School readiness among children of immigrants in the US: Evidence from a large national birth cohort study

Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n ≈ 6800), we examined the factors explaining variation in school readiness in a large and nationally representative sample of children in immigrant and non-immigrant families. In OLS regression models with rich controls to account for selection, we found that language background was a key factor in explaining children of immigrants' expressive language and early reading at kindergarten, whereas both socioeconomic status and language background helped explain their performance in math.

► We provide a profile of children's school readiness in immigrant families. ► FB Chinese and other Asians outperformed their NB White peers in Reading and Math. ► FB Mexicans had the lowest starting school readiness performance. ► Language background was a key factor in explaining expressive language and reading. ► Both socioeconomic status and language background helped explain outcome in math.