The New Demography of America's Schools

This report examines how immigration is changing the demographic profile of the United States’ elementary and secondary student population, framing the analysis within the context of the nationwide implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). It discusses the characteristics of children of immigrants and limited English proficient (LEP) children; explores the ties between family income, parental education, linguistic proficiency and isolation; and disaggregates children of immigrants by race, ethnicity, and country of origin.

The report finds that sustained high levels of immigration since the 1970s have led to a rapid increase in the number and share of children of immigrants among the school-age population. By 2000, children with immigrant parents represented one in five of all children under age 18. While findings indicate that the vast majority of children of immigrants are U.S.–born citizens, approximately 5 percent of these children appear to have unauthorized immigrant parents. The LEP share of students also experienced rapid growth; the fact that more than half were second- or third-generation children may pose significant obstacles as schools seek to meet NCLB accountability requirements for academic achievement and parental involvement.

Findings also indicate that half of school-age children of immigrants and two-thirds of LEP children come from low-income families; and that one-third of children of immigrants and half of LEP students have parents with less than a high school diploma.