Date of Award
6-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Publisher
Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2025
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Abstract
Newcomer students, defined as foreign-born children who have attended U.S. schools for less than three years, are entering U.S. schools in ever-increasing numbers. Schools are often the first institutions to welcome immigrants to local communities, and meeting the linguistic, socioemotional, and academic needs of newcomer students and their families is essential to their success. However, data on newcomers is not publicly accessible, which makes them not easily visible in the school system. Furthermore, newcomers may have socioemotional challenges due to their prior life experiences, the immigration process, and then the likely challenges of limited English fluency which can lead to academic struggles. While exceptional teachers, schools, and administrators advocate for newcomers, there is a lack of widespread scale and consistency.
My research aims to fill a gap in the literature about elementary newcomers, their experiences, and the support they receive to acclimate to U.S. schools. Grounded in Yosso’s (2005) framework of community cultural wealth, I applied a phenomenological methodology, integrated with an arts-based research approach, to investigate the lived experiences of young newcomer students and their parents. I interviewed nine newcomer students and their parents, representing five home countries, to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the familial, academic, and socioemotional experiences of diverse elementary newcomer students and their families? and 2) To what extent are newcomer students and their families receiving support to acclimate to U.S. schools and beyond? Key findings centered on how participants sustain their cultural heritage, the immigration challenges they face, and how they have adapted to a new cultural context. They also described the types of school support received and critiqued their effectiveness, as well as explained how this transformative experience helps prepare them for life in pluralistic society.
Recommended Citation
Medeiros, Maureen Margaret, "“Everything is a New Challenge for Each of Us”: A Qualitative Exploration of Elementary Newcomer Students’ and Families’ Lived Experiences of Acclimating to U.S. Schooling" (2025). Social Justice in Educational Leadership EdD Dissertations. 18.
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/ed_dissertations/18
