Optimism and achievement: the educational performance of immigrant youth

Objective. The rise in the volume and diversity of immigrants to the U.S. since 1960 has increased concerns about whether assimilation benefits educational achievement. To address this issue we evaluate the relative merits of three hypotheses regarding generational status and scholastic performance: (1) straight-line assimilation; (2) accommodation without assimilation; and (3) immigrant optimism. Methods. Specifically we use the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) to examine the impact of generational status on three indicators of educational achievement: grades achievement test scores and college aspirations of 8th graders. Results. Overall our results are consistent with hypotheses (2) and (3) and suggest that behavioral differences between immigrant and native parents are essential ingredients in explaining the differential performance of immigrant and native youth. We also find however that the effects of generational status on scholastic outcomes differ by race and ethnic group such that parental nativity is most crucial for Asians and less so for Hispanics while childs birthplace is more decisive for educational achievement among blacks. Conclusions. Because foreign-born youth are at a slight disadvantage due to their limited English skills and because immigrant parents promote academic achievement second generation youth (i.e. native-born children of foreign- born parents) are best positioned to achieve scholastically. (authors)