Academic Achievement Trajectories of Adolescents from Mexican and East Asian Immigrant Families in the United States

East Asian American students outperformed their Mexican American counterparts in reading and math achievement and this difference in achievement continued at twelfth grade. Mexican immigrant parents possessed less economic, human and cultural capital than did East Asian counterparts. There were no significant differences between the two ethnic groups in social capital.

Growth curve model analysis shows that ethnicity had a significant main effect on academic trajectories. Compared to Mexican American students, East Asian American students had higher scores in reading and math. East Asian American students showed faster annual growth in both subjects than Mexican American students for each year.

Adjusting for covariates of family capital, the authors find that despite initial differences at eighth grade, there was no significant incremental disadvantage for Mexican American youth, implying that what appears to be an increasing advantage for East Asian American students is largely explained by the covariates.