A new brief looks at how schools can best serve students from immigrant families during the coronavirus pandemic. Immigrant communities have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus in terms of loss of employment, representation among frontline and essential workers, and rates of illness, and they tend to have lower access to resources at home that can support their learning.

The researchers suggest schools should use culturally relevant communications with students and families in multiple languages and formats, provide extracurricular support to complete at-home learning, provide assignments that don’t require as much computer use or parent involvement. They also recommend schools provide information and guidance for families about immigrants’ legal and educational rights and available services, and address concerns around privacy and immigration status that may arise because of distance learning.