A Hunger for Education

A new Rand Corp. study on how immigrant children perform in U.S. schools and the demands they place on these institutions presents a mixed bag of news, all of it enlightening and grist for educational planners.

On the positive side, Rand found that immigrant children have a remarkable drive for education. They enroll in primary and middle schools at the same rate as American-born youngsters, and those who enroll by grade 10 are as likely to graduate as their American-born classmates. Furthermore, Mexican immigrant grads are more likely than Mexican American grads to enter college.

These are major achievements, and perhaps surprising considering the barriers facing most immigrant students: poor academic preparation in their native countries, the need to learn a new language and new institutional and cultural customs.

But there is also some bad news in the report. Not all racial and ethnic groups perform at the same level. For instance, newly arrived Latinos in the 15-to-17-year age group are less likely than immigrants of that age group from other countries to attend high school. That’s largely because they don’t “drop in” to the school system. Typically, these youngsters instead seek out jobs, usually menial ones, to help resolve their economic needs.

A double-edged finding of the study is that Mexican immigrant children and their parents have higher aspirations than their Mexican American counterparts. For some reason, the study found, the educational aspirations of most second- and third-generation immigrant children, whatever their country of origin, decline over time, and the trend is particularly acute among Latinos.

Factors such as family income, the level of education and educational expectations of parents and children are the main determinants of whether a youngster will pursue a college education.

Schools and colleges are facing difficult challenges in meeting the needs of all children, not only immigrants. The goal is to find a formula to motivate second- and third-generation immigrant children to be as hungry for education as their forebears who first entered this country. The answers do not lie solely in the classroom. Parents have to get involved in their children’s education in a more effective way. In the long term, a good education could make the difference between highly paid jobs and menial ones. Wanting to do well in school, to get ahead, is a common desire among immigrants and one that must be embraced and perpetuated.