Fort Worth ISD says closing immigrant academy is the right choice. Data is mixed
Since Fort Worth ISD’s Board of Managers voted to close International Newcomer Academy, the district’s only campus designated for immigrant and refugee students, Superintendent Peter Licata has maintained the position that assimilating international students at their home campuses will improve academic outcomes in the long run.
Licata has argued that students at INA are missing out on “big campus” amenities and opportunities only available in mainstream classrooms. He has also said scholarly data backs up his reasoning.
“I have a lot of academic, scholarly backing that says this isn’t great for kids,” Licata said. “It’s actually unfair to them, because they’re not exposed to other things. UCLA and Stanford have put out some of the most influential data on this. As long as we are providing the support in the schools, that’s the key. It’s not falling off the end of the earth. We’re pushing in and giving just as much, if not more support.”
But many parents, teachers and community members feel differently. Over 100 people spoke at a board meeting last month during a public comment session prior to a vote to close INA. Almost all of them passionately defended keeping the school open.
What does data say about newcomer academies?
National data reviewed by the Star-Telegram displays a complicated reality. While a number of reports back up Licata and the district’s beliefs, others outline key benefits of short-term newcomers campuses before integrating into mainstream classrooms. What actually is best for newcomer students might depend on who is asked, which data is reviewed, and how old students are when they enter the United States.
A 2024 report from EdResearch for Action, an organization that aims to bridge the gap between education research and decision-making, showed that separating immigrant students from their non-immigrant peers in classes or schools can have adverse effects on students, which supports Licata’s position.
The report goes on to say separate academies for immigrant and refugee students can deny them access to rigorous coursework and diverse elective options, and can hinder their academic process and social integration.
Data from the report shows that undocumented students who attend newcomers academies in the United States on average perform lower on standardized tests, experience more mental health and behavioral issues and have lower post-secondary aspirations than those who attend mainstream campuses.
Licata has shared previous concerns about the INA model at recent school board meetings.
“I find it a civil rights issue,” Licata said. “We’re not letting our children experience large campuses that offer electives that might interest them. That might bring them into school more often, and might give them the reason to show up at school and be motivated by it. This is not easy. I visited the school and walked in the classrooms. There is great teaching going on, the principal is wonderful. But reality is, they’re not getting everything that we should be offering them.”
But other reports suggest otherwise. Rice University’s Kinder Institute studied 12 cohorts at Houston ISD from 2007 to 2019 and found that students attending the district’s Las Americas school, a specialized campus serving immigrants and refugee students in grades 4-8, had exceptionally higher end-of-year English course exam results. They also had increased their probability of being reclassified as English proficient and decreased their likelihood of receiving disciplinary actions compared to newcomer students who immediately assimilated into mainstream classrooms.
“Las Americas students were also more likely to enroll in high schools where they have greater access to English language support and resources and similar peers with respect to racial/ethnic diversity,” The Rice University report reads. “Attending Las Americas also improved end of year course exam scores.”
A City University of New York study on international students at New York City schools also found that the four-year graduation rate for students who attended The Internationals Network for Public Schools, a group of immigrant and refugee academies, was 63.4%, compared to just 51.9% for those who were not.
What’s happening in Fort Worth?
Data from Fort Worth ISD shows that immigrant and refugee students in the district who do not attend INA perform better on STAAR exams and are closer to approaching grade level than those enrolled at the academy.
According to the district, 34% of non-INA newcomer students approach grade level in math, and 21% in reading during the 2024-25 school year. At INA, just 21% of students were at grade level in math and only 5% in reading. During the 2023-24 year, 0% of INA students approached grade level in reading while 27% of non-INA immigrant students did.
Several teachers at INA disputed the data when the district presented them with it during a closed-door meeting informing them the school board would vote on closing the campus. Two teachers at INA previously told the Star-Telegram they believe the data shows overall district decline, not INA failure.
“The trends in that data align with the decentralization of language-center support in 2024, when beginner students were increasingly served across more campuses rather than through more centralized models,” wrote Jay Mata, a teacher at INA, on an infographic critiquing the district’s INA data.
In the state’s most recent A-F accountability ratings, INA received an overall campus rating of D, which was an improvement from the 2023-24 and 2024-25 years, where the school earned back-to-back F ratings.
INA received an F in student achievement, F in school progress, and C in closing the gaps, which shows how well a campus is ensuring that all student groups are successful.
Age of immigrant, refugee students matters significantly
According to studies by University of Texas at Dallas professors in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, the age of students when they enter the United States plays a large role in determining the effectiveness of a separate newcomer academy.
Newcomer ELL students who are in middle school grades when they enter the country see a decline in achievement that tends to worsen over time — the opposite of findings for elementary school-grade students. UT Dallas studies suggest that dedicated programs may be more helpful for younger children and potentially counterproductive for older ones.
Rice University’s Kinder Institute study found that newcomer students in the kindergarten through fifth grade age range who are eligible for intensive newcomer English programs experience a measurable academic boost, lasting up to three years after eligibility.
But for middle schoolers in grades six through eight, the growth wasn’t as profound, according to Rice. Students at the same eligibility threshold in middle school grades saw worse academic gains, with effects worsening further over time. Fort Worth ISD’s INA serves students in grades 6-9.
“[INA] really is a neat environment,” Licata said. “But it is limiting for children, and my job is to see the bigger picture. Closing a school is the toughest thing anyone will ever do. But it’s not successful. It is not providing an equitable outcome for students who aren’t exposed to maybe career choice classrooms or AP exams.”
Jennifer Adair, professor of early childhood education at the University of Texas at Austin, believes newcomer academies have a purpose and are usually effective. Students coming to the United States who primarily speak a non-English language should begin their rudimentary academic instruction in their first language in a slower-paced environment, she said.
“You just want to try to avoid singling out kids in mainstream classrooms is what gets really hard,” Adair said. “Feeling singled out, pull-out sessions, missing out on content, families not really feeling comfortable on campus. All those kinds of things are also pieces of why newcomer academies can be really helpful.”
Besides easing the transition to the American academic system, newcomer academies, like INA, can also decrease international student dropout rates, create a better sense of community and help build confidence before students move into more rigorous learning environments.
“For immigrant and refugee kids, having access to learning in their home language, at least a little bit, while they’re learning English is significant,” Adair said. “Having access to learning particular subject matter, so they don’t get more and more behind, and having done that in their native language, the better off they’re going to be in English. That is something that we know.”
Fort Worth ISD’s plan for former INA students
Licata previously told the Star-Telegram that he knows exactly where each current INA student will be transferred to for the 2026-27 school year, and that information has already been shared with students and families.
INA had approximately 48 returning students, but that number would have grown as the first day of the 2026-27 school year got closer. Those students will be assimilated into their home campuses.
Fort Worth school district leadership has also pledged that former INA students will still continue to get the same amount of ELL instruction and special instruction. Instead of being siloed on a separate campus, that support would be offered directly to students in mainstream classrooms across all subjects.
“They can learn both academic content and English at the same time, while also having full access to electives, enrichment opportunities, and post secondary readiness pathways available at their home campus,” Licata wrote in an email to INA families.
Former INA students will engage in grade-level discussions with additional support offered for ELL students directly built into instruction. That will include structured student conversations to build better English understanding, language objectives assigned to each lesson, visual supports and models, sentence frames and guided discussions, and a collaborative learning environment with peers of diverse backgrounds.
Certified English as a Second Language experts will also support teachers who have former INA students in their classrooms, along with access to materials in multiple languages. Teachers will receive coaching to help them craft their lessons to ELL and ESL students effectively, Licata wrote.
“We know that social belonging is a powerful predictor of academic success,” Licata wrote. “Research on newcomer students show that integration into schools and communities with strong peer relationships and access to extracurricular life produces better social-emotional and academic outcomes. In Fort Worth ISD, the majority of newcomer students are already enrolled in comprehensive middle and high schools across the district, and they are succeeding in those settings.”
