Associations Between Parental Legal Status and Children's Academic Achievement

• In Event: Roundtable Session 54
  In Roundtable Session: Parent and Family Effects on Adjustment

Abstract

We examined achievement differences between elementary school-aged children of authorized versus unauthorized immigrants parents. The sample included 179 families, 88 of whom had at least one unauthorized parent. Results indicated that children of unauthorized immigrant parents perform significantly lower on math, reading, sentence comprehension, and spelling subtests. However, social service use moderated the relationship between parental authorization status and some of the outcomes, indicating the social services can act as a protective buffer, lessening the negative effects of parental undocumented status on their children’s achievement. This study provides evidence that the social marginalization that immigrant parents experience as a result of their unauthorized status impacts their U.S.-born children’s academic abilities.

Authors

• Erin Sibley, Boston College

• Kalina Brabeck, Rhode Island College