Isolating or inclusive? Educating refugee youth in American schools

This case study centers on one large Arizona school district’s plan to create an “international school” for all of the district’s 1100 refugee students. Like other school districts across the United States, this district has experienced an influx of refugees that do not neatly fit into the racial, ethnic, and linguistic categories familiar to those in the district and community. The case explores the disparate responses to the proposed school from district administration, educators, and members of community organizations. It highlights the opposition from refugee student and family mentors who are employed in the district, and who work most closely with the refugee students.