The Effects of Immigration on US Education
Immigration into the United States, whether legal or illegal, continues to have profound effects upon the American education system, ranging from language barriers between students and teachers in the classroom to various cultural differences that must be overcome before meaningful learning can take place in both elementary and secondary schools.
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Education and Globalization
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In an article published by the Harvard Educational Review, Marcelo Suárez-Orozco contends that the education of American youth is a "high-stakes process" that may leave students ill-equipped and unprepared for an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Children who fail or leave school before graduation will likely be "locked out" of this "well-remunerated opportunity structure." This will affect these students in the future when they're shut out of high-paying jobs, while also diminishing the overall economic competitiveness of the country as a whole.
Immigration Shifts and Trends
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According to Suárez-Orozco, recent immigration into the U.S. is different from immigration in the past, both in terms of its intensity (America's immigrant population grew by more than 30 percent during the 1990s) and the fact that more than half of immigrants since then have come from Latin America. Suárez-Orozco points to studies that indicate today's immigrant children fit a "trimodal" pattern of adaptation to American schools, in that some perform better than American-born students; some do about as well, and others perform below American-born children.
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Illegal Immigration
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Illegal immigration has several affects on American education. In his essay "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration," P.F. Wagner points out that many legal immigrants to the U.S. are highly educated, while illegal immigrants are at the opposite end of the spectrum. In addition, a high percentage of children whose parents immigrated into the U.S. illegally do not speak English. According to figures taken from Colorado schools during the 2004-2005 school year, approximately 15 percent of the state students in grades K-12 needed to be taught English. In light of this, the cost of educating children of illegal immigrants is estimated at costing more than $500 million per year.
Generational Impact
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In Edward R. Rubenstein's report, "Children, Grandchildren Of Mexican Immigrants Fail To Close The Education Gap," he disputes the theory that children of illegal immigrants will, over several generations, become completely assimilated into the mainstream when it comes to education. Even after four generations, Rubenstein notes, the percentage of children of illegal immigrants who went on to earn post-secondary degrees remained almost unchanged, with 9.3 percent of second-generation immigrants earning degrees and 9.6 percent of fourth-generation immigrants earning degrees.
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References
- Harvard Educational Review: Globalization, Immigration, and Education: The Research Agenda Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, 2001
- VDare.com: Children, Grandchildren Of Mexican Immigrants Fail To Close The Education Gap, Edwin S. Rubenstein, May 2005
- USIllegalImmigration.com: Impacts of Illegal Immigration: Education
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
