Who We Serve

Immigrant Students and English Language Learners

Advocates for Children of New York (AFC)’s Immigrant Students’ Rights Project combines our distinctive leadership in the field of public education advocacy with our in-depth knowledge of the needs of immigrant students, students learning English, and their families to improve student achievement and advance meaningful reform.  Our work with families, strong partnerships with leaders and service providers in immigrant communities, and expertise on legal rights and entitlements place us at the forefront of efforts to improve educational opportunities for these students. 

Assistance to Immigrant Families

We represent immigrant students and parents in school administrative hearings, help parents enroll their children in effective English Language Learner (ELL) programs, and assist older immigrant youth in finding appropriate school placements.  In addition, we provide tools and information to parents on how to address problems in their children’s schools.  We also work closely with immigrant-serving community-based organizations to strengthen their ability to assist families as they navigate the public school system and seek to create stronger partnerships with their local schools to improve their school communities. 

Policy Work

Through our work with families and communities, we identify troubling trends and system-wide barriers that we address through our policy work.  A cornerstone of this aspect of our work has been collaboration with other immigrant and education advocacy organizations. Our advocacy has spurred a number of major reforms, including the creation of alternative high schools specifically for ELLs, initiatives to reverse the citywide decline in bilingual programming, and improvement to translation and interpretation services for immigrant parents. 

Success Stories

• Michelle, a 20 year-old from Haiti, emigrated to NYC shortly after the earthquake ravished her community.  Although she spoke very little English, she had dreams of earning a high school diploma and attending college.  Click here to read Michelle’s story.

• To read additional success stories, click on the link.
   

Getting Your Child’s School Transcripts and Documents Translated into Your Language

AFC’s Immigrant Students’ Rights Project is partnering with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest to ensure immigrant parents of students with disabilities receive the translation and interpretation services they need to participate meaningfully in their children’s education.

• Click on the links for interpretation and translation fact sheets on language access in English, Spanish, Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Korean, Haitian-Creole, Polish, Punjabi, Russian, or Urdu.
  
  
• Click the parent or advocate request letters to request interpretation and translation of important special education information:
  
  
  • Parent request letter: Spanish, Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Korean, Haitian-Creole, Polish, Punjabi, Russian, or Urdu.
    
    
  • Advocate request letter: Spanish, Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Korean, Haitian-Creole, Polish, Punjabi, Russian, or Urdu.

Guides & Resources

• Know Your Rights – A Guide to Legal Rights of Immigrant Students & Parents in the New York City Public Schools
  English, Spanish, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Haitian-Creole, Russian, or Urdu 
• Program Options for English Language Learners
  Click here for brochure in English and Spanish
   

AFC’s Immigrant Students’ Rights Project’s recent initiatives include:

Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE)

In 2010, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) released an important report, Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE): A Challenge for the New York City Public Schools, which showed that addressing the needs of SIFE is critical to raising English Language Learner (ELL) achievement and graduation rates overall. SIFE, along with other high needs ELLs and newcomer ELLs, make up the majority of ELLs in New York City middle and high schools. SIFE also represent a subpopulation of ELLs who have some of the biggest obstacles to acquiring the English language skills and content knowledge necessary to graduate from high school. The report launched a unique collaborative effort by the New York City Department of Education (DOE), AFC, Flanbwayan Haitian Literacy Project, and Sauti Yetu Center for African Women to build schools’ capacity to meet the needs of SIFE.

The Parent Organizing Collaborative (POC)

The Parent Leadership Program of the Bloomingdale Family Program & Center for Immigrant Families (CIF), and La Unión, supports and strengthens parent organizing in New York City.  POC is based on the principle that parent leadership and partnerships with schools are essential not only for student success and good schools, but also for strong communities.  POC works with the Participatory Action Research Center for Education Organizing (PARCEO), which operates in partnership with the Educational Leadership Program of NYU Steinhardt, to develop a model curriculum, training program, and structure to support parents to identify problems in their schools and organize to address those problems based on their needs, realities, and vision.