Explanation of Academic Achievement of Asian American Students

Abstract Asian American students generally have higher academic achievement than other minority students. One possible explanation is that they are more likely to experience certain home environments and educational activities that are conducive to learning. This hypothesis was examined in this study. Data were drawn from the base-year survey of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). The findings indicated that Asian American students were more likely to live in an intact two-parent family, to spend more time doing homework, and to attend more lessons outside of school. Also, Asian American parents had higher educational expectations for their children, although they did not directly help their children in schoolwork more than other parents. Furthermore, the differences in home environments and educational activities accounted for a large part of the difference in achievement between Asian American and other minority students.