School Inclusion of Refugee Students: Recent Trends From International Data

Abstract

As children with refugee backgrounds continue to enroll in schools worldwide, attention to their educational needs and experiences has increased. In this study, we analyze the extent that schools and classrooms provide refugee students with equitable educational opportunities compared to students who are not refugees, and whether their teachers feel prepared for and engaged in culturally responsive instructional practices. Using survey data on 130,803 teachers and 8,054 schools sampled from 41 predominantly distant resettlement host countries in the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey, we find lower levels of resources, safety, and social inclusion for refugee students but higher levels of preparation and instructional practices in multicultural education among their teachers. The results have policy implications for supporting students with refugee backgrounds in different school contexts.