NEWCOMER TOOL KIT

Introduction
The U.S. Department of Education is pleased to provide this Newcomer Tool Kit. This tool kit can help U.S.
educators and others who work directly with immigrant students—including asylees and refugees—and their
families. It is designed to help elementary and secondary teachers, principals, and other school staff achieve the
following:
• Expand and strengthen opportunities for cultural and linguistic integration and education
• Understand some basics about their legal obligations to newcomers
• Provide welcoming schools and classrooms for newcomers and their families
• Provide newcomers with the academic support to attain English language proficiency (if needed) and to
meet college and career readiness standards
• Support and develop newcomers’ social emotional skills
The Newcomer Tool Kit provides (1) discussion of topics relevant to understanding, supporting, and engaging
newcomer students and their families; (2) tools, strategies, and examples of classroom and schoolwide practices in
action, along with chapter-specific professional learning activities for use in staff meetings or professional learning
communities; and (3) selected resources for further information and assistance, most of which are available online
at no cost. The tool kit includes five chapters:
Chapter 1: Who Are Our Newcomers?
Chapter 2: Welcoming Newcomers to a Safe and Thriving School Environment.
Chapter 3: Providing High-Quality Instruction for Newcomer Students.
Chapter 4: Supporting Newcomers’ Social Emotional Needs.
Chapter 5: Establishing Partnerships With Families.
The topics covered in the tool kit are important to the Department’s mission: to promote student achievement and
preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. To support that
mission, the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) provides national leadership to help ensure that
English Learners (ELs) and immigrant students attain English language proficiency and achieve rigorous academic
standards. OELA also identifies major issues affecting the education of ELs, and supports state and local systemic
reform efforts to improve EL achievement.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) lead the development of
the tool kit with support from the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development (OPEPD), the Office
of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Principal and Teacher Ambassador Fellows, and the
White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics (WHIEEH). A special thank you to Aída Walqui,
María Santos, and their team from WestEd for their significant contribution of the content in the tool kit. The
National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA) also was integral to developing the tool kit.
Note: This document does not address the legal obligations of states and school districts toward ELs and their families under Title I
and Title III of the Elementary and Secondary School Education Act (ESEA). The recently enacted Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
amended the ESEA, including obligations to ELs. This tool kit may be amended to reflect relevant changes as needed. For more
information on ESSA, go to http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/index.html.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | NEWCOMER TOOLKIT | iv
No official endorsement by the Department of any product, commodity, service, enterprise, curriculum, or program of instruction
mentioned in this publication is intended or should be inferred. For the reader’s convenience, the tool kit contains information about
and from outside organizations, including URLs. Inclusion of such information does not constitute the Department’s endorsement.