[Special Issue on Hmong Newcomers to Saint Paul Public Schools] Supporting Hmong Newcomers’ Academic and Social Transition to Elementary School

• Main Authors: Martha Bigelow, Letitia Basford, Esther Smidt
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Purdue University Press 2008-01-01
• Series: Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement
• Subjects: Hmong; Newcomers; ESL; Bilingual Education
• Online Access: http://jsaaea.coehd.utsa.edu/index.php/JSAAEA/article/view/26/57

When elementary aged Hmong children were resettled in St. Paul Public Schools after the closing of the Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in Thailand, their families largely enrolled them in either a Transitional Language Center or a Language Academy program. This study reports on the perceptions teachers and educational assistants had about how well these programs met the needs of this unique population of newcomers. Findings show that the Transitional Language Centers were better able to ease the adjustment to school for the Hmong newcomers because of the safe, bilingual environment they created.