An Intersectional Approach to Immigrants in Public Education: The Mediating Effect of Income for Immigrant Students in the U.S. Public Education System

Abstract

While literature has defined barriers for educational success experienced both by foreign-born and low-income students, there is little exploration of the way in which these disadvantages are compounded by each other and create a particularly and uniquely disadvantaged group. This specific group of students is more likely to have still lower levels of educational attainment and worse life outcomes as correlated to educational attainment. Recognizing the prevalence of immigrants in the education system and school resource disparity, this paper seeks to outline this intersection. In particular, it will emphasize the effects of different school resources on key components of student outcomes, such as teacher and peer relationships. Moreover, discussion of student success in this paper will be situated within the American context: focusing on high school completion, high achievement on standardized exams, and demonstrable success in the form of good grades and high extracurricular involvement. Ultimately, this paper will outline a possible future path for research to better serve the changing demographics in American schools and provide a normative argument as to the importance of this research. [From Introduction]