Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Do East Asian Migrant Students Perform Equally Well in Mathematics?

  • Published:
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

As migration is an important social phenomenon, the present study analyzes the influence of migration on migrant students’ performance in mathematics. In a secondary analysis of data from Program for International Student Assessment 2012 (PISA), the mathematics achievements of students from three top-performing East Asian metropolitan areas were examined with reference to their migration backgrounds. The findings show that there is a close relation between the migration policy of the receiving system and the mathematics achievements of migrant students, with the migrant status being of advantage in one case (Singapore) and of disadvantage in two cases (Shanghai and Hong Kong SAR). These results suggest that it is important to separate the different types of migrants while relating these types with the corresponding migration policies of the receiving system and the mathematics achievement.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams, R., & Wu, M. (Eds.). (2002). Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA): PISA 2000 technical report. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altzinger, W., & Schneebaum, A. (2018). Austria: Intergenerational mobility among children of immigrants. In OECD (Ed.), Catching up? Country-studies on intergenerational mobility of children of immigrants (pp. 13–38). Paris: OECD.

  • Biedinger, N., Becker, B., & Rohling, I. (2008). Early ethnic educational inequality: The influence of duration of preschool attendance and social composition. European Sociological Review, 24(2), 243–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borjas, G. J. (1995). Ethnicity, neighborhoods, and human externalities. American Economic Review, 85(3), 365–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Census and Statistics Department (CSD). (2016). 2016 population census – Summary results. Retrieved from http://www.statistics.gov.hk/pub/B11200942016XXXXB0100.pdf. Accessed 05 Oct 2017.

  • Chiu, S. W. K. (2006). Recent trends in migration movements and policies in Asia: Hong Kong region report. Paper prepared for the Workshop on International Migration and Labor Markets in Asia. Tokyo.

  • Crandall, J., Jaramillo, A., Olsen, L., Peyton, J. K., & Young, S. (2001). Diverse teaching strategies for immigrant children. In R. W. Cole (Ed.), More strategies for educating everybody’s children (pp. 33–71). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crosnoe, R., & Turley, R. N. (2011). K-12 educational outcomes of immigrant youth. Future of Children, 21(1), 129–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duran, B. J., & Weffer, R. E. (1992). Immigrants’ aspirations, high school process, and academic outcomes. American Educational Research Journal, 29(1), 163–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuligni, A. J. (1997). The academic achievement of adolescents from immigrant families: The roles of family background, attitudes, and behavior. Child Development, 68(2), 351–363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giannelli, G. C., & Rapallini, C. (2016). Immigrant student performance in math: Does it matter where you come from? Economics of Education Review, 52, 291–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorgorió N., Planas N., & Vilella X. (2002). Immigrant children learning mathematics in mainstream schools. In G. de Abreu G., & N. C. Presmeg (Eds.), Transitions between contexts of mathematical practices (pp. 23–52). Dordrecht: Springer.

  • Hao, L., & Woo, H. S. (2012). Distinct trajectories in the transition to adulthood: Are children of immigrants advantaged? Child Development, 83(5), 1623–1639.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heath, A., Rothon, C., & Kilpi, E. (2008). The second generation in Western Europe: Education unemployment and occupational attainment. Annual Review Society, 34, 211–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, G. (2000). Mathematics achievement by immigrant children: A comparison of five English-speaking countries. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 8(5), 1–16.

  • International Labor Organization. (2004). Towards a fair deal for migrant workers in the global economy. Geneva: The Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labor Organization. (n.d.). Labour migration in China and Mongolia. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ilo.org/beijing/areas-of-work/labour-migration/lang%2D%2Den/index.htm. Accessed 05 Oct 2017.

  • Kaufman, J. (2004). The interplay between social and cultural determinants of school effort and success: An investigation of Chinese-immigrant and second-generation Chinese students’ perceptions toward school. Social Science Quarterly, 85(5), 1275–1298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kogan, I. (2003). Ex-Yugoslvas in the Austrian and Swedish labor markets: The significance of the period of migration and the effect of citizenship acquisition. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 29(4), 595–622.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lao, X., Shen, T., & Gu, H. (2018). Prospect on China’s urban system by 2020: Evidence from the prediction based on internal migration network. Sustainability, 10(3), 654–674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R., Han, W.-J., Waldfogel, J., & Grooks-Gunn, J. (2018). Preschool attendance and school readiness for children of immigrant mothers in the United States. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 16(2), 190–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levels, M., Dronkers, J., & Jencks, C. (2017). Contextual explanations for numeracy and literacy skill disparities between native and foreign-born adults in western countries. PLoS One, 12(3). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0172087.

  • Ma, X., Ma, L., & Bradley, K. D. (2008). Using multilevel modeling to investigate school effects. In A. A. O’Connell & D. B. McCoach (Eds.), Multilevel modeling of education data (pp. 59–110). Charlotte: Information Age.

  • Moskal, M. (2010). Polish migrant children’s experiences of schooling and home-school relations in Scotland. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2010). Closing the gap for immigrant students: Policies, practices and performance. Paris: OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264075788-en.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2011). Education at a glance 2011 OECD indicators. Paris: OECD.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2013). PISA 2012 results: Excellence through equity (Vol. II): Giving every student the chance to succeed. Paris: OECD.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2015). Helping immigrant students to succeed at school – And beyond. Paris: OECD.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2018). The resilience of students with an immigrant background: Factors that shape well-being. Paris: OECD.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pasquetti, S. (2006). Do we need an international regime for migration? In R. J. Langhammer & F. Foders (Eds.), Labor mobility and the world economy (pp. 209–224). Heidelberg: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., Fernandez-Kelly, P., & Haller, W. (2009). The adaption of the immigrant second generation in America: A theoretical overview and recent evidence. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 35(7), 1077–1104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Macleod, D. (1996). Educational progress of children of immigrants: The roles of class, ethnicity, and school context. Sociology of Education, 69, 255–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Zhou, M. (1993). The new second generation: Segmented assimilation and its varnats among post-1965 immigrant youth. Annals of the Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 530, 74–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roulleau-Berger, L., & Lu, S. (2006). Migrant workers in Shanghai: Inequity, economic enclaves, and the various routes to employment. China Perspective, 58, 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schleicher, A. (2015). Helping immigrant students to succeed at school – And beyond. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapira, M. (2012). An exploration of differences in mathematics attainment among immigrant pupils in 18 OECD countries. European Educational Research Journal, 11, 68–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skeldon, R. (1994). Immigration and emigration: Current trends, dilemmas and policies. In D. McMillen & M. Si-Wai (Eds.), The other Hong Kong report 1994 (pp. 165–186). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, C. E., & Uccelli, P. (2009). The challenge of academic language. In D. R. Olson & N. Torrance (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of literacy (pp. 112–133). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Takanishi, R. (2004). Leveling the playing field: Supporting immigrant children from birth to eight. Future of Children, 14(2), 61–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO. (2003). Measuring and monitoring the information and knowledge societies: A statistical challenge. Montreal: The Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, H. (2014). Shanghai ‘most popular city’ for migrants. China daily (pp. 2014–5-19).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, N.-Y., Wong, W., & Wong, E. (2012). What do the Chinese value in (mathematics) education? ZDM Mathematics Education, 44(1), 9–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2015). Live long and prosper: Aging in East Asia and Pacific. World Bank East Asia and Pacific: Regional Report. Washington, DC: The Author.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, D., & Wu, X. (2017). The rise of the second generation: Aspirations, motivations and academic success of Chinese immigrants’ children in Hong Kong. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(7), 1164–1189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, Y., Kaiser, G., & Cai, J. (2018). Gender equity in mathematical achievement: the case of China. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 99(3), 245–260.

Download references

Funding

This work has been supported by (1) a grant as experienced researcher by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, (2) Shanghai Pujiang Program “Research on gender differences in mathematical learning” (13PJC041), and (3) major project of humanities and social science key research base from the Ministry of education, China, “Research on the Assessment of Chinese students’ mathematics competency” (16JJD880023).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Teacher Education, Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Yan Zhu

  2. Faculty of Education, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 8, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Gabriele Kaiser

  3. Institute of Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australia

    Gabriele Kaiser

Authors
  1. Yan Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gabriele Kaiser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriele Kaiser.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhu, Y., Kaiser, G. Do East Asian Migrant Students Perform Equally Well in Mathematics?. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 18, 1127–1147 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-019-10014-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-019-10014-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation