immigrants and providing them with the resources they need. We will continue to pull together resources to do what is needed. Community volunteer support is going to be really essential to respond to local resettlement needs."

The Michigan Community Service Commission recently announced a statewide effort to ease the transition for the Afghans by bringing together volunteers to provide their time, resources, skills, and money to the resettlement efforts.

"We urge everyone to join us in welcoming these Afghan families to Michigan and ensuring they have the resources they need to succeed," said Gov. Gretchen Whtimer. "We will continue to embrace our duty to honor and protect these families as they flee from violence and political persecution."

Last week, Samaritas, the largest resettlement agency in Michigan and fourth-largest nationwide, welcomed its first group of Afghans, three children aged 18 and younger, who were separated from their parents at the Kabul Airport as they joined the thousands of other Afghans attempting to evacuate the country. The children have been able to communicate with their parents, who are safe for now.

Kelli Dobner, chief advancement officer at Samaritas, said she expects resettlement activity to dramatically increase in the next few weeks as Afghans complete their federally-mandated quarantine period at military bases. Samaritas has been approved by the federal government to resettle 350 Afghans.

The organization is given 48 hours to respond to Afghan profiles and accept them for placement, says Dobner.

"We will make sure we are at the airport to greet them and provide them with what they need immediately," she said. "Most of the time it's food, and then we take them to their new homes."

Dobner said the three Afghan children are currently living with a family in southeast Michigan.

Legal status and uncertainty

All of the arriving Afghans are coming into the country with a "parole status" meaning they are legally here to receive resettlement services, including housing, food, and transportation, and to seek employment, but do not have permanent protected refugee status.

To become a refugee, all of them will have to apply for and be granted asylum by the federal government within one year of their arrival.

Susan Reed, managing attorney for The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, a non-profit legal resource center, said if they don't apply for asylum and are granted refugee status, they would be putting themselves at-risk of being deported after that first year.

"Refugee status is a permanent legal immigration status, but they are also required to apply for lawful permanent residence, a green card, one year after arrival," she said. "After five years, they can apply for U.S. citizenship. That's optional."

Reed said this group of Afghans is in a very different situation compared to other immigrants due to the haste of the August evacuation process. She made clear that these Afghans are not coming into the U.S. with refugee status.

"They are going to have to apply for asylum," said Reed. "It's a complex, difficult and fraught process. Once they arrive here, the clock will be running on their one-year deadline to apply for asylum."

Reed added that although federal dollars are used to fully support the resettlement agencies over the first 90 days of resettlement, there is no federal assistance to help provide refugees with legal support. Beyond those first 90 days, resettlement is funded through a combination of state, federal and private sector donations.

At this time, the Michigan Immigration Rights Center is turning away 75% of all asylum seekers due to lack of resources. Some people wait years to be granted asylum and refugee status. The center relies mostly on grant funding to provide services.

"The cost of hiring an attorney to apply for asylum is thousands of dollars," she said. "They only have one year to apply for asylum and if they miss the deadline to apply they could completely lose their chance to get asylum. There's a very high standard to prove that someone should be an exception beyond that first year, so we are trying to mobilize as many resources as possible now to meet this huge need."

With the resettlement agencies focused on getting these Afghans to be self-sufficient within the first 6 months of arriving in Michigan, Reed said it's critically important and absolutely essential that they have permanent legal immigration status.

The Michigan Immigation Rights Center is continuing to fill out grant applications and accept private community donations to be able to provide the staff and resources needed to meet the demand of these immigrants.

"Our goal is to try to use as many volunteer attorneys as possible because it would take a tremendous amount of new resources to use office staff attorneys to do this," she said. "There are many other asylum-seekers who we are struggling to serve right now. We want to be able to have a pro bono coordinator to work with the law firms to be able to train and mentor volunteer attorneys."

For those interested in registering as a volunteer to aid in the Afghan resettlement effort, visit https://www.michigan.gov/leo/0,5863,7-336-94421_95498_108945-,00.html.

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Resettlement of Afghans in Michigan dependent on widespread community support

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Sonia Pastore wants to help people walking the path that her parents took five six decades ago. Her parents, who were born just outside of Jerusalem, immigrated from the Middle East in the 1950's seeking to start a new life.

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Many educators teaching diverse students report that they do not receive enough cultural background information on their students. If you are teaching Afghan students, it is important to be aware of newcomers' backgrounds. The information below is meant to provide an overview of key highlights, so you develop culturally responsive teaching strategies that are in tune with your students' learning styles. This cultural information was developed for teachers, but it can be used by anyone working or interacting with newcomer families.

Here is some cultural information to help educators and other professionals or volunteers who are working with refugee, immigrant, and asylum-seeking families. This page is about Afghan students in the USA.

Languages

Pashto and Dari

Teaching Afghan students in the classroom

It is estimated that only one-third of school-age Afghan children ever attended school during the 1980s, during the Soviet occupation. The education system fell apart completely in the ensuing civil war. Children were either taught at home, in the local mosque, or not at all.

Under the Taliban, secular education did not exist. Boys received religious education, and girls were forbidden education altogether. In Islam, education is more highly valued than wealth but, parents who wanted their children educated arranged for private tutoring in informal groups.

Afghans in the United States have a higher mean level of education than Southeast Asian and African refugee groups, but decades of recurrent conflict have led to the education being disrupted or discontinued. In Pakistan, approximately 80% of the school-age Afghan refugee population is currently out of school, resulting in extremely low literacy among Afghan refugees, especially among women and girls. Many women and elders have had little or no formal education at all.

Family/school engagement

Afghan students are expected to work hard in school and to come home after school to do homework. For this reason, some parents might not allow their children to engage in after-school activities. Boys usually have much more freedom than girls. Another contributing factor may be that many refugees do not know how to drive or lack access to a car, so transportation to school events will be a challenge.

While Afghan communities in the United States have made tremendous concessions to Western life, there is often tension in families as the children bring their school-learned American sensibilities into homes with traditional Afghan values. Schools teach children independence and assertiveness, which contradict cultural values of family interdependence and strict obedience to elder family members, particularly to the father's authority. Families are concerned that children will pick up immodest behavior from their non-Muslim classmates, as well as from school itself.

Culture, gender and family

The Afghan population in the United States shares a common nationality and Islamic religion, but it is diverse in terms of political orientation, religious affiliation, ethnicity, social class, and attitude toward modernization. The importance of this diversity cannot be overstated. In terms of ethnicity alone, there are 19 different groups in Afghanistan, and, while the majority of Afghans in the United States are Pashtun and Tajik, there is an Uzbek minority in New York, as well as some Afghan Jews and Hindus; and Hazaras are scattered around the country.

Afghans are generally reluctant to share personal and family issues with nonfamily members, including healthcare professionals, although women may discuss their problems with friends, including non-Afghans. They dislike others, especially outsiders, telling them what to do. In the United States, Afghans might perceive school and social service agency intervention as undermining parental authority, responsibility and control.

The Afghan family is sacrosanct and a matter of great privacy. It is considered a significant breach of manners for a man to express interest of any sort in another man's female relatives. For example, it may be inappropriate for a male teacher to ask, "How is your wife?"

Even though Afghan culture in the U.S. is in transition, with families ranging from traditional to cosmopolitan depending on their backgrounds and personal choice, family life remains the core of U.S. Afghan culture. Afghans tend to socialize almost exclusively with extended family members, and this intense family focus can cause culture conflict in the U.S. Extended family obligations often supersede other responsibilities.

Afghan women have, generally speaking, adapted to the U.S. better than have Afghan men, who have had difficulty finding a middle road between a traditional and an American lifestyle. The traditional husband's power and role as head of the family is further undermined when children learn English more quickly than their parents do and become their parents' translators and spokespersons.

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You can download and print this Afghan student cultural information as a PDF and keep it as a resource in your classroom.

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Many educators teaching diverse students report that they do not receive enough cultural background information on their students. If you are teaching Afghan students, it is important to be aware of newcomers' backgrounds. The information below is meant to provide an overview of key highlights, so you develop culturally responsive teaching strategies that are in tune with your students' learning styles.

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As President Joe Biden announced the end of the longest war in U.S. history, schools across the nation prepared for an influx of refugees, who were among the more than 120,000 people that were evacuated from Afghanistan.

"So many of our students bring their cultural perspective, and they really add diversity to the classroom," said Salimah Shamsuddin, refugee family support coordinator for Austin Independent School District in Texas. The district has been receiving refugees for over 14 years, and has so far enrolled 11 Afghan students from the 100-200 expected families estimated by Refugee Services of Texas. "We're not really sure how many of those families are just couples, and how many are families with kids."

In absence of this knowledge, districts are still partnering with community organizations to offer arriving students and families a host of services, including language support, academic assessments and culturally responsive instruction, drives and donations from families, and housing and healthcare.

'They've seen a lot'

"What's happened just in the past couple of weeks, they've seen a lot," Shamsuddin said. "And so how do we respond to that in the classroom?"

Community and in-house mental health providers are part of the answer.

A smooth registration process "means not only getting them the classes, but also getting them the social-emotional supports that they need to get settled," said Meredith Hedrick, chair of the English for Speakers of Other Languages Department at Annandale High School in Virginia's Fairfax County Public Schools.

The district expects students who have been evacuated from Afghanistan to arrive in the surrounding county, and school staff are helping to expedite enrollment, a district spokesperson said in an email. "It could be therapy or social services. It can be anything as simple as a backpack or other things they need at home, like school supplies," Hedrick added.

In Austin's International High School, where all of the teachers are certified in ESL, and which serves a handful of Afghan students already, a social worker closely working with students was able to apply for and secure housing through the city's rental assistance program. "So just working with families in that capacity, not just in the classroom, but also helping with other needs," Shamsuddin said.

'They need to feel welcomed'

In addition to wraparound services like housing and health care, districts are also preparing to provide academic support. "One thing we do with our refugee families is recognize their strengths and all the efforts that they bring. Often, the work with refugee students is framed as 'needs and deficits and challenges,'" said David Kauffman, executive director of multilingual education at AISD.

In reality, Afghan students and families may speak multiple languages and already be ahead of the academic curve, but just need to feelaccepted in order to excel.

"I think especially in this situation, just really knowing who these students are and learning more about their background is really important for them to move forward academically," said Sarah Eqab, assistant principal at Annandale High School. "In order for them to learn, they need to feel welcomed and need to feel like they belong."

Sometimes that requires training teachers to be culturally responsive. "I think we're going to be really in tune to the needs of the Afghan community, and so I think that's going to be an adjustment that we're going to want to learn about - what's culturally appropriate given the circumstances the Afghan community has been through," said Hedrick.

In Austin, the district is training teachers, mental health professionals and counselors. "If you have a father that you're speaking to, there might be some cultural consideration like hand-shaking," said Shamsuddin. "A lot of our dads put their hand over their chests as a 'hello,' and [we have to let] teachers know that that's normal and they do that."

Trainings also emphasize differentiating between Afghan families and those from the Middle East.

In another effort to make environments inclusive for Afghan families, schools are setting up peer or mentor systems with students who speak Pashto or Dari. "Not only do they have adults, but they immediately have another student in the building that can help them," Eqab said.

Technology could be a challenge

Although some districts have been welcoming refugees for years, this year's enrollment and acclimation could be challenging amid the ongoing pandemic and periodic school shutdowns.

"In the past, if a kid needed to go into vision testing, they would take them to the eye doctor, and it was an easy process," said Eqab. "But because of the pandemic, a lot of things have shifted where parents have to access technology, and they need that support sometimes if they're not familiar with it."

And once families are familiar with district technology, newly enrolled students will have to get the hang of the different programs and platforms schools use, added Hedrick.

"It's just an additional layer for us to help them work through," Eqab said.

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How are school districts easing transitions for Afghan students?

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As President Joe Biden announced the end of the longest war in U.S. history, schools across the nation prepared for an influx of refugees, who were among the more than 120,000 people that were evacuated from Afghanistan.

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It is important to understand the cultures of our students in order to help them feel safe. The Culture Crossing link found on this website is amazing. Click on a country and you will a large number of facts.

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Please select a country in the dropdown menu below to see the values for the 6 dimensions. After a first country has been selected, a second and even a third country can be chosen to be able to see a comparison of their scores.

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Audio, digital texts in several languages. Teacher's guides with translations available.

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Dari-Pashto Editions - Books For Afghanistan

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We provide Dari-Pashto editions of traditional Teaching-Stories from Afghanistan and the surrounding region.

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Arabic Learning Resources > Arabic Reading Books
Arabic reading books help with increasing your Arabic fluency. Below you can see a list of reading resources in Arabic. These reading resources are designed to help people learn Arabic.

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Arabic reading books help with increasing your Arabic fluency. These books we found are designed for people learning Arabic.