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1 Elizabeth L Wood Cindy Burchett Human Relations Independent Study 3 March 2013 The Paradox of Immigrant Youth The immigrants educational experience is a diverse one that is affected by a myriad of factors. In their article, K-12 Educational Outcomes of Immigrant Youth, which was published in the Future of Childrens journal, Robert Crosnoe and Ruth Lpez-Turley thoroughly examine why immigrant youth perform better academically. Crosnoe and Lpez-Turley discuss the immigrant paradox within education, pre and post migration conditions that determine how a student will perform in an American school, what importance this plays in the elementary level, as well as the policies and programs that exist to aid young immigrants in education. According to Crosnoe and Lpez-Turleys research, almost every immigrant youth is at advantage because of something called the immigrant paradox. To the surprise of many, immigrant children outperform their children who are born in the USA. These immigrant children often have multiple indicators of academic progress despite the fact that the population as a whole inside the USA is considered to have a disadvantage. Some data collected showed that adolescents with immigrant parents typically outperform those with US- born parents of math and science tests (given in English) (Crosnoe, and Lpez-Turley 129-152). Other factors to consider when dealing with the paradox are the facts that the paradox is not only based on socioeconomic status and that it is stronger for boys. This paradox is further explained throughout the article and explains how it affects each ethnic group. Crosnoe and Lpez-Turley delve fairly deep into the pre and post migration conditions that affect immigrant students. Having these conditions identified and how they affect certain ethnic groups in different ways help educators better understand his/her students, and resultantly give them a better-personalized education. The pre migration factors are the ones that educators arent able to witness first hand and often are the ones that initially determine how well an immigrant child will perform academically.

 Wood 2 The most important factor that influences a childs educational outcome once is the United States is the amount of educated the student received in his/her place of origin. The authors found that of thirty-two countries and territories, immigrants in the US were more educated than their peers who remained in their country of origin (Crosnoe, and Lpez-Turley 129-152). This idea is further supported in the article when it states the Mexican-native students that acquired some schooling before they arrived here report better grades than those without any education (Crosnoe, and Lpez-Turley 129-152). Their findings on the pre- migration conditions seem to support the immigrant paradox. It would make sense that immigrant children would be prepped to enter an education system as they have previously had an education. It would then be safe to say that it is the post-migration conditions that make the immigrant paradox seem paradoxical to most educators. The post-migration factors are the ones that seem to make each group distinct in terms of the way their youth are perceived in American education. Important conditions needed for an immigrant child to succeed include strong family ties, parental attachment and support, their schools, and neighborhoods. In regards to parental involvement, Asian children are the immigrant group that thrives the most. According to the article, Asian parents are very involved in their childs education, take it upon themselves to supplement education, find their child additional instruction, explain their high educational expectations, and make concrete plans for the childs educational future (Crosnoe, and Lpez-Turley 129-152). This is similar yet more involved than Latino parents, who stress responsibility and to be a hard worker. Where the bigger gap comes is the schools and neighborhood that each ethnicity tends to acquire once they have moved. As for the school and neighborhood, Crosnoe and Lpez-Turley suggest Latin American immigrant families tend to be concentrated in problematic schools but that they may be more resilient in problematic schools than their peers (129-152). For Asian families this is not as much of an issue, because generally speaking these families have greater socioeconomic resources upon their arrival. All of these factors outlined in the article support the idea that immigrant children do better than children of previous immigrants. This may be supported by the fact that previous immigrants families have settled in, taking an entitled mentality in regards to their education.

 Wood 3 These children are led to think theyre superior simply because theyre already American, while the immigrant children have to earn what they get once they are here. Immigrants parents made a sacrifice to bring their family here and generally speaking are invested in how their offspring perform once they are here. This personal interest on the side of the immigrant parents is what aids them in conquering over the factors that are out of their control, such as the school and neighborhood. The authors assert that it is vital to collect data on elementary level youth, as most information is currently about secondary level immigrants. Crosnoe and Lpez-Turley cite many reasons for this including the fact that the investment in a child at a young age yields a greater return, the fact that the immigrant population is growing younger, and secondary level data is already biases and therefore tainted (Crosnoe, and Lpez-Turley 129-152). The authors suggest that any discrepancy at this age is attributed to the fact that many immigrant children are not enrolled in programs like Head Start or preschool, because once these immigrant children start school they quickly close the gap in terms of performance. Children from Mexican immigrant families [] caught up to, and possibly even surpassed, their third-plus-generation Mexican American peers of similar socioeconomic status. Children with South or Central American or Cuban immigrant parents scored on par with third-plus-generation whites (Crosnoe, and Lpez-Turley 129-152). It appears that once a child enters the school system that many academic risks are not as great, but certain policies and programs have arisen that aid most immigrant youth academically. Many educational policies and programs arose to respond positively and intercede disparities regarding the education of young immigrants. Plyler v. Doe was a Supreme Court case in 1982 that allowed illegal children to be education. The ruling further stated that the determent of such an education to illegal children would hurt the USA politically and socially, and that by not allowing illegal immigrant youth an education the schools would be condemning those youth to unemployment and crime. A federal law from 1996, called the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, hindered illegal immigrant youth from acquiring assistance for postsecondary education, but did not dissuade states from allowing these same people residency statuses and the benefits that came with that status

 Wood 4 (Crosnoe, and Lpez-Turley 129-152). The most recent law to assist young immigrant is the DREAM Act. This is an Obama proposed action that would allow illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship and would prohibit the deportation of young illegals. By passing these laws and policies, the American government is showing that they believe in the immigrant youth that are living here. While Im sure theyre not pouring over data and research as to why these students are valuable, these laws certainly aid immigrant students. The general public has a lot to learn from the research done by Crosnoe and Lpez- Turley. The majority of Americans tend to think poorly of immigrants and their children, while in all reality they should be embracing these people. If not for the sure fact that immigrant children start out performing better or for the fact that they overcome so many obstacles, citizens should start changing they way they think about immigrants because the law and policy are in their favor when it comes to education.

 Wood 5 Works Cited Crosnie, Robert, and Ruth N. Turley-Lpez. "K-12 Educational Outcomes of Immigrant Youth." Future of Children 21.1 (2011): 129-52. Eric Education Resources Information Center. Web. 3 Mar. 2013.