| One of the most significant challenges to educational policy and practice in the United States is the dramatic increase in the number of immigrant children. Of particular salience is the successful integration of immigrant children from diverse backgrounds into the education system---children whose parents have varying levels of education, socioeconomic status, English language proficiency, and reasons for migration. This dissertation will provide descriptive insights into the factors that promote or impede the achievement of a growing group of young immigrant children within schools in the United States.The first study investigates psychological and sociological factors associated with early differences in reading and math achievement of 2 to 5 year-olds across three waves of data collection from the Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study. No immigrant differences in reading achievement emerge at wave one, although an immigrant advantage is evident in the rate of growth in reading achievement. An immigrant disadvantage is evident in math achievement at the start of study, although children demonstrate an advantage in the rate of growth in math achievement over time.The second study, using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) cohort, examines the contextual factors that may explain differences in timing of English language acquisition, and how difficulties with language proficiency early in elementary school may predict mastery and achievement later on. Results indicate that non-English language use in the home in kindergarten is associated with delays in oral English language proficiency. These delays, in turn, predict gaps in the mastery of reading proficiency levels. English language school-based services appear to be important in reducing the potential negative effects of non-English language use and oral English language delays in reading mastery.The final study, also using the ECLS-K, provides much needed information about the influence that teachers have over children's long-term learning trajectories. Overall, teachers may have a small but long-term influence on children's reading achievement, explaining 5 to 11 percent of variability in student achievement at later time points. Neither the concurrent or lagged teacher quality characteristics were effective in reducing minority achievement gaps nor the first generation immigrant advantage. |
