PISA Results: What a Difference Immigration Law Makes

Horst Entorf and Nicoleta Minoiu ()
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Nicoleta Minoiu: Darmstadt University of Technology

No 1021, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to evaluate the importance of social class, migration background and command of national languages for the PISA school performance of teenagers living in European countries (France, Finland, Germany, United Kingdom, and Sweden) and traditional countries of immigration (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US). Econometric results show that the influence of the socioeconomic background of parents differs strongly across nations, with the highest impact found for Germany, the UK and US, whereas social mobility is more likely in Scandinavian countries and in Canada. Moreover, for all countries our estimations imply that for students with a migration background a key for catching up is the language spoken at home. We conclude that educational policy should focus on integration of immigrant children in schools and preschools, with particular emphasis on language skills at the early stage of childhood.

Keywords: PISA tests; socioeconomic status; migration; language skills; social mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 J15 J18 O15 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2004-02
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published - published in: German Economic Review, 2005, 6(3), 355-376

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