This study was conducted in an urban middle school. It was designed to follow a group of adolescent immigrants through one school year, focusing on the main issues which impacted their academic achievement. The study grouped those issues in four broad categories: academic, social, physical, and emotional. Personal, family, and school situations were described which affected the students in each of these areas.
A literature-based curriculum organized around historical fiction novels, specifically designed to provide background knowledge of American culture and to assist these second language students with critical reading, writing, and study skills, was described. The instructional decisions that were made in the implementation of the curriculum were also analyzed and reported. The difficulties involved with creating a curriculum to meet the needs of a widely divergent population is discussed