Made in America: Immigrant Students in Our Public Schools / Edition 1

by Laurie Olsen

Overview

As the United States reexamines its borders and immigration policies, the debate over educating immigrant students in our public schools has divided Americans. What can teachers and immigrant students expect from each other? Laurie Olsen, director of a nationally recognized immigrant organization, describes what it looks and feels like to go to school and to teach in a culturally diverse environment.

Made in America describes Madison High, a prototypical public high school, where more than 20 percent of students were born in another country and more than a third speak limited English or come from homes in which English is not spoken. Through interviews with teachers, administrators, students, and parents, Olsen explores such issues as the complexities of bilingual education and the difficulties of dating for students already promised in marriage at birth.

In the words of Teacher Magazine, “Olsen's message is clear: celebrating diversity is fine, but it's no substitute for giving all students a real chance at school success.” With a new introduction stressing the importance of advocacy for immigrant students in a climate of increasing exclusion, Made in America will help a new generation of educators recognize the impact that immigration has on their schools.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595583499
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	08/01/2008
Edition description:	Tenth Edition
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.80(d)

What People are Saying About This

Jonathan Kozol

[A] strong, sensitive, and valuable book about the many subtle ethnic lines that wall off immigrant youngsters in our public schools—and, on a deeper level, the continuing existence of what Laurie Olsen rightly calls 'the dirty business of exclusion.'
—(Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace)

William Ayers

Laurie Olsen has lived her life breaking down the walls of ignorance and borders of fear, fighting for immigrant rights, tolerance, understanding, and unity. Made in America is an important book. More than a portrait of a school, this is a portrait of America.
—(William Ayers, author of City Kids, City Teachers and A Kind and Just Parent)

Jim Cummins

Made in America offers a powerful learning experience….Beautifully written and profound in its implications. I would make it required reading for every teacher.
—(Jim Cummins, coauthor of Brave New School: Challenging Cultural Illiteracy Trough Global Learning Networks)

Ronald Takaki

Out of the 'culture wars' comes Laurie Olsen's grounded study. Wonderfully avoiding the polemics and the dense theorizing that have dominated this debate…Olsen skillfully offers us an opportunity to remake America into a multicultural and more democratic society.
—(Ronald Takaki, author of A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America)