English Proficiency and Test Scores of Immigrant Children in the US

Ainoa Aparicio

No 533, Carlo Alberto Notebooks from Collegio Carlo Alberto

Abstract: This paper explores how much of native-immigrant differences in test scores can be accounted for by a lack of English proficiency. To identify the causal effect of English proficiency on cognitive test scores, I use the fact that language proficiency is closely linked to age at arrival, and that migrant children arrive at different ages from different countries. Using data from the New Immigrant Survey, I find that speaking English very badly or badly can explain 35% of the achievement gap between native and immigrant children in standardized language-related tests. However, I find no significant language effects for math-related tests.

Keywords: standardized tests; English proficiency; immigrant children; age at arrival; English speaking countries. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 J13 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: pages 39
Date: 2017
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Related works:
Working Paper: English Proficiency and Test Scores of Immigrant Children in the US (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cca:wpaper:533

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