School Segregation and Immigration: A Comparative Case Study of the United States and Spain

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: International and Immigrant Perspectives on Educational Opportunity (Table 37)

Abstract

The relationship between residential and school segregation is particularly important in an age of global migration. As communities of immigrants often cluster in specific geographic locations, schools may see increased student segregation even as policymakers push for non-residence-based school choice policies. Through comparative geo-spatial analyses of two cases with varied immigration patterns, we analyze this relationship, focusing on the role of policy, demographic and other factors in shaping enrollment patterns in areas seeing new immigration. Preliminary results suggest that residential factors only partially explain the concentration of immigrant students in schools, with other factors such as the influence of school choice amplifying sociocultural factors, better explaining levels of school concentration of migrant populations.

Authors

• Carlos Lubián, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela

• Christopher A. Lubienski, Indiana University