We spend a lot of time looking at and talking about data and statistics related to the vast increases in immigrant and minority students in U.S. schools. But, as an ELL counselor told me on a recent visit to a Georgia high school, “Sometimes we get hung up on statistics, but when you meet these people, it’s a whole different ballgame.”

For part of our upcoming series on diversity in U.S. schools, I spoke with author Laurie Olsen. More than 10 years ago, Olsen wrote a groundbreaking book, Made in America, after spending two years observing immigrant students at a California high school that she dubs “Madison High.” Like many schools, Madison was dealing with unprecedented numbers of students from different parts of the world who came to the U.S. with dramatically different experiences, beliefs, and goals. The book is now being re-released on its 10th anniversary.

While I was first skeptical that a decade-old book could still be relevant given the changing nature of diversity, I realized there was still a lot to be gleaned from Olsen’s firsthand experiences. At Madison High, she details the cliques of students—how Chinese girls who spoke Mandarin tended to cluster in one area of the hallway, for instance, and so many students who were torn between upholding their culture and also wanting to assimilate to American life. One female student from the Middle East was conflicted about dating, as her parents had already chosen her husband and arranged her marriage.

But while it’s vital for immigrant students to be mainstreamed into regular classes, it’s also important to allow some self-segregation in social settings, Olsen says.

“For immigrant students, who spend all day in English-taught classes where they are struggling to understand and struggling to be able to express themselves or participate, it is a welcome and needed relief to be able to relax and participate in social interactions without facing the language barrier,” she says. “It is important for us to recognize that for an immigrant, holding onto one’s home language, using one’s home language is important to identity, important to communication with family and community. When immigrants use their home language, it does not mean they are rejecting English. Immigrants overwhelmingly want to become English proficient. There is no contradiction here. People can, and in most places in the world, people do, have two or more languages.”

Olsen has been back to Madison High recently, and in the interview she gave me insight into how the school has changed and grown in the past decade. I wish she had included these updates in the new edition of the book, but it is detailed in our interview in the upcoming September ASBJ. And look for the additional outtakes on ASBJ.com.

Joetta Sack-Min, Associate Editor