ERIC EJ920370: K-12 Educational Outcomes of Immigrant Youth

2011·0.12 MB·English

by  ERIC

K–12 Educational Outcomes of Immigrant Youth
K–12 Educational Outcomes of
Immigrant Youth
Robert Crosnoe and Ruth N. López Turley

Summary
The children from immigrant families in the United States make up a historically diverse
population, and they are demonstrating just as much diversity in their experiences in the K–12
educational system. Robert Crosnoe and Ruth López Turley summarize these K–12 patterns,
paying special attention to differences in academic functioning across segments of the immi-
grant population defined by generational status, race and ethnicity, and national origin.
A good deal of evidence points to an immigrant advantage in multiple indicators of academic
progress, meaning that many youths from immigrant families outperform their peers in school.
This apparent advantage is often referred to as the immigrant paradox, in that it occurs despite
higher-than-average rates of social and economic disadvantages in this population as a whole.
The immigrant paradox, however, is more pronounced among the children of Asian and African
immigrants than other groups, and it is stronger for boys than for girls. Furthermore, evidence
for the paradox is far more consistent in secondary school than in elementary school. Indeed,
school readiness appears to be one area of potential risk for children from immigrant families,
especially those of Mexican origin. For many groups, including those from Latin America, any
evidence of the immigrant paradox usually emerges after researchers control for family socioeco-
nomic circumstances and youths’ English language skills. For others, including those from Asian
countries, it is at least partially explained by the tendency for more socioeconomically advan-
taged residents of those regions to leave their home country for the United States. Bilingualism
and strong family ties help to explain immigrant advantages in schooling; school, community, and
other contextual disadvantages may suppress these advantages or lead to immigrant risks.
Crosnoe and Turley also discuss several policy efforts targeting young people from immigrant
families, especially those of Latin American origin. One is the DREAM Act, proposed federal
legislation to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented youth who meet certain crite-
ria. Another effort includes culturally grounded programs to support the college preparation of
immigrant adolescents and the educational involvement of immigrant parents of young children.
www.futureofchildren.org
Robert Crosnoe is a professor in the Department of Sociology and the Population Research Center at the University of Texas–Austin.
Ruth N. López Turley is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Rice University. The authors acknowledge the support
of grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
VOL. 21 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2011 129
Robert Crosnoe and Ruth N. López Turley
A merica’s K–12 educational sys- During the nineteenth century, proponents
tem has long been thought key of compulsory education believed that
to the ability of newly arriving requiring all children to attend school would
immigrants to realize their encourage social cohesion in an increasingly
dream of social mobility. Yet in diverse population. As European immigrants
reality the interplay of immigration, educa- poured into the United States during the
tion, and social mobility in the United States early twentieth century, the nation—immi-
is quite complicated.1 Although some immi- grants and nonimmigrants alike—expected
grant groups have used K–12 education to public schools to help newcomers get ahead
improve their social and economic prospects, while also “Americanizing” them.3 Partly as a
others have faced disadvantage, discrimina- result, the primarily white immigrants of the
tion, and other barriers in American schools early twentieth century were largely absorbed
that reinforce social stratification.2 The U.S. into the nation’s major social and political
educational system, in fact, can lead to inter- institutions within a couple of generations
generational mobility for some immigrant and became upwardly mobile over time.4 The
families and to inequality and social stratifica- so-called linear model of assimilation derived
tion for others. We examine the role of K–12 from their experiences—gradual progress
education in the United States, focusing on fueled, in part, by access to free education—
specific stages of schooling and subsets of the became the dominant popular and research
immigrant population—those, for example, perspective on the connection between
defined by generational status, region of immigration and education in the United
origin, socioeconomic status, and gender. Our States.5 The empirical support for this model,
goal is to take a close look at overly broad however, has gradually eroded as a result of
characterizations of immigrants as being two converging historical trends.
either consistently at-risk or consistently
advantaged that have each gained footholds The first trend is the large, diverse wave of
in social policy and public consciousness. immigration set in motion by the Immigration
First, we place the contemporary educational and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished
experiences of immigrants in the United the national origins quota system that had
States in historical context. We then summa- governed immigration since the 1920s.6
rize empirical patterns of student outcomes Because of that large influx of newcomers,
in secondary school and elementary school, children of immigrants now make up 23
respectively. We conclude by exploring the percent of the U.S. school-age population.7
policy implications of research findings. Latino and Asian American children—the
vast majority of whom are foreign-born or
Historical Context have foreign-born parents—constitute 19
The connection between immigration and percent and 4 percent of American students,
education in the United States has evolved respectively, up from 6 percent and 1 percent
over the years. A century ago, schools were in 1970.8
viewed as prime settings for assimilating
immigrants. More recently, they have often The recent wave of immigrants has been
been seen as sites of immigration-related widely diverse—by race, ethnicity, region
conflict and inequality. Neither perception of origin, and socioeconomic status. Many,
has been entirely accurate. but by no means all, immigrant children are
130 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
K–12 Educational Outcomes of Immigrant Youth
work.12 In other words, given the power of
As European immigrants socioeconomic status to stratify opportunities
to learn in the United States, socioeconomic
poured into the United States
diversity in who selects into emigration from
during the early twentieth another country contributes to the diversity
in outcomes among children of immigrants in
century, the nation expected
this country.
public schools to help
The second trend that has called into ques-
newcomers get ahead while
tion the old linear model of assimilation is the
also “Americanizing” them. dramatic change in the U.S. economy in the
past half-century. Until the middle of the
twentieth century, the nation’s large manufac-
turing base provided the means for high
socioeconomically disadvantaged. Twenty- school graduates to get secure well-paying
four percent, for example, have low-income jobs with benefits. With the shift over recent
families (compared with 15 percent of decades into a high-tech service economy,
children with native-born parents), and 26 however, the supply of jobs that do not
percent have no parent with a high school require some postsecondary education is
degree (8 percent for those with native-born drying up, pushing the economic returns of
parents). Half of Mexican immigrant children higher education to historic highs.13 The
have no parent with a high school degree. In educational implications of this economic
sharp contrast, most of their East Asian peers restructuring are particularly acute among
have college-educated parents.9 immigrants. During the first half of the
twentieth century, predominantly European
Not surprisingly, such group differences in immigrants were absorbed into manufactur-
socioeconomic status are linked with differ- ing and retailing jobs that made possible the
ences in educational outcomes. According to upward mobility of the next generation.
the immigrant “selectivity” perspective, aca- By contrast, today’s predominantly non-
demic disparities between immigrant groups European immigrants must struggle ever
likely reflect national differences in the kinds harder to provide the economic foundation
of people who “select” into emigrating from their children need to pursue higher educa-
another country to the United States.10 For tion, even as that education becomes increas-
example, the better-than-expected academic ingly important to their children’s futures.14
success of the children of Asian and African
immigrants in the United States is partly These two trends have converged to produce
attributable to the fact that these immigrants a large and diverse cohort of newcomers that
tend to be more educated than Asians and must capitalize on public education if they are
Africans who do not emigrate.11 Similarly, to become upwardly mobile. In this con-
much of the widening white-Hispanic gap text, competitive tensions among immigrant
in academic outcomes is explained by the groups within schools—over scarce resources
greater tendency for contemporary Hispanic and opportunities—are exacerbated by linked
youth to be the children of low-skilled racial and ethnic, as well as socioeconomic,
Mexicans coming to the United States for disparities. Some groups are at a competitive
VOL. 21 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2011 131
Robert Crosnoe and Ruth N. López Turley
advantage, others at a disadvantage. Asian generations of immigrants and the outcomes
immigrants’ children, for example, benefit not of immigrants and natives, their findings are
only from the choice their educated parents increasingly complex and variable. No longer
made to emigrate to the United States, but do almost all immigrant children move
also from the willingness of school personnel successfully through school and slowly up the
to make greater investments in children from socioeconomic ladder; instead outcomes vary
immigrant groups that have been education- widely and in sometimes unpredictable ways.
ally successful. By contrast, Latin American The varying outcomes of different subgroups
immigrants’ children are hampered not only in the U.S. educational system have led
by the greater socioeconomic disadvantages researchers to fashion theoretical perspectives
that characterize the Latin American immi- emphasizing the diverse implications of
gration stream but also by related stereotypes assimilation. Segmented assimilation, first
that marginalize them in schools.15 outlined by Alejandro Portes and Min Zhou,
is one such perspective. It posits that the
The combination of increased diversity among interplay between an immigrant group’s
young immigrants in schools and the rising human capital and the way that the group is
long-term returns to education is having received in American society (determined by
far-reaching effects. First, increased competi- reactions to race, ethnicity, and related
tion, exposure, interactions, and conflicts factors) offers some immigrant youth the
among different immigrant groups and promise of upward social mobility but socially
between immigrant and native groups within marginalizes and impedes the mobility of
schools have generated calls for multicultural others. In other words, whether mobility is
education, which, in turn, have led to public upward or downward depends not only on the
concerns—especially among the white middle resources immigrant youth bring with them
class—that the nation has rejected the but also on how they are received in destina-
traditional Americanizing role of schools and tion communities.18
replaced it with efforts to preserve students’
cultural differences. These concerns, how- Against this historical backdrop, we turn
ever, fail to recognize immigrant families’ to the K–12 educational outcomes of contem-
historically consistent emphasis on schools as porary immigrant youth in the United States.
agents of social mobility rather than cultural Because secondary education is generally
separation.16 Second, the No Child Left either the gateway to college matriculation
Behind Act of 2001 requires schools to track or the end of the educational career, it is
academic disparities by disaggregating data on the most common focus of research on
standardized test performance by various immigration-related disparities in education.
socioeconomic and demographic characteris- Thus we look first at the outcomes of immi-
tics. Taken together, many of these character- grants in high school and middle school. We
istics, such as race and ethnicity, low English then review the smaller body of research on
proficiency, and poverty, effectively identify immigrants in elementary school and exam-
immigrant groups, leading to more, albeit ine the question of school readiness.
indirect, monitoring of the progress of
immigrant youth in public schools.17 Third, as Secondary School
researchers continue to compare the school Academic success in secondary school is
outcomes of the first, second, and higher often the only way by which immigrant
132 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
K–12 Educational Outcomes of Immigrant Youth
Table 1. Predicted Math and Science Standardized Test Scores by Generation and Family
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
Math Science
Generation Eighth grade Tenth grade Eighth grade Tenth grade
No SES control
First 37.30 45.10 18.59 21.69
Second 36.34 44.37 18.90 21.53
Third and higher 35.70 42.99 18.66 21.39
Controlling for SES
First 38.22 46.58 19.04 22.20
Second 37.21 45.71 19.27 21.96
Third and higher 35.87 43.48 18.82 21.52
Source: National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988.
Note: Scores calculated based on multilevel modeling coefficients, weighted and adjusted for design effects.
youth can attain intergenerational socioeco- immigrant parents typically outperform
nomic mobility. Perhaps that is why, of all those with U.S.-born parents on math and
the articles on the educational experiences science tests (given in English) by 5 to 20
of immigrant youth published in the past percent of a standard deviation. A study by
decade in a large sample of influential jour- Grace Kao reported that this pattern held in
nals, the overwhelming majority has focused most regional and national origin groups in
on secondary schooling.19 NELS, although evidence of the immigrant
advantage was stronger and more consistent
The Immigrant Paradox across subjects for youth from Asian immi-
One theme in this large body of secondary grant families than for youth from Latin
school research is that immigrant youth are American (especially Mexican) immigrant
often academically successful compared with families. Indeed, the children of Asian immi-
children with U.S.-born parents. In New grants often outperformed all other student
York, for example, children of immigrants populations on standardized tests in second-
generally outperform their peers with native- ary school, including the children of native
born parents on achievement tests.20 These whites.21 Similar patterns have also been
patterns are evidence of an “immigrant para- found for other academic indicators, such as
dox” in education—the paradox being that grades and graduation, in a number of data
immigrant youth enjoy academic advantages sets. Again, these patterns tend to be some-
in the relative absence of the socioeconomic what stronger and more consistent for youth
advantages, such as high parental educa- from Asian immigrant families.22 Before dis-
tion and income, that are usually associated cussing possible explanations for this general
with school success. And the evidence is by immigrant paradox pattern, we raise several
no means confined to New York. As table 1 caveats about the current state of evidence.
shows, analyses of the nationally represen-
tative National Education Longitudinal First, because cultural ties tend to weaken,
Study (NELS) reveal that adolescents with and economic security tends to grow, as
VOL. 21 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2011 133
Robert Crosnoe and Ruth N. López Turley
immigrant families and children remain Third, the immigrant paradox is stronger
longer in the United States, analysts have for boys than girls. As just one example, the
debated whether the immigrant paradox difference between first- and third-plus-
is stronger among U.S.-born (second- generation youth on middle school math
generation) or foreign-born (first-generation) tests in table 1 equaled 5 percent of a stan-
adolescents with immigrant parents and, dard deviation for girls but 20 percent of
within the first generation, whether it is a standard deviation for boys. Researchers
stronger among adolescents who came to the cannot yet explain the source of this gen-
United States early in their lives (1.5 genera- dered pattern, but it may be related to and
may fuel the higher educational attainment
tion) or later. Yet, the direction and size of
of girls than boys in the general population.24
generational and timing effects varies a great
deal by group. In the aforementioned Kao
Explaining the Immigrant Paradox
analysis, for example, second-generation
Explanations for the observed immigrant par-
Asians and Latinos typically outdid first- and
adox include circumstances relating to immi-
third-plus-generation youth of their same
grants’ lives after migrating, before migrating,
ethnic background on math tests, but first-
and during the migration. Research has
generation whites and blacks did better than
found that some factors operate differently
later-generation youth of their same ethnic
across immigrant groups and that some seem-
background. These patterns were not always
ingly relevant factors, such as school context,
the same, however, for other academic
self-esteem, and peer influences, have, in
indicators, such as reading tests and grades.
fact, limited explanatory power.
Because of this variability among immigrant
groups, definitive answers about which gen-
Post- and Pre-Migration Conditions
eration best illustrates the immigrant paradox
Research examining the educational out-
remain elusive.23
comes of immigrants in secondary school is
dominated by studies of their post-migration
Second, the immigrant paradox is not solely
circumstances. Whether children of immi-
a product of differences in socioeconomic
grants use their native language as well as
status. In fact, accounting for socioeconomic
English is a prime topic. Evidence suggests
status—that is, limiting the comparison
that mastering both a native language and
to youth of similar status—can strengthen
English gives adolescents access to an array
evidence of the paradox in many groups.
of community and institutional networks.
Indeed, test score differences of first- and
When youth are connected to adults and
third-plus-generation youth in table 1
families are connected to each other, youth
increased when socioeconomic status was may be less oriented to potentially negative
controlled. As already mentioned, youth peer influences.25 Such ties to community and
from Asian immigrant families tend to have institutional networks could also be a conduit
more socioeconomic resources, such as for transmitting the high educational expecta-
parent education, than youth from other tions of immigrants to children. Moreover,
immigrant families. Thus, socioeconomic although some observers believe that immi-
status can explain some portion of their grant youths’ frequent use of languages other
apparent academic advantage, although not than English interferes with their English
all of it. proficiency, in fact, proficiency in a student’s
134 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
K–12 Educational Outcomes of Immigrant Youth
first language appears to support English some immigrant youth, especially youth from
maintenance, especially when instruction is Latin America, will be exposed to negative
bilingual, and to raise grades and test scores.26 peer influences that discourage achievement.
With support from families, schools, and Such peer influences, however, do not seem
communities, therefore, fluency in multiple unique to immigrant groups and exist more
languages has academic advantages that likely generally across the adolescent population.29
factor into the immigrant paradox. As another example, although self-esteem
and a strong sense of ethnic identity are
Overall, strong family ties and parental attach- positively associated with multiple indicators
ment and support are resources for immigrant of school achievement and adjustment, the
youth, providing the security and assistance children of immigrants tend to have lower
they need to meet the challenges of school. In self-esteem than their peers and similar
particular, researchers have examined paren- degrees of ethnic identification as their peers.
tal involvement in education. In part because Yet they tend to do better in school.30
of language barriers, immigrant parents tend
to engage less in the kinds of involvement, Two other important conditions of students’
such as joining parent-teacher organizations, post-migration lives are their schools and
that are visible to schools and measurable in neighborhoods. Partly as a result of high rates
quantitative data sets.27 Yet they are involved of Latino school segregation, adolescents
in other, often less obvious, but important from Latin American immigrant families tend
ways. For example, Asian immigrant parents, to be concentrated in problematic schools,
including those with little income, generally such as those characterized by more conflict,
have high educational expectations for their weaker academic norms, weaker ties between
children, talk to them often about their prog- students and adults, and larger class sizes.
ress toward their expectations, find ways to Although these school disadvantages pose
marshal supplemental resources to help them, academic risks that could impair academic
such as by sending them to Chinese schools performance, such risks seem to affect these
after school, on weekends, and during school immigrant youth less than students with
breaks, and make concrete plans for the native-born parents, suggesting that they
future, such as by saving for college. Although may be more resilient in problematic schools
less pronounced, something similar occurs than their peers. Furthermore, this pattern of
with Latin American immigrant parents, for school disadvantage does not extend to ado-
whom the crucial component of their involve- lescents from Asian immigrant families, most
ment in education is to prepare young people likely because of the greater socioeconomic
to be conscientious and responsible and to resources in the Asian immigrant population.
work hard.28 In addition, the “model minority” perception
of Asian immigrant youth and the aforemen-
Other social psychological aspects of youths’ tioned steps their parents take to supplement
post-migration lives are clearly related to aca- their education provide more opportunities
demic outcomes but may be less important for them to move out of segregated schools.31
than language use and parental involvement
in explaining immigration-related outcome Similarly, immigrants tend to live in neighbor-
differences in secondary school. For example, hoods characterized by a diverse array of
much has been made of the possibility that social and economic disadvantages, including
VOL. 21 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2011 135
Robert Crosnoe and Ruth N. López Turley
segregation.32 Evidence is mixed, however, on the United States. Some emphasize immi-
whether neighborhood disadvantages are grant selectivity—as noted, the degree to
related to race and ethnicity or to family which pre-migration circumstances affect the
nativity. On one hand, a New York study likelihood of migration in ways that create
found that regardless of family nativity, advantages or disadvantages for immigrants
African American and Latino households with in the new country. One type of selectivity
children lived in more disadvantaged neigh- concerns the extent to which immigrants are
borhoods than immigrant or nonimmigrant more or less educated than their nonimmi-
white households with children, suggesting grant counterparts left behind in their
that the neighborhood disadvantages of country of origin. Cynthia Feliciano has
immigrants are likely attributable to race and reported that for all but one (Puerto Rico) of
ethnicity.33 On the other hand, a national thirty-two countries and territories, immi-
study highlights nativity, reporting that Latin grants to the United States were more
American immigrants tend to live in more educated than their peers who remained in
disadvantaged neighborhoods than native- their country of origin. In turn, such educa-
born blacks.34 What is less clear is whether tional selection of immigrants was associated
such neighborhood patterns factor into the with the educational attainment of their
immigrant paradox. Certainly, neighborhood children in the United States.36 Other
disadvantage has been linked to educational characteristics of countries of origin and the
outcomes, but this link has rarely been people who leave them for the United States
explored with a focus on immigrants. More- have been linked to the educational out-
over, research has generally not implicated comes of immigrant youth but not always in
neighborhood disadvantages in immigration- expected ways. For example, political stabil-
related educational patterns. Indeed, one ity, but not economic development, in the
study suggests that a commonly cited neigh- country of origin is associated with the math
borhood disadvantage of immigrants—resi- performance of the children of immigrants in
dential segregation—may not be problematic host Western countries.37
if it means that youth are embedded in
enclave communities with strong intergenera- In general, these studies suggest that some
tional networks.35 To the extent that immi- pre-migration conditions help to explain
grants are disadvantaged by their educational variation among immigrants.
neighborhoods, those neighborhood disadvan- Most studies, however, rely on country-
tages could only suppress the immigrant level data, so the pre-migration histories
paradox, not explain it. Disadvantage should of immigrant families are proxied by the
reduce the academic performance of immi- general characteristics of their home coun-
grants, not increase it. At the same time, some tries or of the migration stream from those
neighborhood characteristics that appear to countries. Yet aggregate measures, such as
be disadvantages may in reality mask neigh- educational attainment in a country and
borhood advantages that could explain the average educational attainment of migrants
immigrant paradox. from a country, might subsume a great deal
of variability in educational attainment across
Researchers have also examined immigrants’ regions or social strata in that country and
experiences before leaving their countries of not accurately tap the pre-migration char-
origin in relation to their school outcomes in acteristics of immigrants. One study shows
136 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
K–12 Educational Outcomes of Immigrant Youth
between academic years, or voluntarily or
The very act of migrating not, switching schools can disrupt students’
academic progress. Indeed, data from New
from one country to another
York show that school transfer is among the
likely is a shock sufficiently biggest academic risks faced by immigrants.39
Switching to an entirely new school system
large to affect the educational
in a completely different country is likely
outcomes of immigrants and to be harmful temporarily, even if the new
educational context eventually leads to more
thus the immigrant paradox.
favorable outcomes.
One type of school move is the transition
between school levels. The transition from
variation within the home country by finding
middle to high school, for example, contrib-
that Mexican-origin high school students in
utes to racial and ethnic, as well as socio-
the United States who had received some
economic, disparities in academic indicators
schooling in Mexico reported higher grades
because the experience tends to be more
than those who had received none.38 But that
disruptive in more marginalized groups.
study included no information about the type
But analysts rarely explore this transition in
or quality of schooling in Mexico, an omis-
relation to immigration. One NELS analysis
sion that is a significant data limit in itself.
reveals that discrepancies between middle
Overall, the study of pre-migration condi-
school performance and high school course
tions is promising, but more work is needed
placement—specifically, being placed in
to determine how much of the immigrant
high school courses at a level below what
paradox is a function of what occurred before
middle school performance suggests would
immigration rather than of what immigrants
be appropriate—were greater for students
do once in the United States.
learning English than for others.40 In other
words, changing schools may create a period
Migration and Other Transitions
of vulnerability for immigrant youth greater
The very act of migrating from one coun-
than it does for native children.
try to another likely is a shock sufficiently
large to affect the educational outcomes of Limitations and Future Directions
immigrants and thus the immigrant paradox. of Research
Studying this issue is challenging because Future work on generational, national-origin,
it is hard to compare migrants with nonmi- linguistic, and socioeconomic differences in
grants who, by definition, not only do not the connection between immigration and sec-
experience a move but also do not experi- ondary schooling should address not only the
ence the schools of the destination country. data limitations already noted but also other
Several studies, however, suggest that a data issues. For example, large-scale data sets
change as small as moving from one school often omit school dropouts and nonenroll-
to another within the same country or even ees. Yet youth from many immigrant groups,
within the same school district can affect such as Mexicans, have dropout rates higher
students’ academic achievement. Regardless than the general population, and some youth
of whether the move takes place within or who come to the United States as teenagers
VOL. 21 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2011 137
Robert Crosnoe and Ruth N. López Turley
may not enroll in school at all.41 Such omis- educational opportunities and supports for
sions would tend to raise measured school their children are likely important to under-
outcomes, potentially overstating the immi- standing the stronger immigrant paradox in
grant paradox in education. Compounding this population. In both cases, immigrant
this bias, many data sets, such as the NELS, selectivity is also likely a key factor, although
exclude English language learners. New data in different ways. Asian immigrants tend
sets should track students, dropouts, and to be of higher socioeconomic status than
nonenrollees together and sample students other immigrants in the United States or
with a range of language proficiencies, espe- others from their home countries. The same
cially on the national level. In addition, many is not true of Latin American immigrants,
studies of immigrants in secondary school use but they might be selective in other ways—
data from large metropolitan areas, which in terms of motivation, efficacy, health,
have especially sizable and diverse immigrant or other qualities—that do contribute to
populations. Researchers should explore the immigrant paradox. Despite years of
whether the mechanisms that affect immi- research on the immigrant paradox, how-
grants’ educational outcomes in these cities ever, group-specific mechanisms are still
differ from those shaping outcomes in other not well understood and need to be studied
parts of the country. The need to do so has more closely.
only been magnified by the unprecedented
immigrant dispersal, which has had profound Elementary School
impacts on schools. As noted, research on immigrant youth in
secondary school dwarfs that on elementary
These data issues aside, research on immi- school. This lack of balance is problematic
grants in secondary school does suggest an for several reasons. First, the greater returns
immigrant advantage arising from some to investment in early education compared
mixture of pre- and post-migration condi- with later stages of schooling make elemen-
tions. The extent of this advantage, however, tary school, especially the primary grades,
varies across segments of the immigrant a critical point of intervention. Thus, the
population, with those from Asian countries relative lack of interest in elementary school
the most advantaged and those from Latin means that researchers have not paid enough
American countries the least advantaged. attention to what may be a key period for
This variation likely reflects mechanisms immigrants.42 Second, the immigrant popu-
that differ across each group or that func- lation is growing younger, making it all the
tion differently for each group. For Latin more important to shift research attention to
American immigrants, the mechanisms that elementary schools.43 Third, the immigration
seem to hold the most promise for explain- bias already noted in secondary school data
ing the immigrant paradox include strong means that early schooling data may be more
family and community ties that protect from representative of the immigrant population.
potentially negative peer orientations and As we explain shortly, elementary school
support resilience within disadvantaged data do have limitations, but their improve-
schools and neighborhoods. For Asian immi- ment on immigration bias is a clear strength.
grants, the ways in which parents proactively Fourth, given the cumulative nature of
take steps to manage their children’s journey instruction and learning, a fuller understand-
through school and seek out supplemental ing of secondary school patterns can be
138 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN