The Impact of Immigration on Twenty-First Century America - How Well Do Immigrant Childrencompete With Native Children?

A survey conducted in 2003 by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation explored attitudes of Hispanic adults, or Latinos, toward schools and education. The study, National Survey of Latinos: Education (Washington, DC, January 2004), paid particular attention to differences between recent immigrants and those who had been in the United States for a generation or more. When asked to evaluate public schools on an "A, B, C, D, or Failing" scale, 33% of foreign-born Latino parents gave their community schools an "A" compared to 16% of native-born Latino parents, 13% of African-American parents, and 19% of white parents. Foreign-born Latino parents were similarly more positive about the nationwide public school system. (See Figure 7.9.) If the school failed to meet performance standards, 69% of foreign-born Latino parents would require students to remain in the school compared to 50% of native Latino parents and 35% of white parents. Foreign-born Latino parents were generally more optimistic about U.S. schools. Authors of the survey noted that these findings suggested foreign-born parents might lack an understanding of major educational reforms such as the No Child Left Behind Act, vouchers, and charter schools.

When it came to understanding their child's curriculum, just 43% of foreign-born Latino parents said they knew a lot compared to 66% of native Latino parents and a similar share of African-American and white parents. (See Figure 7.10.) While 99% of all Latino parents thought it was important for schools to teach English to the children of immigrants, 93% of foreign-born Latino parents thought schools should also help students maintain their native tongue. Native Latino parents were somewhat less interested (81%) in having schools provide such instruction.

National Standardized Test Scores

Educational achievement in core subjects like reading, math, and science was considered by educators as a predictor of children's likelihood of completing high school, attending college, and attaining high-paying careers. According to the Pew Hispanic Center fact sheet "Hispanic School Achievement: Catching Up Requires Running Faster than White Youth" (Washington, DC, January 2004), in 2000 the average score on a standardized math test for kindergartners was 45.5 for white children, 40.0 for all Hispanic children, and 38.4 for African-American children. Children whose parents were born in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico on average scored significantly lower than their white peers. However, children whose parents were born in Cuba (46.1 score) outperformed their white peers. (See Table 7.15.) The number of generations a Hispanic child FIGURE 7.9
Ratings of schools, by demographic characteristics, 2003
SOURCE: "Chart 1. Ratings of Schools," in National Survey of Latinos: Education, Pew Hispanic Center/Kaiser Family Foundation, January 2004, http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/7.pdf (accessed March 19, 2005) © 2004, Pew Hispanic Center, a Pew Research Center project. FIGURE 7.10
Knowledge of child's curriculum by parents, by demographic characteristics, 2003
SOURCE: "Chart 7. Knowledge of Child's Curriculum," in National Survey of Latinos: Education, Pew Hispanic Center/Kaiser Family Foundation, January 2004, http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/7.pdf (accessed March 19, 2005) © 2004, Pew Hispanic Center, a Pew Research Center project. TABLE 7.15
Average math test scores of 1st- and 2nd-generation
kindergartners, by parental country of birth
SOURCE: "Average Math Test Score of 1st and 2nd Generation Kindergartners," in Fact Sheet—Hispanic School Achievement: Catching Up Requires Running Faster than White Youth, Pew Hispanic Center, January 2004, http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/7.2.pdf (accessed April 6, 2005) © 2004, Pew Hispanic Center, a Pew Research Center project.

Parental birth place
Mexico	38.6
Dominican Republic	35.7
Puerto Rico	37.3
Cuba	46.1
El Salvador	39.7
Other Central America	39.4
South America	42.4

was removed from the country of origin appeared to make no difference in educational achievement. Eighth-grade math scores and middle-school grade point averages were very similar regardless of whether the child was native-born or foreign-born.

In 2000 the dropout rate for Hispanic students age sixteen to nineteen was 21.1% ("High School Dropout Rates for Latino Youth," ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban FIGURE 7.11
Immigration history of parents of 2004 Intel Science Talent Search finalists
SOURCE: Stuart Anderson, Adapted from "Table 5. Immigration History of Parents of 2004 Intel Science Talent Search Finalists," in The Multiplier Effect, National Foundation for American Policy, International Educator, Summer 2004, http://www.nfap.net/researchactivities/studies/TheMultiplierEffectNFAP.pdf (accessed March 18, 2005) Education Digest, No. 193, December 2003). While this figure reflected a decrease in the 1990 dropout rate (21.8%) of Latino youth, it was about three times the rate of 6.9% for white, non-Hispanic students in 2000.

Children of Immigrants Succeed in Math and
Science Competitions

A study by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) found that "an astounding 60% of the top science students in the United States and 65% of the top math students are the children of immigrants. In addition, foreign-born high school students make up 50% of the 2004 U.S. Math Olympiad's top scorers, 38% of the U.S. Physics Team, and 25% of the Intel Science Talent Search finalists," which is considered the most prestigious award for young scientists and mathematicians in the United States (Stuart Anderson, The Multiplier Effect, Arlington, VA: National Foundation for American Policy, 2004). NFAP described itself as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization engaged in public policy research on trade, immigration, and other national issues.

While the study focused on prestigious competitions that attracted outstanding science and math students, children of immigrants made an impressive showing. Eighteen of the forty finalists in the 2004 Intel Science Talent Search had parents who entered the United States on professional status H-1B visas. Clearly these students had at least one highly educated parent. However, the parents of three finalists entered the country as family-sponsored immigrants, the parents of two competitors came as refugees, and one parent won a diversity lottery visa. (See Figure 7.11.) Stuart Anderson, author of the NFAP study, commented, "If those who most oppose immigration had succeeded over the past two decades, two-thirds of the most outstanding future scientists and mathematicians in the United States would not be in the country."