New OVAE Initiative Produces Theoretical Framework for Immigrant Integration
Adult educators interested in the services that need to be provided to low- and high-skilled immigrants in order to help them attain integration can benefit from a new theoretical framework produced by the Networks for Integrating New Americans initiative (NINA).
NINA is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) in order to strengthen adult education programs’ ability to 1) improve immigrants’ access to effective and innovative English language programs; 2) support immigrants on the path to citizenship; and 3) support immigrants’ career development through training and education. NINA will add to existing immigrant integration efforts at the national, state, and local levels by identifying innovative integration models, as well as designing and delivering technical assistance to help states and local communities plan and implement these models.
The document presents an evidence-based, theoretical framework that will guide the technical assistance for supporting immigrant integration efforts in five networks. It includes an extensive literature review; numerous examples of successful initiatives; a detailed discussion of civic, linguistic, and economic issues; specific strategies; and examples as to how traditional adult education services might be appropriately altered to better meet the linguistic, civic, and economic integration needs of the immigrant and refugee community.
Through NINA, OVAE builds on the New Americans Citizenship and Integration Initiative, a White House initiative that brought together a core group of federal agencies to coordinate federal immigrant integration efforts, including the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, and Labor.
This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, under contract No. ED-VAE-13-C-0009. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education.