|
Communities and schools are shaped and strengthened by the migration of people and ideas across the globe. The City University of New York - Initiative on Immigration and Education (CUNY-IIE, pronounced ‘eye’) is a NYSED funded project that works to create opportunities for educational stakeholders to learn from immigrant students, families, and educators directly impacted by restrictive immigration policies and educational inequality. We aim to develop multimodal and multilingual resources that center the strengths of mixed-status immigrant communities that include undocumented, refugee, and asylum-seeking members. At CUNY-IIE, educators, researchers, families and local leaders work together to learn about, from, and with immigrant communities, act in ways that center our shared humanity regardless of legal status, and advocate for equitable policies and opportunities (Figure 1).
CUNY-IIE Initiative
CUNY-IIE is led by faculty from The City College of New York and The CUNY Graduate Center: Ariana Mangual Figueroa, Rosa River-McCutchen and Nancy Stern, with Cynthia Carvajal as the project director and Tatyana Kleyn on sabbatical. The initiative includes various projects, events and resources for the NYS community:
1. Download our comprehensive professional development modules and resource guides for educators.
- Key Immigration Issues
- Refugees and Immigrants in Schools
- Immigration in Elementary Schools
- Immigration in Secondary Schools
2. Take part in our next series of mini-courses for NYS educators to earn CTLE credit: These professional development opportunities provide information and illustrate successful practices to support educators in creating safe and welcoming environments for immigrant students and families. Advertisement for CTLE courses has begun and we will continue to add more courses as the year progresses.
3. Sign up for our newsletter via the CUNY-IIE website (scroll to the bottom of the page to submit your information).
Look for more on these CUNY-IIE collaborations:
- CUNY-IIE Partner Schools: Collaborations between CUNY-IIE and NYS PreK-12 partner schools center on learning from and with students, families and educators, and include professional learning about immigration and education, data exchange, and action research projects.
- Immigrant Liaison: In collaboration with the New York State Youth Leadership Council/Teach Dream, we are piloting an immigrant liaison position in high schools and middle schools to support the matriculation of immigrant students and families into higher education.
- Undocu-Edu: Our team of undocumented and DACA-mented educators and paraprofessionals highlights the narratives of professionals in education to develop guidance on navigating access to work, studies, and resources
- Understanding New York State Immigrant Communities: In order to create new initiatives and programs, we are learning more about the needs of immigrant families, students, and educators through interaction, interviews, and surveys
For more information about CUNY-IIE visit our website at cuny-iie.org and reach out to us with questions at info@cuny-iie.org
Cynthia Nayeli Carvajal, Ph.D. is the Project Director for CUNY-IIE, originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, her work is grounded in her experience as a formerly undocumented immigrant. Her work spans across California, New York, and Arizona, providing a comparative understanding on the impact of policy and practice in politically varying states. |
