This document summarizes a research project on the issues faced by refugee and immigrant students at Albany High School. It observes that there is not enough support for teachers and students to deal with the specific issues faced by these populations. It also notes that test scores are low and programs for integration, language learning, and preparing for Regents exams need improvement. The document examines existing programs like A-PLUS and potential programs like a youth court. It provides data on behavioral incidents and Regents exam scores that indicate underperformance. Recommendations include providing translations of exams, considering students' prior education, and addressing unrealistic expectations. Successful programs in other areas that support refugee students academically and with integration are also outlined.

1. Albany High School
Community Research
Project
System Issues within Albany High School faced by Refugees
and Immigrants
University at Albany
Public Anthropology ANT 497
By: Meghan Luce

2. Observed areas of improvement
at Albany High School
 There is not enough support:
 For teachers & students
 Very specific issues that are considerably different than issues faced by American teens.
 There are not enough programs available:
 Regents expectations, preparedness, scores
 After-School Programs
 Integrations Programs
 Culture
 English
 Community Involvement
 Learn about the city and community
 Projects to incorporate all parties

3. Programs & Services offered
at Albany High School
 In School Resources:
 School Psychologist (1)
 Social Worker (2)
 Student Assistance Counselor (1)
 Community Resources:
 CrisisChat.org
 Refugees and Immigrants enter the education at a significant
disadvantage, are there people trained and dedicated to deal
with common issues?

4. A-PLUS Program
 A-PLUS Program- to improve academic outcomes
 ‘Designed to improve academic outcomes by expanding
high-quality school and community-based services available
to students and families so that students in Albany may
learn, live and prosper in safe and supportive
environments.’
 Started in February 2009
 Funded by a 4-year Federal ‘Safe schools- healthy students’
initiative.

5. Components of the A-PLUS
Program
 A-PLUS Health Clinics:
 Started in Fall 2009
 For additional support the High School is staffed with:
 Full-time clinical social worker
 Behavior specialist
 Parent Partner
 Case manager
 Youth Advocate
 Sometimes refugees and immigrants suffer from trauma
 The refugee population suffers disproportionately from PTS general population
rate for the United States- 8%. Some refugee communities report 43% or more.
 Is there adequate support for these students with these very different pasts and
problems?

6. Components of the A-PLUS
Program
 Gang Resistance Education & Training Program:
 Started Fall 2009
 Offered to 6th grade students entering middle school
 Weekly visits by law enforcement officers.
 Why not re-offer program to students entering Albany High School
and that are new to the school district.
 CrisisChat.org
 ‘Nonjudgmental support and help through a difficult time’
 Confidential
 Secure
 Anonymous

7. Albany High School Projects
 Project Safe Neighborhood:
 Proposed development and implement a school-based youth
court.
 Will be comprised of students from grades 9-12, they will be
trained to be Youth Court members and conduct hearings.
 Will hear the cases of mostly 9th graders involved in low level
violations:
 Disruptive behavior  Minor altercations
 Intimidation  Menacing
 Bullying
 Harassment  Theft
 Larceny
 Criminal mischief

8. Albany High School Projects
 The Youth Court will be comprised of 20 or more youth
court members.
 The majority of the violations are considered precursors
to gang and gun violence.
 There will be 2 hearings a month
 8 cases from September- December
 24 cases from January-June
 Possibility for more cases a month depending on
recruitment.

9. Potential Errors: Youth
Court
 Creating a minority with the ability to decide consequences for
issues involving other students could increase tension in an
already divided atmosphere.
 Could this increase the amount of bullying throughout the
school?
 Are the issues the court is appointed to hear really ‘minor
violations’?
 Do these ‘minor violations’ go 2 weeks without being
reprimanded?
 If the these are present issues they should be dealt with on a
real level. Where students are dealing with advisors and staff
for serious infractions.

10. New York State Violence and
Disruptive Behavior Report
Minor Altercations 143
70
Inimidation/Harrassment 176
96
8
Criminal Mischeif 8
2
Sexual Offenses 2
Riot/ False Alarm 3 2007-2008 2008-2009
8
Weapon Possession 40
46
Drug Possession 23
11
Assault 11
2007-2008 8
Other Offenses:
2008-2009
Students Enrolled- 2,668

11. New York State Regents
Exam
 New York State Regents exams are designed to test students on core curriculum knowledge received
throughout their education career, starting in Pre-K and continuing to senior.
 Starting in at the beginning of the school year 2011, Local Diplomas were no longer being awarded.
Students can only receive a Regents Diploma. Local Diplomas allowed students to graduate by score 65%
or higher on 3 Regents exams and 55% or higher on 2 exams. With this implementation students now have
to receive 65% or higher on all Regents exams.
 Core Curriculum: Offered at different times from Pre-K to 12th grade.
 Arts
 Career Development & Occupational studies
 English Language Arts  History, Social Studies
 Health, Physical Education, Family & Consumer Science
 Languages other than English
 Mathematics, Science, Technology  Living Environment, Earth Science, Chemistry,
Physics.

12. Comprehensive Report Card:
Course: Year:
English Score:55-64 Score: 65-84 Score: 85-100
Total Tested:
& Math
English 2009-2010 435 73% 49% 4%
2008-2009 766 71% 53% 14%
Math B 2009-2010 111 56% 38% 2%
2008-2009 176 63% 48% 11%
Algebra 2009-2010 792 71% 47% 1%
2008-2009 753 60% 36% 4%
Geometry 2009-2010 300 80% 61% 9%
2008-2009 274 69% 50% 12%
Trigonometry 2009-2010 177 56% 45% 10%
2008-2009 N/A N/A N/A N/A

13. School Report Card:
Global History and Geography & U.S.
History and Geography
Course: Year: Total Score: 55- Score: Score:
Tested: 64 65-84 85-100
Global 2009-2010 741 61% 44% 13%
Hist. &
Geo.
2008-2009 814 61% 44% 11%
U.S. Hist. 2009-2010 550 78% 64% 24%
& Govt.
2008-2009 556 79% 63% 22%
In a questionnaire I handed out to Senior and Intermediate ESL students at Albany High
School, I asked which class was their least favorite. The common answer along with
Science was History. From data available is appears that this section has been continually
low achieving and a visible problem area for students.

14. Regents Exams: Science
Course: Year: Total Score: Score: Score:
Tested: 55-64 65-84 85-100
Living Envi. 2009-2010 494 78% 56% 7%
2008-2009 700 79% 59% 10%
Earth Sci. 2009-2010 245 70% 55% 16%
2008-2009 252 69% 54% 21%
Chem. 2009-2010 241 76% 40% 5%
2008-2009 230 69% 39% 4%
Physics 2009-2010 91 63% 49% 12%
2008-2009 85 75% 64% 11%

15. Observational Areas for
Improvement
 Regents Exams are only available in languages that reflect the refugee and
immigrant demographics of New York City:
 Traditional Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish
 This doesn’t represent the current demographic of students at Albany High School,
only the Spanish translation is useful.
 The students might understand the material but doesn’t understand the phrasing
of the question.
 In one class I observed everyone reviewing for the listening part of the January 2012
regents with sample passages and questions about Going Green. The students would
understand main concepts but had trouble with unfamiliar words. An example would be a
question that referenced junk mail. The students didn't understand the concept of junk
and had a harder time answering the question.
 When completing core curriculum do they take into credit from other schools?
 Can their native language be considered their language credit?
 Could the low grades possibly represent rushing? Maybe the necessary time to
develop the knowledge necessary to being successful isn’t provided.

16. Observation Areas for
Improvement
 Standardized testing based on Regents exams presents a great challenge for most
refugee an immigrants high school students.
 American students are provided with this educations starting in Kindergarten. From
the survey I handed out in class the average number of years the students had lived in
the United States was only 3 years (longest was 5 years, shortest was 8 months). In the
class I observed for the semester the level was intermediate and advanced, and most
of the kids were expected to graduate in the Spring 2012 or following year.
 I found it hard to believe that while being taught English, concepts, grammar and
sentences the students were also expected to learn full course work for their
determined grade, as well as prepare the for the Regents. Maybe the expectations are
unrealistic.
 Refugee and Immigrant students are expect to perform at the same standards and
testing levels of American students who have been taught to take Regents exams for
6-12 years. (Regents start in 6th grade.) All while not taking into account the possible
trauma experienced, the difficulty of adapting to a new culture as well as a new high
school.

17. Working Programs &
Projects:
 San Francisco Refugee Transitions: Provide refugee and
immigrant communities with the help and opportunities they
need to develop supportive relationships with adults and peers,
succeed academically, and develop leadership skills
 Youth Programs:
 Home-Based Tutoring:
 Over 80% involved develop role model relationships
 Improve reading and math skills
 Commitment of 1 academic year, available 2-4 Hours a week.

18. Refugee Transition: Programs
 Youth Programs:
 Afterschool:
 Offered Monday – Thursday
 Highest needs are paired with home-based tutor for additional support.
 On Thursdays, those with low English proficiency can attend an extra
ESL class
 Volunteers are trained and supported as peer tutors.
 Summer Camp
 Soccer without Borders
 Takes students from the local community to form soccer games with
refugee and immigrant students.
 Help develop understanding, relationship and English

19. Refugee Transition:
Outcomes
 In the fall of 2009, 95% of regularly attending students
either improved their academic performance [by an
average of .32 points (GPA)] or maintained their A
average.
 Data from the spring of 2009 show that 80% of tutoring
students felt more confident with their English.
 68% understood assignments better.
 88% showed higher overall confidence.

20. Promising Practices Program
 Refugee School Impact Youth Program- Massachusetts.
 Programs:
 After-school Program: High-school students come for help after-
school four days a week. Students are tutored in English, math and
writing.
 Saturday Enrichment Program: focuses on strengthening English
skills and learning about American customs through activities such as
cultural celebrations and sports. Those activities are designed to
facilitate integration of program participants into their community.

21. Refugee School Impact Youth
Program- Massachusetts
 Health Education: Provide refugee youth with information on nutrition and
healthy living through a series of small group and individual workshops. As a
result of a recent collaboration with the Community Health Center and the
YMCA to help achieve these goals, refugee school children have received a
no-cost, 3-month membership to the YMCA.
 Summer Program: The summer program runs four days a week and is
designed to foster retention of material learned during the academic year and
to give students an additional opportunity to catch up to their classmates.
 Parent/School Communication: The Refugee School Impact Coordinator
serves as a parent/school liaison for the students in the middle and high
schools. She coordinates interpretation; attends Individualized Education
Plan (IEP) meetings, parent/teacher conferences, and open houses; orients
teachers to the cultures of new refugee populations; and consults with
teachers on the needs of particular refugee students and their families.

22. Refugee School Impact Youth
Program- Massachusetts
 Program Evaluation:
 The program staff created a modified version of the MEPA for their own internal
use. Students take the test twice a year (in the beginning and at the end of the school
year) to assess the effectiveness of the programs. In addition, the program staff
monitors their students’ academic success by reviewing school progress report cards
and discussing the students’ progress with their school teachers.
 To track the students’ overall adjustment, program staff are currently monitoring
these aspects of their success through observations. Program staff get to know each
of the students and monitor their ability to access mainstream services and programs
as well as their readiness for employment.
 Program Outcomes:
 During the first half of Federal Fiscal Year 2009, 26 middle and 30 high school
refugee students were served by the program. All of the students successfully
completed their grade level, and all moved up one level in the school’s tiered
Sheltered English Immersion program. Four of the five graduating seniors will
attend college. Five students have found summer employment this year.

23. Refugee Teen Empowerment
Program-Buffalo
 Partnership between the Youth Character Development
Foundation and Daemen College for a leadership
program for refugee high school students.
 Programs has several sections to help with the transition.
 Goal:
 Enable refugee students to adjust to American society and
succeed in school, on the job and in the community

24. Refugee Teen Empowerment
Program-Buffalo
 Education Component, including a tour of Daemen College and a meeting with
the Admissions Counselor to discuss SAT preparation, scholarships, college life,
etc.
 Employment and mentoring component, including discussion of employment
opportunities, volunteering, professional appearance and conduct
 Personal responsibility component, which includes discussions about violence,
bullying, staying out of trouble with the law, and related topics
 Citizenship component, involving presentations on what it means to become a
US citizen and how to apply for it
 Additional topics include building self-confidence, public speaking, improving
communication skills, and managing peer pressure. The students will also be
eligible for one college credit upon completion of the program.

25. Observation Areas for
Improvement
 With recent funding to Albany High School to help develop academic
achievement among the entire student body, I believe there are many areas
for improvement.
 If possible develop more afterschool programs as wells as private tutoring.
 Similar to the examples, offer programs more frequently, 4 days a week.
 Collaborate with local colleges:
 Create a credit program in related majors (Math, History, Language Arts,
Anthropology) to provide tutoring to students.
 Valuable to student teacher because they can demonstrate knowledge, and
the students can see the value of higher education, develop role models and
get extra support.

26. Observation Areas for
Improvement
 Provide a type of summer transition camp for new students.
 Allow students to make friends, get accommodated with school and
community, as well as the ability to advance in classes.
 Provide an Intensive English program:
 Help students establish the fundamentals of English before trying to teach
them standardized material.
 Without the foundation of the concepts the students are being taught, you
wonder what is being retained and how effective the method is. A student is
set up to fail when they are made to learn a new language, new culture and
school along with learning expected standards for the grade their placed in
all within the four years allotted for high school. ( Many students do not
graduate, either drop out or leave school after turning 21).

27. Observation Areas for
Improvement
 Create more Community Projects:
 Volunteering at local shelters
 Working on a community garden
 Hosting a community dinner
 Create different district sport teams  facilitate friendship and language.
 Preparedness & Accessibility for the Future:
 Higher Education:
 Educate about options schools, programs, requirements, process
 Workforce:interview & resume skills, job training, job shadowing,
internships, apprenticeships, search and placement, referrals.

28. Post-secondary Plans of
2009–10 Completers
Plan: Number of Students Percentage of
Students
4-year College 144 32%
2-year College 197 44%
Military 7 2%
Employment 40 9%
Unknown 52 12%
Other 10 2%