Assessing the Role of Immigration in the Linkage between School Safety, Education, and Juvenile Justice Contact

• In Event: Examining Adverse Experiences of First and Second Generation Immigrants: School- and Community-based Samples

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to explore the extent to which first- and second-generation youth experience school safety, school discipline, and juvenile justice differently than non-immigrant students and to explore how schools that have higher levels of immigrant students and/or are located near the US-Mexico border differ regarding school safety and school discipline. The project utilizes a unique secondary dataset that combines Texas Education Agency and the Texas Juvenile Justice Department data where 89% of the juvenile justice records were successfully matched to the TEA data. All public school students enrolled in Texas public schools who were in the first grade during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 academic years form the base sample. Each cohort’s kindergarten data are used to control for “prior-year” attributes in first grade. Students’ progress is tracked from first grade through at least their cohort’s twelfth grade year. Students who are retained can be tracked for evidence of completion at least one year beyond their cohort’s senior year. In all, more than 600 thousand students are tracked. Among the key findings are that immigrant youth are less likely to be involved in juvenile justice, contrary to the negative stereotypes of immigrants as criminals.

Authors

• Miner P. Marchbanks III, Texas A&M University

• Anthony Peguero, Arizona State University

• Jamilia J. Blake, Texas A&M University

• Janice Iwama, American University