Who Goes to Newcomer Schools? Las Americas Middle School - Research Brief - Key Findings

Oct 15, 2026

Research Brief January 2024 examines who enrolls in Houston ISD’s Las Americas Middle School newcomer program and which factors predict enrollment. The brief analyzes 12 years of administrative data to identify student and family characteristics, including economic disadvantage, region of origin, oral English proficiency, and proximity to the school. It also links outreach and recruitment strategies to enrollment choices and finds that grade level expansion and school busing policies increased enrollment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Key Findings

Characteristics of Students Who Enrolled

Outreach and Recruitment Strategies

Impact of Grade Level Expansion and School Busing Policy

Building Better Cities Building Better Lives Who Goes to Newcomer Schools? Las Americas Middle School Brian Holzman, Camila Cigarroa Kennedy, Tori Thomas, Aimee Chin, Stephanie Potochnick and Kalena Cortes Research Brief January 2024 Suggested citation: Holzman, B., Kennedy, C. C., Thomas, T., Chin, A., Potochnick, S., & Cortes, K. (2024) .“Who Goes to Newcomer Schools? Las Americas Middle School.” Houston, TX: Houston Education Research Consortium, Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Rice University. Note on the authors. Brian Holzman, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Texas A&M University. Camila Cigarroa Kennedy is a researcher at Education Northwest. Aimee Chin, Ph.D., is a professor at the University of Houston. Stephanie Potochnick, Ph.D., is an associate professor atthe University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Kalena Cortes, Ph.D., is a professor at Texas A&M University. About HERC. Focusing on the most pressing challenges facing the region, the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) is a research-practice partnership between the Kinder Institute for Urban Research and 11 Houston-area school districts. HERC research is developed directly alongside district leaders with findings shared with decision-makers—culminating in long-term, equity-minded solutions, opportunities and growth for Houston and beyond. [DOI: ](DOI: doi.org/10.25611/0HHY-7028)[doi.org/10.25611/0HHY-7028](DOI: doi.org/10.25611/0HHY-7028) Research Brief Who Goes to Newcomer Schools? Las Americas Middle School Newcomer programs aim to serve newly arrived immigrant students by providing specialized instruction and nonacademic support beyond what is offered in traditional English learner classrooms. In Houston ISD, Las Americas is a standalone program that serves newcomer students in grades 4–8. Given the growth of newly arrived immigrant students in the district, it is important to understand what characteristics predict whether students and families choose to enroll in a newcomer program. An analysis of 12 years of administrative data showed that economically disadvantaged students, students from sub-Saharan Africa and Central America, students with lower levels of oral English proficiency, and students who lived close to the school were most likely to enroll at Las Americas. Additionally, results suggest that the school’s outreach and recruitment strategies were associated with enrollment. Finally, the implementation of the school’s grade level expansion and school busing policy both had positive impacts on enrollment. Key Findings What were the characteristics of students who enrolled at Las Americas? 1. Newcomer students who were economically disadvantaged were more likely to enroll at Las Americas than non-economically disadvantaged students. 2. Newcomer students from sub-Saharan Africa and Central America were most likely to enroll at Las Americas. 3. Newcomer students who had lower levels of oral English proficiency were more likely to enroll at Las Americas than students with higher levels of oral English proficiency. 4. Newcomer students who lived closer to Las Americas were more likely to enroll at the school than students who lived farther away. How were different outreach and recruitment strategies associated with Las Americas enrollment? 5. Newcomer students who lived closer to the school and who lived in neighborhoods with more immigrants were most likely to enroll. How did the grade level expansion and the school busing policy impact Las Americas enrollment? 6. The grade level expansion and the school busing policy both increased Las Americas enrollment. Who Goes to Newcomer Schools? Las Americas Middle School ~~ ~~1~~ ~~ Background Who are newcomer students? students to learn grade-appropriate content while they gain proficiency in English (Short & Boyson, 2012) . Newcomer students are immigrant, English learner Through these strategies, newcomer programs enable (EL

FAQs

What is the newcomer program at Las Americas Middle School designed to do?

The newcomer program serves newly arrived immigrant students with specialized instruction and nonacademic support beyond traditional English learner classrooms.

Which student characteristics were most associated with enrolling at Las Americas?

Economically disadvantaged students, students from sub-Saharan Africa and Central America, students with lower oral English proficiency, and students living closer to the school were more likely to enroll.

How did school policies affect enrollment at Las Americas?

Grade level expansion and the school busing policy both increased Las Americas enrollment.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sophia Brooks