LAUSR

ABSTRACT This article examines immigrant students’ stories through the documentation of their testimonios. Given the high number of immigrant students in public schools, it is imperative for teachers and teacher educators to have an idea of their perspectives, experiences, and identities. In educational settings, testimonios have the ability to unsettle power dynamics and position students as knowers. This exploration answers questions Lin Goodwin posed seventeen years ago and felt the need to engage again in 2017. Some of those questions are “What, if anything, is different in terms of who is in the classroom now? Are teachers any more prepared to work with immigrant children? Immigration and immigrants are indelibly woven into the fabric of American history, so any discussion about the education of immigrant children is embedded in an ongoing socio-historical conversation. This article explores the stories of a small group of immigrant students attending high schools in Long Island, a New York suburb that receives large numbers of Central American immigrant youth. Adequately understanding and attending to the unique realities of students with diverse backgrounds is a significant duty, yet a necessary one in order to serve students properly.