PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Akresh, Richard
AU  - Akresh, Ilana Redstone
TI  - Using Achievement Tests to Measure Language Assimilation and Language Bias among the Children of Immigrants
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.46.3.647
DP  - 2011 Jul 01
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 647--667
VI  - 46
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/46/3/647.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/46/3/647.full
SO  - J Hum Resour2011 Jul 01; 46
AB  - We measure the extent of language assimilation among children of Hispanic immigrants. Our identification strategy exploits test language randomization (English or Spanish) of Woodcock Johnson achievement tests in the New Immigrant Survey and lets us attribute test score differences solely to test language. Students scoring poorly may be tracked into nonhonors classes and less competitive postsecondary schools, with subsequent long-term implications. Foreign-born children score higher on tests in Spanish; U. S.-born children score higher in English. However, foreign-born children arriving at an early age or with several years in the United States do not benefit from testing in Spanish.