Literature Review

Literature Review

Introduction

Dropping out of school was the norm in the 1940s when less than half of students 25-29 graduated from high school. It was not considered a problem to leave high school before graduating until the 1960s when leaving high school with a diploma became the norm. Stout and Christensen (2009) explained, “The term 'dropout' first appeared in the late 1950s as the comprehensive high school became an expectation for all youth, worries about those who did not finish high school became prominent” (p. 15). Beginning in the 1960s, dropping out of school began to be considered a problem and students were often considered delinquents for doing so (Bergeson, 2006).

The human capital of the parents, their educational attainment, and occupational skills, has a direct effect on their economic wellbeing and employment opportunities. According to the CILS data, the proportion of Mexican immigrants with a college degree is 2.6%, far below the national average, and distinctly below that of other immigrant groups. In addition, Mexican immigrants have very low English language proficiency levels (Portes & Rumbaut, 1996). The level of socio-economic status of the parents has a direct effect on the children's acculturation, and adaptation outcomes. On the other hand the school drop out of Hispanic students is also affected by the education level of parents, their proficiency in English language and children's expectation regarding their education. All of these variables are manifested in differing modes of incorporation; the more favorable the context the more positive the outcomes. These variables are studied in this chapter.

Parental educational attainment

The educational attainment of immigrant parents is a significant factor in the academic achievement of their children. Immigrants that arrive in the United States with a history of educational attainment in their country of origin tend to have children who achieve a higher level of academic success than children of immigrant parents who have low levels of educational attainment (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001). The greater the educational level of the parent is related to an increase in the number, and quality of resources the parent has to help their child achieve academic success, and access to academic opportunities. The level of parental education has a direct correlation to student outcomes on achievement tests, grades, and school completion.

Children of immigrant parents who have higher levels of education are in a better position to receive help from their parents to navigate the road to college, enter school with greater and more sophisticated vocabularies, experience a literacy rich home environment, have easy access to technology such as computers and the internet, and are more likely to be able to receive help on home work (Suarez-Orozco & Suarez-Orozco, 2001). Importantly, Bonikowska (2008) observed that the level of education than the average of the second generation is largely attributable to children from less educated families. In other words, children from immigrant families whose parents are university graduates, for example, do not reach levels of education than their counterparts from families with a university education whose parents are ...