Abstract
The academic performance of foreign-born youth in the United States is well studied, yet little is known about whether and how foreign-born students influence their classmates. In this article, I develop a set of expectations regarding the potential consequences of immigrant integration across schools, with a distinction between the effects of sharing schools with immigrants who are designated as English language learners (ELL) and those who are not. I then use administrative data on multiple cohorts of Florida public high school students to estimate the effect of immigrant shares on immigrant and native-born students’ academic performance. The identification strategy pays careful attention to the selection problem by estimating the effect of foreign-born peers from deviations in the share foreign-born across cohorts of students attending the same school in different years. The assumption underlying this approach is that students choose schools based on the composition of the entire school, not on the composition of each entering cohort. The results of the analysis, which hold under several robustness checks, indicate that foreign-born peers (both those who are ELL and those who are non-ELL) have no effect on their high school classmates’ academic performance.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
I use the terms “immigrant,” “foreign-born,” and “first-generation immigrant” interchangeably to refer to children who were born abroad. The terms “children of immigrants” and “immigrant-origin” are used interchangeably to refer to both first-generation and second-generation immigrant youth (born in the United States with one or both parents born abroad).
The administrative data do not distinguish between Hispanic ethnicity and race. Instead, students are given the option to identify as Hispanic; black, not of Hispanic origin; white, not of Hispanic origin; Asian; or other.
The FLDOE requires all students in homes where a language other than English is primarily spoken to take English language assessments and the scores on these exams are used to determine entry into and exit from ELL status. Unlike most other states with large ELL populations, the FLDOE also relies on parent or teacher referrals and a formal committee review to classify ELL students, which suggests that at least relative to several other states, students in Florida are less likely to be misclassified as either ELL or non-ELL (Ragan and Lesaux 2006).
Data on earlier progressive cohorts was used for these aggregations, such that the counts include all students in the grade and year, not just those in the cohort.
Consistent with the characteristics of high school dropouts nationally, the students who are not enrolled in the 10th grade are more likely to be male, black, eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, and disabled than students who remain enrolled. The students who exit by the 10th grade are also slightly less likely to be immigrant non-ELL than students who remain and more likely to be native-born, with equal shares of immigrant ELL in both groups.
The three most frequently used national probability samples of high school students do not provide the large numbers of students and multiple cohorts afforded in these data. The National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) and its later counterpart, the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS), are both single-cohort designs with small numbers of students in each high school. Add Health provides multiple cohorts, but insufficient numbers of immigrant ELL and non-ELL within each school across cohorts to identify estimates with precision using this design.
Results from alternative specifications using 9th grade peers and the average of the students’ 9th and 10th grade peers are qualitatively similar to those presented in this article and available upon request.
For the students who attended more than one school in the fall of the 10th grade, I chose the school that they attended the majority of the time. If the time was equal, I randomly chose one of the schools.
References
Angrist, J. D., & Lang, K. (2004). Does school integration generate peer effects? Evidence from Boston’s Metco Program. American Economic Review, 94, 1613–1634.
August, D., & Hakuta, K. (Eds.). (1997). Improving schooling for language-minority children: A research agenda. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Betts, J. B., & Fairlie, R. W. (2001). Explaining ethnic, racial, and immigrant differences in private school attendance. Journal of Urban Economics, 50, 26–51.
Bifulco, R., Fletcher, J. M., & Ross, S. L. (2011). The effect of classmate characteristics on post-secondary outcomes: Evidence from the Add Health. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 3, 25–53.
Burns, R. B., & Mason, D. A. (1998). Class formation and composition in elementary schools. American Educational Research Journal, 35, 739–772.
Callahan, R., Wilkinson, L., Muller, C., & Frisco, M. (2009). ESL placement and schools: Effects on immigrant achievement. Educational Policy, 23, 355–384.
Caplan, N., Whitmore, J. K., & Choy, M. H. (1989). The boat people and achievement in America. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Coleman, J. S., Campbell, E. Q., Hobson, C. J., McPartland, J., Mood, A. M., Weinfeld, F. D., & York, R. L. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Conger, D., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2009). Special educational needs of children in immigrant families. In E. L. Grigorenko & R. Takanishi (Eds.), Immigration, diversity, and education (pp. 170–187). New York, NY: Routledge.
Conger, D., Schwartz, A. E., & Stiefel, L. (2007). Immigrant and native-born differences in school stability and special education: Evidence from New York City. International Migration Review, 41, 402–431.
Cortes, K. (2006). The effects of age at arrival and enclave schools on the academic performance of immigrant children. Economics of Education Review, 25, 121–132.
Cosentino de Cohen, C., Deterding, N., & Clewell, B. C. (2005). Who’s left behind? Immigrant children in high- and low-LEP schools. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Crosnoe, R. (2009). Low-income students and the socioeconomic composition of public high schools. American Sociological Review, 74, 709–730.
Crosnoe, R., & Lopez-Gonzalez, L. (2005). Immigration from Mexico, school composition, and adolescent functioning. Sociological Perspectives, 48, 1–24.
Finley, M. K. (1984). Teachers and tracking in a comprehensive high school. Sociology of Education, 54, 233–243.
Fletcher, J. (2010). Spillover effects of inclusion of classmates with emotional problems on test scores in early elementary school. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 29, 69–83.
Fuligni, A. (1997). The academic achievement of adolescents from immigrant families: The roles of family background, attitudes, and behavior. Child Development, 68, 351–363.
Gamoran, A., & Mare, R. D. (1989). Secondary school tracking and educational inequality: Compensation, reinforcement, or neutrality? American Journal of Sociology, 61, 61–77.
Gibson, M. (1988). Accommodation without assimilation: Sikh immigrants in an American high school. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Glick, J. E., & White, M. J. (2003). The academic trajectories of immigrant youths: Analysis within and across cohorts. Demography, 40, 759–783.
Gould, E. D., Lavy, V., & Paserman, D. D. (2009). Does immigration affect the long-term educational outcomes of natives? Quasi-experimental evidence. The Economic Journal, 119, 1243–1269.
Hall, M. (2013). Residential integration on the new frontier: Immigrant segregation in established and new destinations. Demography, 50, 1873–1896.
Hallinan, M. (1994). Tracking: From theory to practice. Sociology of Education, 67, 7–91.
Hanushek, E. A., Kain, J. F., Markman, J. M., & Rivkin, S. G. (2003). Does peer ability affect student achievement? Journal of Applied Econometrics, 18, 527–544.
Hanushek, E. A., Kain, J. F., & Rivkin, S. G. (2009). New evidence about Brown v. Board of Education: The complex effects of school racial composition on achievement. Journal of Labor Economics, 27, 349–383.
Hernandez, D. J., & Charney, E. (1998). From generation to generation: The health and well-being of children in immigrant families. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Hoxby, C. M. (2000). Peer effects in the classroom: Learning from gender and race variation (NBER Working Paper No. 7867). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Kao, G. (1999). Psychological well-being and educational achievement among immigrant youth. In D. J. Hernandez (Ed.), Children of immigrants: Health, adjustment, and public assistance (pp. 410–475). Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Kao, G., & Tienda, M. (1995). Optimism and achievement: The educational performance of immigrant youth. Social Science Quarterly, 76, 1–19.
Kasinitz, P. (2001). Fade to black? The children of West Indian immigrants in southern Florida. In R. G. Rumbaut & A. Portes (Eds.), Ethnicities: Children of immigrants in America (pp. 267–300). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Matute-Bianchi, M. E. (1986). Ethnic identities and patterns of school success and failure among Mexican-descent and Japanese-American students in a California high school: An ethnographic analysis. American Journal of Education, 95, 233–255.
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) (2011). Immigration related laws and resolutions in the States (January 1–December 31, 2010). Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/immig/2010-immigration-related-laws-and-resolutions-in-t.aspx
Ogbu, J. (1992). Understanding cultural diversity and learning. Educational Researcher, 21, 5–14.
Olsen, L. (1997). Made in America: Immigrant students in our public schools. New York, NY: The New Press.
Pallas, A. M., Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Stluka, F. M. (1994). Ability-group effects: Instructional, social, or institutional? Sociology of Education, 67, 27–46.
Park, H., Behrman, J. R., & Choi, J. (2013). Causal effects of single-sex schools on college entrance exams and college attendance: Random assignment in Seoul high schools. Demography, 50, 447–469.
Perreira, K. M., Harris, K. M., & Lee, D. (2006). Making it in America: High school completion by immigrant and native youth. Demography, 43, 511–536.
Pew Hispanic Center (2006). Cubans in the United States (Fact Sheet). Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center. Retrieved from http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/23.pdf
Pong, S.-L., Hao, L., & Gardner, E. (2005). The roles of parenting styles and social capital in the school performance of immigrant Asian and Hispanic adolescents. Social Science Quarterly, 86, 928–950.
Pong, S.-L., & Zeiser, K. L. (2012). Student engagement, school climate, and academic achievement of immigrants’ children. In C. García Coll & A. K. Marks (Eds.), The immigrant paradox in children and adolescents: Is becoming American a developmental risk? (pp. 209–232). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2001). Legacies: The story of the immigrant second generation. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press and Russell Sage Foundation.
Ragan, A., & Lesaux, N. (2006). Federal, state, and district level English language learner program entry and exit requirements: Effects on the education of language minority learners. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 14, 1–29.
Raleigh, E., & Kao, G. (2010). Do immigrant minority parents have more consistent college aspirations for their children? Social Science Quarterly, 91, 1083–1102.
Ream, R. K. (2005). Toward understanding how social capital mediates the impact of mobility on Mexican American achievement. Social Forces, 84, 201–224.
Riegle-Crumb, C., & Callahan, R. M. (2009). Exploring the academic benefits of friendship ties for Latino boys and girls. Social Science Quarterly, 90, 611–631.
Rivkin, S. G. (2000). School desegregation, academic achievement, and earnings. Journal of Human Resources, 35, 333–346.
Royston, P. (2004). Multiple imputation of missing values. The Stata Journal, 4, 227–241.
Rubin, D. B. (1987). Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.
Rumberger, R. W., & Palardy, G. J. (2005). Does segregation still matter? The impact of social composition on academic achievement in high school. Teachers College Record, 107, 1999–2045.
Ryabov, I., & Van Hook, J. (2007). School segregation and academic achievement among Hispanic children. Social Science Research, 36, 767–788.
Schwartz, A. E., & Stiefel, L. (2006). Is there a nativity gap? Achievement of New York City elementary and middle school immigrant students. Education Finance and Policy, 1, 17–49.
Schwartz, A. E., & Stiefel, L. (2011). Immigrants and inequality in public schools. Prepared for the project on Social Inequality and Educational Disadvantage. In G. J. Duncan & R. J. Murnane (Eds.), Wither opportunity? Rising inequality, schools, and children’s life chances (pp. 419–442). New York, NY: Russell Sage.
Singer, A. (2004). The rise of new immigrant gateways (The Living Cities Census Series). Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
Stanton-Salazar, R. D., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1995). Social capital and the reproduction of inequality: Information networks among Mexican-origin high school students. Sociology of Education, 68, 116–135.
Suárez-Orozco, C., & Suárez-Orozco, M. M. (2001). Children of immigration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Suárez-Orozco, M. M. (1989). Central American refugees and U.S. high schools: A psychosocial study of motivation and achievement. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Thomas, K. (2009). Parental characteristics and the schooling progress of the children of immigrant and U.S.-born blacks. Demography, 45, 513–534.
Tillman, K. H., Guo, G., & Harris, K. M. (2006). Grade retention among immigrant children. Social Science Research, 35, 129–156.
Van Hook, J., Brown, S. L., & Kwenda, M. N. (2004). A decomposition of trends in poverty among children of immigrants. Demography, 41, 649–670.
Van Hook, J., & Fix, M. E. (2000). A profile of the immigrant student population. In J. Ruiz-De-Velasco, M. E. Fix, & B. Clewell (Eds.), Overlooked and underserved: Immigrant children in U.S. secondary schools (pp. 9–33). Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.
Vigdor, J., & Nechyba, T. (2007). Peer effects in North Carolina public schools. In L. Woessmann & P. E. Peterson (Eds.), Schools and the equal opportunity problem (pp. 73–102). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Waters, M. C. (1999). Black identities: West Indian immigrant dreams and American realities. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation and Harvard University Press.
Wells, A. S., & Crain, R. L. (1994). Perpetuation theory and the long-term effects of school desegregation. Review of Educational Research, 64, 531–555.
Zhou, M., & Bankston, C. L., III. (1998). Growing up American: How Vietnamese children adapt to life in the United States. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Acknowledgments
I thank the Florida Department of Education for maintaining such comprehensive records and for making them available to me for analysis. I am also grateful to the insightful comments provided by Brandon Bartels, Stephanie Riegg Cellini, David Deming, Bruce Fuller, Guanglei Hong, Micere Keels, Paco Martorell, Steven Raudenbush, Amy Ellen Schwartz, Leanna Stiefel, Jacob Vigdor, and seminar participants at the Association for Education Finance and Policy, George Washington University, Public Policy Institute of California, University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago, and University of Maastricht. Special thanks to Rajeev Darolia and Megan Hatch for exceptional research assistance. Errors or omissions belong to me.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Conger, D. Foreign-born Peers and Academic Performance. Demography 52, 569–592 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-015-0369-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-015-0369-2