Higher Education and Careers
Children in Immigrant Families - The U.S. and 50 States: National Origins, Language, and Early Education
Hernandez, D., Denton, N., and Macartney, S. (2007, April). Child Trends and Children in Immigrant Families - The U.S. and 50 States: National Origins, Language, and Early Education. Albany, NY: Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at SUNY-Albany
At the time of this report's publishing, children from newcomer families (families with at least one foreign-born parent) account for 20 percent of the nation's schoolchildren. This research brief, whose data is based on the year 2000 census, makes the case that children of newcomer families will continue to make up a significant portion of American schoolchildren, especially since rates of white, non-Hispanic schoolchildren are expected to decline in the coming decades. The report notes that the specific national origin of newcomer families varies widely from state to state. It also makes the assertion that the nearly 50% of children in newcomer families who speak both English and another language well represent a great opportunity to promote bilingualism in the United States. However, the nearly 25% of children in newcomer families who live in linguistically isolated households will continue to pose a challenge for the American education system. The report also cites children from newcomer families going to pre-school with lower prevalence than children from native born families.
Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth
Zarate, E.Z., and Pachon, H.P. (2006). Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth. Tomas Rivera Policy Institute: Los Angeles, CA.
Despite surveys and research showing that Hispanic parents and students alike both consider college to be both important and valuable, many Hispanic students do not pursue higher education. This report makes the assertion that if Hispanic students and their parents were better informed about the concepts involved with and procedure surrounding financial aid that more Hispanic students would pursue college.
The Return to English in a Non-English Speaking Country: Russian Immigrants and Native Israelis in Israel
Lang, Kevin and Siniver, Erez, The Return to English in a Non-English Speaking Country: Russian Immigrants and Native Israelis in Israel (August 2006). NBER Working Paper No. W12464.
The purpose of the study presented is to examine the return to English knowledge by reviewing samples of Russian immigrants and Israeli natives. The importance of such data as cited by the article is 1) due to the high level of press on/about globalization and the importance of foreign language knowledge, 2) that examining the Hebrew acquisition as well as the English acquisition among Russian immigrants to Israel they are addressing the criticism of literature on the role of host-country language acquisition on assimilation, and 3) to contribute to other literature showing language-skill complementarities.