Social Capital of Left-Behind Children: Determinants and Association With School Performance (original) (raw)
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The role of social ties of immigrant parents in determining their children's school success
2009
This study examines the impact of intra-and extra-country social ties of immigrant parents on the academic performance of their children as measured in terms of grade point averages (GPA). Intra-country ties are defined in this research as social ties of immigrant parents with their compatriots; while extra-country social ties are formed outside compatriot communities. Social ties are examined in the contexts of parents' workplaces, neighborhoods, and within their socializing patterns. This research also examines whether there is variation across parental countries of origin and across schools with differing compositions of students as regards the relationship between social ties of immigrant parents and their children's GPA. Finally, this study examines whether the parents' social ties affect their children's GPA through their participation in Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTO) or school activities. Social capital theoretical perspective is used to examine these research questions. Data from the second wave (1995) and parental survey of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS), Common Core of Data (CCD), and Private School Universe Survey (PSS) for the school year 1995-96 were analyzed for the purposes of this study. This study is based in the cities of San Diego in California and Miami/ Ft. Lauderdale areas in Florida. Analyses revealed that not all types of intra-and extra-country social ties of parents were equally beneficial for children's GPA. While intra-country ties in parental socializing patterns were associated with higher GPAs for their children, intra-country ties within neighborhoods could be associated with lower GPAs. Furthermore, a mixture iv of intra-and extra-country ties in socializing patterns was found to be most helpful for positively impacting children's academic performance. Differences in the relationship between parental social ties and children's GPA were observed across parental countries of origin, as well as across schools with different student body compositions. Parents' socializing ties were found to have less effect on children's GPAs when they attended schools characterized by medium White and low to medium Hispanic students than when they attended schools with a majority of Hispanic students. v
2014
Current systems of educational accountability in the United States focus on holding schools accountable for school-wide low performing standardized test scores and schools are pressured to ensure historically underachieving groups meet achievement targets (Calaff, 2008). Particularly, schools serving underachieving groups such as lowincome students, Latino immigrant youth, are struggling to meet these demands. It is imperative that schools are equipped with the necessary knowledge to meet the needs of Latino immigrant students, by 2040 one in three will be growing in an immigrant household, and currently 60% of immigrants are Mexican (Suarez-Orozco, Suarez-Orozco, and Torodova, 2010). Using Stanton-Salazar's (1997) framework of Social Capital and Institutional Support, this study is a case study that analyzes the experiences of two educators (first and second generation Mexican immigrants) whose educational experience of school support networks helped gain social capital that resulted in school achievement and in successfully moving upward in the social class ladder. Results supported the Social Capital and Institutional Support framework; both educators gained some social capital by their school network support relationships. The implication of this study are in two future areas of research; 1) determine the differences provided in support systems among different secondary schools, and 2) analyze the role of accountability systems and how they may increase opportunities of student support networks for Latino immigrant students. The fastest growing populations in US public schools are minority children, specifically immigrant children (Paik & Walberg, 2007). It is estimated that by 2040 one in three people residing in the U.S. will grow up in an immigrant household (Suarez, Suarez-Orozco, & Torodova, 2010). The current U.S. immigration trend show that most immigrants are from Latino descent, and 60% of them are Mexican (Suarez, Suarez-Orozco, & Torodova, 2010). Currently, Latinos are the largest minority within the United States, and by 2050 will make-up one fourth of the population (Leidy, Guerra, & Toro, 2012). Additionally, Latinos are now the largest ethnic group in the state of California (Lopez, 2014). Unfortunately Latino immigrants continue to struggle in battling low-test scores, high dropout rates, and low-level enrollment in preparatory college courses (Ladson
1996
Using the High School and Beyond dataset, this report assesses the importance of social capital in determining academic outcomes of Latino youth. An introduction explains J. S. Coleman's definitions of financial, human, and social capital in the student's environment, social capital being the norms, social networks, and social relationships that benefit the child. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to operationalize social capital in home and school. Social capital of the home was measured by 12 survey variables focusing on parental expectations and involvement in student's high school activities. Social capital in school was measured by six variables related to teacher and guidance counselor influences. Data were examined for 1,658 Latino and non-Latino White sophomores in 13 western states, and for 1,329 of these students still in school 2 years later. Scholastic performance was measured by grade point average and by educational attainment 6 years after the sophomore survey. Educational attainment was lowest for students in vocational programs, whether Latino or White, a finding not fully explained by socioeconomic status (SES). White students in vocational programs had less social capital from home than Latinos in college-bound programs, and slightly less social capital from home than Latinos in vocational programs. Findings were similar for social capital from school. The study concludes that the social capital of home and school environments is very important in determining educational outcomes of both White and Latino youth, holding SES constant. Suggestions are offered for improving social capital formation in public schools. (Contains 28 references.) (SV)
Effects of immigrant parents' participation in society on their children's school performance
2007
Abstract Integration of ethnic minorities into society is often operationalized as participation in various societal institutions. Examples are cultural, political and labour participation. On the basis of the theoretical concepts of social and cultural capital as proposed by sociologists Bourdieu and Coleman, it is often hypothesized that greater parental participation in society will generally lead to a better educational position for the children of such parents.
Education Sciences, 2016
Currently, around one in five children in the United Kingdom and the United States live in poverty. This has a devastating effect on their wellbeing, education and broader socio-political participation, and life chances. In this paper, Scottish policy documentary data are used to discuss the effects of relations amongst categories of children in poverty, migrant child status, and academic under-attainment. The study draws on social capital and intersectionalities theory to explore some of the power and knowledge relations that are effects of policy statements. The paper concludes by suggesting that addressing the issues of poverty and educational under-attainment, including for migrant children, requires a policy strategy beyond education. Disconnections across social, cultural, and economic child policy need to be redesigned in order to change the very real socioeconomic cultural political relations which policy produces; these relations can lead to either high levels of social participation and potential academic attainment of new arrival children or to their social exclusion. Accordingly, knowledge practices aiming to improve the socioeconomic cultural political inclusion of migrant children make central the conditions and experiences constitutive of new migrants' lived social lives.
It Takes a Family:The Effects of Social and Cultural Capital on Educational Achievement
Social scientists, educators, and policy makers have long been concerned with equality in education. Nowhere is this concern greater than in the education of non-mainstream studentslower socioeconomic status, minority and immigrant groups. Much attention has been focused on the material and financial resources of the schools serving these students. My paper focus on the social and cultural capital available to non-mainstream students, and the subsequent effect on educational achievement. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, I have looked at students who categorize themselves as white, black, Asian, or Hispanic. Using the statistical program SPSS, I then used the factors of reading scores, socioeconomic status, parental involvement with education, and parental engagement with schools to look at the effects of social and cultural capital among groups. I further adjusted the findings for the effects of the combined factors of socioeconomic status, parental involvement in education, and parental engagement with schools. The results show that social and cultural capital does have an effect on the educational achievement of non-mainstream students in the United States. This information will be useful to educators and policy makers concerned with this subject.
Social Capital and the Education of Immigrant Students: Categories and Generalizations
Sociology of Education, 2004
Interest in research on the educational experiences of immigrant students has increased dramatically in recent years. It is not surprising that this greater interest has coincided with the largest influx of new immigrants in U.S. history. It has also occurred at a time when communities outside America's large urban centers are grappling with how to adjust to the new immigrants. The Somalis in Lewiston, Maine; the Dinke in Fargo, North Dakota; and the Hmong in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, are just some of the groups whose experiences defy past generalizations and conventional wisdom on the relationship between immigration and education. After considerable debate over how to explain and interpret the educational experiences of immigrant students, scholars in the field are approaching a consensus: Be wary of claims that are based on static categories and broad generalizations. To those who are not familiar with the field and how it has developed, this may not seem like much of a breakthrough. Others who have followed the debates that have influenced the development of scholarship in this area are more likely to appreciate the significance of this emerging consensus. As the immigrant population entering the United States has become more diverse with respect to culture, language, religion, race, and so forth, gross generalizations about the relationship between immigrant status and patterns of academic performance have lost their appeal and explanatory power. Today, researchers are less likely to make claims that are based on sweeping generalizations about groups, and professionals who work closely with immigrant communities are less likely to accept such claims. Broad generalizations about the relationship between immigrant status and social mobility were once accepted as rock-solid principles of human behavior. Sociologists, such as Gordon (1964), suggested that as immigrants were assimilated into mainstream American culture, they or their offspring would gradually experience upward mobility. The logic of the argument was that by shedding their native culture and adopting American culture (especially the English language), immigrants would achieve social progress over time. Assimilation was viewed as the price of mobility, and social progress was regarded as inevitable for groups that successfully adapted to American society (Glazer and Moynihan 1963). This research was based, of course, largely on experiences of European immigrants, while the plight of nonwhite and non-Western immigrants received little attention. By the 1970s, as awareness of and interest in the significance of race grew and as the diversity of immigrants to the United States became increasingly difficult to ignore, researchers offered theoretical perspectives on the educational experiences of immigrant students that were Commented [1]: Begins with a sentence that gives great insight into the main topic of the essay. Commented [2]: Provides specific examples Commented [3]: Addresses two different types of audiences, outlining their differing attitudes on the subject. Commented [4]: Presents a previously held notion, explains the thought process behind, and follows by explaining its flaw.
International Studies in Sociology of Education , 2020
The focus of this paper is to investigate what type of support high-achieving Swedish upper secondary students from families with low socioeconomic and educational capital identified contributed to embark on a successful educational career. The analytical framework of the study is concepts that have emerged in empirical studies inspired by both Coleman’s and Bourdieu’s understanding of social capital concerning educational performance. The data analysed in this study are interviews with 23 students between 17 and 19 years old, 10 male and 13 female students. A substantial group of the students in this study is of migrant background. The support these students identified as critical in their successful educational experience was a combination of academic and emotional support by the teachers, a caring home environment and unconditional emotional support, and socialising with peers that had similar educational ambitions. When all these support dimensions line up for these students, they can embark on a successful educational career
How important is the role that the different social institutions play in adolescents’ emotional development? This study alludes to the social capital framework to explain the influence that the family, school and peer relations have on the social-emotional competencies (SEC) of adolescents, immigrants and locals living in Southeastern Spain. Three social capital and socio-emotional competencies assessments scales were used in the study with 1614 pupils from 7 secondary schools. The results show that: (1) The social capital is a predictive and explanatory factor in adolescence. (2) The social relations that influence the SEC the most are those developed at school, followed by peer relations and, lastly, the family. (3) Spanish and Romanian teenagers show higher social capital and more SEC than Moroccans. (4) There are SEC gender differences among the Spanish group. (5) An immigrant school puzzle is observed in the Moroccan teenagers group who value school the most. (6) The family’s low emotional influence, particularly among Moroccan women, suggests that there is a deterioration of the institution and the existence of inter-generational differences. According to the results, schools remain a privileged space for SEC intervention programmes.