Migration and Educational Achievement of Mexican Americans
In: Social science quarterly, Band 53, Heft 4, S. 727-737
ISSN: 0038-4941
A longitudinal study of Mexican Amer Sch children & their parents in Racine, Wisc, is reported. Questionnaires were admin'd in 1959-60 to 209 Mexican Amer M & F heads of households or their F spouses. The following yr, those from the previous sample who had children up to the age of 21 were re-interviewed along with other R's from representative Sch districts. 175 boys & 196 girls from the fam's of parents interviewed in 1959-60 were studied in 1969. A matched control group from Cotualls, Tex, one of the towns from which any of the R's had originally migrated, was used. The final sample was made up of 554 students. A comparison of the Wisc children with those in Tex revealed that the migrants' children had a clear advantage in terms of postgraduate educ, grades completed & lower dropout rate. Severe retardation (3 or more yrs) was found much more often in Tex than in the Wisc sample. Data from the original Racine study suggests that the att's & perceptions of Mexican-Amer parents interviewed did not indicate that they were likely to produce high-achieving children. The higher achievement of the Racine students (vs the Tex students) is attributed to the higher level of expectations of teachers & admin'ors in Racine. The Racine Sch system has substantially better resourses at its command which makes possible a wider range of academic & vocational courses, team sports & soc services. The Racine students would, therefore, not only have more opportunities but would be under greater pressure to take advantage of this. Findings are briefly discussed. 4 Tables. M. Maxfield.
