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Using a quasi-experimental design, the effects of a student support intervention were estimated for the math and reading achievement of first-generation immigrant children (n = 667, M = 11.05 years of age) attending high-poverty, urban elementary schools. The intervention was designed to help schools identify developmental strengths and barriers to learning and, in turn, connect children to community and school supports aligned with their strengths and needs. By exploiting within-school changes in the implementation of the intervention, the present study revealed statistically and practically significant treatment effects indicating improvements in math and reading achievement at the end of elementary school. In addition, the intervention appears to considerably narrow achievement gaps between English language learners and immigrant children proficient in English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the foreign-born population in the United States grows, the achievement of immigrant children is a pressing concern. We examined family educational involvement in early elementary school as a potential source of support for the academic success of children in immigrant families. Using a nationally representative sample, we examined rates of educational involvement at first and third grade, as well as associations between involvement and math and reading achievement at these times. With regard to rates, the domain of greatest difference between U.S.-born White parents and both U.S.-born and immigrant parents of color (Asian, Black, and Latino) was for school-based involvement. In addition, several variations in the associations between involvement and child achievement were evident across immigrant and race/ethnicity groups, with children in U.S.-born White, Black, and Asian families as well as children in Latino immigrant families most consistently demonstrating positive associations between family educational involvement and achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]