Immigrant Acculturation in Suburban Schools Serving the New Latino Diaspora

Abstract

Recent immigration patterns have led to widespread growth in school enrollments of Spanish-speakers in nontraditional immigrant destinations in many parts of the United States. This paper explores the ways in which suburban school districts respond to this demographic shift, with a focus on how schooling impacts the acculturation experiences of immigrants to this particular context. Drawing on a statewide survey of administrators and teachers in schools serving Wisconsin's New Latino Diaspora, results from suburban schools are analyzed in comparison to urban and rural contexts. In this paper, I explore the ways in which suburban schools in the study were more likely to structure integration than schools in rural or urban locales. At the same time, these contexts were less likely to provide asset-based supports for Spanish-speakers, particularly those no longer designated as “beginner” English learners. These findings suggest that the opportunity to foster additive acculturation was limited, as many schools espoused a “sink or swim” approach in the context of scarce resources. Given the ongoing growth of immigrant communities in new suburban destinations, the paper ends with implications for future research and practice.