Across and Beyond Borders : a study of transnational families in Miami

Abstract

Este texto se presentó como comunicación al II Congreso Internacional de Etnografía y Educación: Migraciones y Ciudadanías. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, 5-8 Septiembre 2008.

Population growth in the United States is currently fueled by immigrants and the children of immigrants (Olmedo, 2004). This is especially true of the metropolitan area of Miami-Dade which holds one of the largest populations of foreign-born residents at 1.2 million (U.S. Census, 2003) in the United States. The ability of the school systems and social service agencies to absorb and serve these new arrivals is important for the future economic and social health of this region. In this paper we analyze the school readiness results of a cohort of immigrant children living in Miami and receiving childcare subsidies. The school readiness measures used, the DECA, a measure of social and emotional development, and the LAP-D, a comprehensive developmental battery, demonstrated that these children of immigrants, as a whole, are not significantly behind in school readiness compared to their non-immigrant peers attending the same preschools. This suggests that poverty, not immigration status, is what puts children at risk. Being an immigrant may even afford some advantages, especially in predicting healthy social and emocional development. These results can help change the perception of the larger community on how the immigrant experience shapes the young learner.