BackgroundImmigrants and their children are the fastest-growing demographic group in the United States, and schools are often the first social institution young immigrants engage with on a sustained basis. As such, the academic achievement of immigrant students can be viewed as an indicator of their incorporation and a predictor of educational and employment outcomes in adulthood. In this study, we examined the factors associated with differences in mathematics achievement between first, second, and third-plus generation students in the US.MethodsWe analyzed the data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012. Our analytic sample included 3700 15 year-old students attending US public and private schools. We used information on students’ background and school characteristics from the student and school questionnaires. We used multiple linear regression models to predict mathematics achievement. To address the sampling design of PISA and the use of plausible values we fitted the models using the IDB Analyzer.ResultsOur analysis shows that the families and schools of second-generation students are more similar to their first-generation than their third-plus generation peers. Once we control for student background characteristics and school contextual factors, the achievement gap between first-generation students and their second and third-plus generation peers disappears. Our results suggest that what we observed as generational differences in achievement are more likely to be gender, racial, and socioeconomic gaps.ConclusionsOur findings imply that student background and school contextual factors counteract some of the disadvantages that first-generation students face in the US. Our results also support existing evidence about the second-generation advantage in academic achievement. Taken together, these findings suggest that mathematics achievement can be addressed by policies and practices that support all students alongside policies and practices that target immigrant students.

中文翻译：

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世代身份，移民集中度和学业成绩：比较第一代和第二代移民与第三代以上学生

背景移民和他们的孩子是美国增长最快的人口群体，而学校通常是第一个长期与青年移民打交道的社会机构。因此，移民学生的学业成绩可以看作是他们融入社会的指标，也是成年后教育和就业成果的预测指标。在这项研究中，我们研究了美国第一，第二和第三代以上学生之间数学成绩差异的相关因素。方法我们分析了2012年国际学生评估计划（PISA）的数据。我们的分析样本包括3700 15岁的学生在美国的公立和私立学校就读。我们使用了学生和学校问卷中有关学生背景和学校特征的信息。我们使用了多个线性回归模型来预测数学成绩。为了解决PISA的抽样设计和合理值的使用，我们使用IDB分析仪对模型进行了拟合。结果我们的分析表明，第二代学生的家庭和学校比第三代及其他同龄人更类似于第一代学生。一旦我们控制了学生的背景特征和学校环境因素，第一代学生与第二，第三代同龄人之间的成就差距就会消失。我们的结果表明，我们观察到的成就的代际差异更可能是性别，种族和社会经济差距。结论我们的发现表明，学生背景和学校背景因素可以抵消美国第一代学生面临的一些不利因素。我们的结果也支持有关第二代学术成就优势的现有证据。综上所述，这些发现表明，可以通过支持所有学生的政策和实践以及针对移民学生的政策和实践来解决数学成就。