Anna Tegunimataka
Senior lecturer
Does First Language training matter for Immigrant children’s School Achievement? Evidence from a Danish school reform
Author
Summary, in English
This article explores municipal variation in the implementation of a Danish educational reform. The aim of the reform was to increase the assimilation of immigrants, and removing mother-tongue training for first- and second-generation immigrants was believed to increase their proficiency in Danish. This article uses a difference-in-differences method to explore the effect of this removal on children’s educational outcomes in terms of grades in standardised tests in class nine, assessing both grades in the majority language Danish and grades in mathematics. This study, furthermore, takes potential heterogeneities in terms of gender and immigrant generation into consideration. This study shows that the expected results of the reform were not obtained. Rather the opposite that the removal of mother-tongue training leads to lower grades in Danish for boys and in mathematics for both boys and girls.
Department/s
- Department of Economic History
- Centre for Economic Demography
Publishing year
2021-09-04
Language
English
Pages
316-340
Publication/Series
Nordic Journal of Migration Research
Volume
11
Issue
3
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
De Gruyter Open
Topic
- International Migration and Ethnic Relations
Keywords
- Immigrant integration
- Second-language acquisition
- School reform
- School achievements
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1799-649X