Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/58753 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 6561
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The influx of immigrants has shifted the ethnic composition of public schools in many states. Given the perceived negative impact of significant immigrant inflows, we are interested in investigating if these inflows into a school affect the academic performance of native students who remain. To address this question, we analyze education data from North Carolina, a state that has experienced a significant immigrant influx in the last two decades. We focus on the share of the English Language Learners in the student population for students between fourth and eighth grade over the period from 1999 to 2006 and the potential effects of the presence of these students on the level of achievement in math and reading for native students. Our analysis suggests some evidence of immigrant peer effects though the effects are heterogeneous. Specifically, we find some evidence of positive effects among those in the middle and bottom portions of the achievement distribution while we find small negative effects at the top of the distribution.
Subjects: 
immigrants
student achievement
peer effects
education
JEL: 
I20
I21
J15
J24
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
387.21 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.