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Washington, D.C. (May 6, 2020) – A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies finds that the achievement level of low-skill immigrants and their children is not up to parity with other Americans. This conclusion is based on an analysis of immigrant performance on ten different international tests, with comparisons both to native-born Americans and to the broader Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Jason Richwine, a public policy analyst and author of the report, said, “Immigrants and native-born Americans clearly do not have identical skill sets, and they do not become identical simply by virtue of acculturation. If we continue to bring in large numbers of low-skill immigrants, the challenges already faced by the U.S. school system are likely to be exacerbated.”
Highlights:
• First-generation immigrants score consistently lower than the native-born in the United States. For example, on the PISA science test, Americans who are foreign-born would rank 33rd among the 36 participating OECD countries, while native-born Americans would rank 16th.
• Second-generation immigrants score generally around the same level as the native-born as a whole. However, the average hides a disparity between immigrant groups. The scores of Asian Americans (a rough proxy for higher-skill immigrants and their children) are usually among the best in the OECD, but the scores of second-generation Hispanics (a rough proxy for the children of lower-skill immigrants) still lag behind.
• To illustrate that disparity, the United States as a whole ranks eighth among 27 participating OECD countries on the TIMSS math test for fourth-graders. But U.S. Asians would have the second-highest score in the OECD, while the children of Hispanic immigrants would rank 17th.
• Hispanic-Americans who are in the third-plus generation continue to score below average. For example, they would rank 22nd among OECD countries on the PIAAC literacy test — essentially the same score as second-generation Hispanics, and 15 places below the U.S.-born as a whole.
• These results are a reminder that skills differ among immigrants, and that the differences persist to some degree over multiple generations. Continuing our current immigration policy, which accepts a large share of adults with low levels of education, is likely to further strain the U.S. school system and add to the challenge of educating children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
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