Early Academic Achievement Among American Low-Income Black Students from Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Families

Abstract

At least half of the well-documented achievement gap for low-income Black children is already present in kindergarten, due in part to limited opportunities for acquiring foundational skills necessary for school success. There is some evidence that low-income minority children from immigrant families have more positive outcomes than their non-immigrant counterparts, although little is known about how the immigrant paradox may manifest in young children. This study examines foundational school readiness skills (academic and social-emotional learning) at entry into pre-kindergarten (pre-k) and achievement in kindergarten and second grade among Black children from low-income immigrant and non-immigrant families (N=299). Immigrant and non-immigrant children entered pre-k with comparable readiness scores; in both groups, reading scores decreased significantly from kindergarten to second grade and math scores decreased significantly for non-immigrant children and marginally for immigrant children. Regardless of immigrant status, pre-k school readiness and pre-k classroom quality were associated with elementary school achievement. However, declines in achievement scores were not as steep for immigrant children and several predictive associations were moderated by immigrant status, such that among those with lower pre-k school readiness or in lower quality classrooms, immigrant children had higher achievement test scores than children from non-immigrant families. Findings suggest that immigrant status provides young Black students with some protection against individual- and classroom-level risk factors for early underachievement in elementary school.

Early Emotion Knowledge and Later Academic Achievement Among Children of Color in Historically Disinvested Neighborhoods

“…An emerging body of research suggests a protective effect of immigrant status against risk factors for later academic underachievement (Crosnoe & Turley, 2011). For example, in a subset of the sample considered in the current study, it was found that whereas lower pre‐K school readiness skills and lower pre‐K classroom quality predicted lower second grade math and reading achievement test scores for children of U.S.‐born parents, this predictive association was attenuated for children with at least one immigrant parent (Calzada et al, 2015). Thus, the current study also investigated whether the relation between EK and achievement differs for children of color from immigrant and non‐immigrant families.…”

“…Finally, in examining differences between children from immigrant and non‐immigrant families, this study built on theory and prior research which suggests that pathways from early skills to achievement may differ for children from immigrant and non‐immigrant families (Calzada et al, 2015; Ogbu & Simons, 1998). Results suggest that relations of pre‐K EK to math achievement in kindergarten and second grade were weaker among children from immigrant families than among children from non‐immigrant families.…”

“…Social–emotional skills included measures of adaptive behavior, positive peer relations, and self‐regulation. These covariates were chosen in order to provide a more rigorous test of the relation between EK and achievement by isolating EK from other social–emotional skills which have been previously related to EK in this sample (Ursache, Dawson‐McClure, Siegel, & Miller Brotman, 2019) and by controlling for early predictors of achievement (Calzada et al, 2015).…”

Children Living in Poverty: Exploring and Understanding Its Developmental Impact

“…At the age of two, children of black immigrants scored lower on a test of cognitive functioning compared to many of their peer groups. Black children of immigrants achieved more in reading and math, outperforming black children of US-born parents and Latino children from immigrant and non-immigrant families (Calzada et al, 2015).…”

“…Immigrant status is an important factor to consider in regards to understanding achievement among minority groups (Calzada, et al, 2015). There is a vast growing portion of the United States population since the year 2000.…”