| This study focused Latino and Asian children, both immigrant and non-immigrant, to examine any common underlying variables for both cultures. This study adapted Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory on child development, articulating how this theory of interacting systems provides a clear framework for the multiple variables. The current study investigated mother's citizenship status and its affect on either ethnic group's school performance, as well as the complicated interplay between quality of parent involvement and the educational qualities of the home environment on Asian and Latino children's cognitive abilities over time as they transition into formal school.;The current study analyzed the data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K). The ECLS-K is the first nationally representative sample of kindergarteners from diverse socioeconomic and racial/ethnic backgrounds from which was collected both direct cognitive assessment data of the children and interviews with parents, teachers, and school administrators. It is a multisource, multi-method study that includes interviews with parents, teachers, and principals, as well as direct child assessment. The base year data were collected in the fall and spring of the 1998-99 school years when the nationally representative cohort of children were entering kindergarten. A total of 21,260 kindergartners throughout the nation participated. This study analyzed the data from the children's direct cognitive assessment and parent interview. The statistical approach employed to test the hypotheses for the study was creating Hierarchical Linear Models with complex sample with three levels. The variables included questions about the parents' involvement with school activities, cognitive stimulation in the home, and demographic information.;The results of the study found that there are a few key factors that affect both Asian and Latino children, regardless of their immigration status. There's evidence that suggest that children who have a home computer and parents attending school functions perform better on standardized science, math and reading assessments. Latino children whose mothers were US citizens outperformed Latino children whose mothers were immigrants. For the Asian subpopulation, mother's immigration status did not have any significant impact. |
