Immigration Upswing
The number of foreign-born individuals in the United States has tripled to 35.8 million — or 12% of the total population — in just 35 years.
This report recaps discussions from a September 2006 conference on adult literacy education in immigrant communities. It outlines strategies, priorities and collaboration opportunities aimed at helping our nation’s newest members learn English and — in turn — pursue deeper community bonds and brighter economic futures.
The experts agree: We must do more to unlock the power of language for English learners. Our current systems for providing English instruction are severely underfunded, sorely misunderstood and floundering within a broken infrastructure that dribbles out disjointed services and advocacy misfires. Failing to act on this front will undermine the capacity of our nation’s great workforce and — even more — position our country to fall behind in the global economic race.
