Within- and Between-Group Assimilation of Immigrants: Testing the Achievement Gap in Traditional Settlement Countries

• In Event: Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: International and Comparative Perspectives on Educational Achievement

Abstract

This paper tests the gap in immigrant children’s reading outcomes across four traditional settlement countries (TSC): United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand. We examine the relationship between the reading achievement gap and immigrant students by generations. We further extend our analysis by parsing the first generation students’ reading achievement by their age of arrival. We use PISA 2009 to test the gap between immigrant and native students. Our results highlight the diverse outcomes for immigrant children within these different generational groups across the four TSCs. Our results also provide evidence for the segmented assimilation theory by showing that immigrant achievement varies both within and across generation based on a number of other factors rather than just their generational status.

Authors

• Kristina Brezicha, The Pennsylvania State University

• William C Smith, The Pennsylvania State University

• Anna Persson, The Pennsylvania State University - University Park