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Center for
Multicultural Education
Center for Multicultural Education Events
The Center for Multicultural Education Presents the 25th Symposium in our Symposium Lecture Series
Learning a New Land: Immigrant Students in American Society
Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, New York University
October 24, 2008
One child in five in America is the child of immigrants, and their numbers increase 
each year. Very few will return to the country they barely remember. Who are they, and what America do they know?
Based on an extraordinary interdisciplinary study that followed 400 newly arrived children from the Caribbean, China, Central America, and Mexico for five years, the Suarez-Orozcos provide a compelling account of the lives, dreams, and frustrations of these youngest immigrants. Richly told portraits of high and low achievers are packed with unexpected ironies. When they arrive, most children are full of optimism and a respect for education. But poor neighborhoods and dull — often dangerous — schools can corrode hopes. The vast majority learn English, but it is the English of video games and the neighborhood, not that of standardized tests.
