Less bang for the buck? Cultural capital and immigrant status effects on kindergarten academic outcomes

Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), a nationally representative sample of kindergarteners in 1998–99, we examine how participation in extracurricular activities varies by race and immigrant status. While all minority children have lower levels of participation, we find that Asian, Hispanic, and Black children of immigrants are particularly disadvantaged even after accounting for differences in parent income and educational background. Teachers rate non-White children of immigrants lower on reading test scores even after controlling for their socioeconomic status and their test scores. Surprisingly, Asian children of immigrants fare especially badly, in contrast to often-cited academic successes for this group. Teacher evaluations of reading ability are also correlated with some forms of extracurricular activity participation, even after adjusting for children's test scores. Results suggest modest interaction effects between immigrant status and cultural capital within racial groups. We conclude that teachers may use evidence of activity participation to signal academic mobility and promise but that these effects vary by race and immigrant status.