Education Is Still the Answer

by Dr. Carol Salva

Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.

– Nelson Mandela

Without a doubt, the 2025-2026 school year brings great challenges for some of our most vulnerable students and their families. Current US government policies put some immigrant students and families at a greater risk than they have faced in years past. Many educators, like me, are worried and have significant concerns such as deportation, a fracturing of our students’ home lives, fewer support services, and significant interruptions to our students’ education.

As educators, we can feel overwhelmed by this reality. This post offers support to the teachers who support these immigrant learners.

As a researcher and educator who focuses on SLIFE (students with limited or interrupted formal education), I’d like to offer a way to think about our jobs right now. The mindset is this: 

Education is still the answer. 

You might be thinking, “Yes. But what if they’re gone tomorrow?” This post offers a way to think about education and arms us with a productive mindset in our very important roles.

First, let’s consider what has always been the reality for new arrival students. To consider the current issues facing many immigrant students, let’s look closely at the SLIFE demographic. SLIFE is a subgroup of the EL demographic who have missed years of formal education or may have very limited formal education, if any. 

For many years, SLIFE have arrived in U.S. classrooms lacking proficiency in the language of instruction, some have arrived with low levels of academic background knowledge, and some with low levels of literacy in their heritage/first language (Browder, 2014). This is not the case for many immigrant families, but again, we are focusing on SLIFE.

In all honesty, there was a day, once upon a time, when I received a SLIFE student and thought, “Oh my goodness, what is the hope for this young person?” I was receiving 11 to 19-year-olds who had been through very difficult circumstances. Several had little to no experience with formal education, resulting in low levels of literacy and a limited formal academic background. But what I have learned, what many of us need to remind ourselves, is that their lack of ability is not a cognitive issue per se. This is how Anna Matis and I write about it in Boosting Achievement: Reaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education:

Students who are SLIFE have often lived a life laden with challenges, and have overcome hardships such as having to leave their home country because of war, or simply not having enough money from day to day. When you survive that type of hardship, you prove that you can do difficult things. We can’t underestimate the power in this. Many of their grade-level, mainstream peers have never experienced such hardships. Teachers and parents are wracking their brains to figure out how to build “grit” in today’s youth, as it is such a direct predictor of success later in life (Duckworth, 2016). The irony is that under-schooled students embody qualities that contribute to this “grit.” They already know how to persevere and keep going even through challenges. It’s critically important to understand that the students with interrupted formal education bring so many qualities and important perspectives to the table. They have experience. They have value. They have a voice. We can leverage their gifts in our learning communities (p.17-18).

The truth is, I pray every day for circumstances to improve for our valuable immigrant communities, as we don’t want any of our students to live through such difficult journeys, nor do we want them living in fear.

Without romanticizing SLIFE students’ situations, we must keep in mind that their hardships, like any challenges, bring perspective and strengths that they will be able to leverage as they move through life. We need to remind ourselves that ANY education they get will serve them for a lifetime. There are many shining examples of this in our world. Just check out the videos on my blog to see SLIFE students thriving in our classrooms and teaching us that their education was never limited to their time in formal classrooms. They are learning every day and everywhere. It is our job to include them. It is our job to trust that they all bring gifts. It is our job to make sure they feel comfortable and to know that if they are comfortable, they will begin to reveal those gifts. 

Serving SLIFE Students Today

So let’s circle back to the challenges faced by our immigrant students today:

Being able to serve SLIFE is not one more thing. It is, and has always been, THE THING. 

When we arm ourselves with this mindset, ALL students can enter our classrooms, and we can serve them with excellence.

But don’t take my word for it. Please listen to Dr. Francisco Jimenez. A young Francisco had been an undocumented immigrant as an elementary student, and then, in middle school, his family was deported. While this experience was traumatic for him, he offers us words to think about as we serve today’s immigrant youth. Here is a 5-minute excerpt from my recent interview with Dr. Jimenez.

Dr. Jimenez reminds us that life is a journey, and the MOST important thing we can do for our language learners is to make them feel valued. He reminds us that his path was forged when a teacher made him feel important. He helps us realize that even if a child is with us for only a few days, we, as educators, can have an impact that will propel them in the right direction. Dr. Jimenez reminds us that ALL learning is valuable and that education will serve a lifetime.

Dr. Francisco Jimenez was deported. But his narrative is so much more. He is the award-winning author of books that have supported our work for decades. Find out more about this education hero here.

So, as educators of Multilingual Learners, what mindset do we need to have? The same mindset that has served us all along: 

• Education is the answer. 
• All learning is valuable. 
• We are playing a long game.

What We Can Do Now

Along with that mindset, we must implement the same core steps we always have:

• Get to know your students.
• Keep in mind their hardships.
• Focus on their strengths.
• Include them & encourage them. 

It is true. Our students and their families face deportation, a fracturing of their home life, fewer support services, and significant interruptions to their education.

But don’t lose hope. Make sure THEY don’t lose hope. As Dr. Jimenez reminds us, their education will serve them for a lifetime. We are here to help educate them, and that can be a transformative experience in their lives, whether we are their teacher all year or for just one day. Their best shot (and our best shot) is to educate these strong, resilient young people to keep moving forward. We are the answer!

Thank you for all you do.

Dr. Carol Salva