Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Immigrant children are the fastest growing populations in the United States and more than one quarter of children under age 18 have at least one immigrant parent (Hernandez et al., 2008; Hernandez & Napierala, 2012; Marks et al., 2014). Despite being the fastest growing population, immigrant children are often disadvantaged in various socioeconomic characteristics compared to U.S. born children. Immigrant children are more likely to live in poverty, are less likely to have access to preschool education, and less likely to have access to public assistance benefits (Magnuson et al., 2006; Karoly & Gonzalez, 2011; Tienda & Haskins, 2011; Hernandez & Napierala, 2012). Despite these disadvantages, first and second generation immigrant children fare better or just about well as their U.S. born peers on many health, educational, and behavioral outcomes. This phenomenon is known as the immigrant paradox (Hernandez et al., 2012; Coll & Marks, 2012).

Through this study we examine whether the immigrant paradox observed in early childhood educational outcomes, from kindergarten through third grade. Palacios et al. (2008) have previously documented the existence of an immigrant paradox in reading achievement in kindergarten through third grade using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) cohort of 1998 children. However, many things have changed that have impacted the children of immigrant families in the more than a decade that has elapsed since 1998. There have been significant changes in terms of state policies expanding access to early education. Moreover, 2000-2010 was decade of the largest number of immigrants to the United States, which have changed the composition of immigrant communities. We examine whether the immigrant paradox in early childhood education still persist in light of these changes. To accomplish this, we use the ECLS-K: 2011 cohort, a new cohort comprised of over 18,000 children who attended kindergarten in the 2010-2011 school year and who were followed through subsequent years. We look at not only reading, but also math outcomes from kindergarten to third grade to better capture children’s learning experiences in core academic subjects.

It is essential to understand whether the immigrant paradox exists in early life education experiences in order to better promote policies that incorporate strengths and resilience models for immigrant children’s development. If there is an immigrant paradox, there is a question about whether becoming more American is a developmental risk (Coll & Marks, 2012). In other words, assimilating may not necessarily lead to better outcome, but rather there may be advantages that immigrants lose during the assimilating process. As immigrant children are the fastest growing population, the United States’ future well-being and prosperity rely heavily on them. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the immigrant advantage and help maintain that advantage. This paper also fits well with the conference theme of evidence for action and the emphasis on iterative and collaborative efforts of providing evidence in order to better guide policy making decisions.