scholarly journals Is There a Nativity Gap? New Evidence on the Academic Performance of Immigrant Students

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Ellen Schwartz ◽  
Leanna Stiefel

Public schools across the United States are educating an increasing number and diversity of immigrant students. Unfortunately, little is known about their performance relative to native-born students and the extent to which the “nativity gap” might be explained by school and demographic characteristics. This article takes a step toward filling that void using data from New York City where 17 percent of elementary and middle school students are immigrants. We explore disparities in performance between foreign-born and native-born students on reading and math tests in three ways—using levels (unadjusted scores), “value-added” scores (adjusted for prior performance), and an education production function. While unadjusted levels and value-added measures often indicate superior performance among immigrants, disparities are substantially explained by student and school characteristics. Further, while the nativity gap differs for students from different world regions, disparities are considerably diminished in fully specified models. We conclude with implications for urban schools in the United States.

1935 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 514-521

Theobald Smith, son of Philip Smith by his wife Theresa nee Kexel, was born at Albany, New York, on July 31, 1859. He was educated at public schools there and afterwards went to Cornell University, where he graduated as B.Phil. in 1881. His material circumstances being small, and failing to obtain a post as school teacher, he resolved to study medicine and went to Albany Medical College of Union University whence he graduated as M.D. in 1883, after attending the very short course then prevailing in some medical schools in the United States. He was studious and already widely read as a youth. Being possessed of the good judgement which characterized him throughout life, he was clear in his mind that his training was insufficient to qualify him as a medical practitioner. At Cornell, he worked under two remarkable teachers, Professors Gage and Wilder, with great benefit as he afterwards acknowledged.


2008 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-609
Author(s):  
Frederick Douglass Opie

In May 2006, foreign-born workers, largely from Latin America, mobilized across the United States in response to calls from anti-immigrant groups for tougher federal policies against illegal immigrants. About 400,000 protested in Chicago, 300,000 in Los Angeles, and 75,000 in Denver. In fifty cities between Los Angeles and New York, workers organized walkouts, demonstrations, and rallies in an effort to show just how important they were to the smooth operation of the U.S. economy.


Author(s):  
Arthur Lupia

This chapter is about how to word recall questions effectively. An example of why this topic matters occurred just days before the opening of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. At that time, a New York Times headline proclaimed that “1 of 5 in New Survey Express Some Doubt About the Holocaust.” The Times article’s lead paragraph described the finding in greater detail (emphasis added): . . . A poll released yesterday [sic] found that 22 percent of adults and 20 percent of high school students who were surveyed said they thought it was possible that Nazi Germany’s extermination of six million Jews never happened. In addition to the 22 percent of adult respondents to the survey by the Roper Organization who said it seemed possible that the Holocaust never happened, 12 percent more said they did not know if it was possible or impossible, according to the survey’s sponsor, the American Jewish Committee. . . . Reactions to this finding were swift. Benjamin Mead, president of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, called the findings “a Jewish tragedy.” Elie Wiesel, a Nobel Laureate and concentration camp survivor, conveyed shock and disappointment: “What have we done? We have been working for years and years … I am shocked. I am shocked that 22 percent … oh, my God.” Similar headlines appeared across the country. In the months that followed these reports, many struggled to explain the finding. Some blamed education, as a Denver Post editorial described: . . . It’s hardly surprising that some Americans have swallowed the myth that the Holocaust never happened… . [E] ither these Americans have suffered a tragic lapse of memory, or they have failed to grasp even the rudiments of modern history… . Such widespread ignorance could lull future generations into dropping their guard against the continuing menace of ethnic intolerance, with potentially devastating consequences… . To this end, the public schools must obviously do a better job of teaching 20th century history, even if it means giving shorter shrift to the Civil War or the Revolution. . . .


2002 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 1020-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Kasinitz ◽  
John Mollenkopf ◽  
Mary C. Waters

Many observers have noted that immigrants to the United States are highly concentrated in the largest metropolitan areas of a relatively few states. Though immigrants diffused into many places that had previously seen relatively few immigrants during the 1990s, as of the 2000 census, 77 percent of the nation's 31.1 million foreign born residents still lived in six states – California, New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and Illinois. According to the 2000 census, the two largest metropolitan areas, Los Angeles and New York, accounted for one third of all immigrants ( http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/demoprofiles.html ). While immigrants moved into many new areas during the 1990s, making the challenge of incorporating their children a national issue, their concentration in our largest cities remained pronounced.


Author(s):  
Lyn Morland ◽  
Dina Birman ◽  
Burna L. Dunn ◽  
Myrna Ann Adkins ◽  
Laura Gardner

The United States is increasingly diverse and this is nowhere more evident than in our public schools. Children who arrive as immigrants, as well as those born here to at least one immigrant parent, currently make up nearly one-quarter of all children in the United States.2 By the year 2025, it is estimated that one-third or more of the students in our nation’s schools will be children of immigrants.3 After providing a brief overview of the immigrant population in the United States, this chapter will describe both the unique challenges as well as the strengths that many immigrant children bring to the classroom, and how teachers can help support their resilience and academic success.


Author(s):  
Maria Vidal de Haymes

In 2004, an estimated 1,614,000 individuals of Cuban origin were residing in the United States, placing Cubans as the third largest Hispanic ethnic group in the United States, constituting ∼4% of the nation's Hispanic population. 84.1% of the Cuban-American population is concentrated in four states: Florida (67.1%), New Jersey (6.2%), California (5.8%), and New York (5.0%). Although Cuban immigration to the United States dates back to the mid-1800s, 68.5% of Cuban Americans are foreign-born and, as a group, represent a wide spectrum of social realities and political interests.


2009 ◽  
Vol 111 (6) ◽  
pp. 1476-1507
Author(s):  
Maurice Crul ◽  
Jennifer Holdaway

Background/Context This article considers the ways in which school systems in New York City and Amsterdam have shaped the educational trajectories of two groups of relatively dis-advantaged immigrant youth: the children of Dominican immigrants in New York and the children of Moroccan immigrants in Amsterdam. It describes the salient features of the two educational systems and the ways in which they structure opportunity for children of immigrants. In terms of public policy, the United States and the Netherlands have taken quite different approaches toward the integration of immigrant students: The Netherlands actively seeks to integrate students and provides additional funds and special programs, whereas the United States has taken a more laissez-faire approach. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The article analyses available data on young second-generation Moroccan and Dominican youth and their school careers in two cities: New York and Amsterdam. It aims to look at the influence of institutional arrangements and the way that the educational system facilitates or hampers the educational integration of two highly disadvantaged groups. Research Design The article is based on available data on the Moroccan population in Amsterdam and the Dominican population in New York. This includes primarily the Dutch SPVA surveys and other local Amsterdam studies, and the Immigrant Second-Generation in Metropolitan New York (ISGMNY) study. Conclusions/Recommendations Both Moroccans in Amsterdam and Dominicans in New York show relatively low levels of educational attainment. Drawing on data from a number of studies of Moroccans in Amsterdam and on the ISGMNY study, the article shows that although differently structured, neither school system does an adequate job of serving disadvantaged immigrant students. It is interesting, however, that opportunities and impediments for the two groups are shaped differently and appear at different times in the school career. Successful practices in both countries show how extra investment of resources can increase equality of opportunity.


2021 ◽  
pp. 019459982110377
Author(s):  
James Alrassi ◽  
James Cochran ◽  
Richard M. Rosenfeld

The “tonsil riots” of 1906 were panics that developed at several public schools in historically immigrant-dominated neighborhoods of New York City (NYC). Per archived newspaper articles, several NYC public schools asked for parental consent to have Board of Health physicians come and perform tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy on their students. When children subsequently returned home from school “drooling mouthfuls of blood and barely able to speak,” mothers reacted with panic and flocked to the schools demanding the safe return of their children. Police, ultimately, had to be called in to manage the crowds, and the events of 1906 largely faded from the public eye. However, these events can offer important lessons in communication and cultural humility as the United States continues its mass vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019.


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