In our 2023 report, Rising Numbers, Unmet Needs, we described the rapid growth in the number of immigrant newcomers to Massachusetts high schools and the heterogeneity within this population, both in terms of demographic characteristics like home language and country of origin and in their educational outcomes.
Since then, sweeping changes continue to affect these newcomers — here defined as English learners (ELs) in their first 12 months of schooling in the United States — and the districts that serve them. Newcomers remain largely concentrated in urban areas like Boston, Lynn, and Lawrence (Figure 1). However, a growing number of Massachusetts districts serve more than five high-school newcomers; 102 did so by the spring of 2024. Starting in 2025, travel bans, increased entry restrictions, and other measures designed to curtail immigration again shifted the landscape; 1,000 fewer newcomers arriving in Massachusetts public high schools that year, a decrease driven entirely by a decline in students arriving in the spring.
High-school newcomers differ from other vulnerable student groups in key respects. More than half are not present when the school year begins. Some arrive without their parents, scarred by exposure to trauma and violence and perilous journeys to the U.S. Half are 16 years or older when they first set foot in a Massachusetts high school; for many, financial insecurity and debt result in work obligations that make school attendance and engagement even more challenging.
In this report, we focus on districts and how they serve this group of students. Across the state, districts are struggling to accomplish the dual goals of helping newcomers make progress towards English language proficiency and master the academic content in the state’s curriculum frameworks. Particularly for those newcomers who arrive in high school with very limited English language skills and/or gaps in their prior learning, the path to high-school graduation is extremely demanding, and many do not complete it. Furthermore, uncertainty about their futures in the U.S. may lower newcomers’ academic expectations and aspirations.