Ethnic Retention as a Predictor of Academic Success: Lessons from the Children of Immigrant Families and Black Children

Abstract

Educators and policymakers often believe that immigrant children perform better in school if they and their families culturally assimilate and assume the characteristics prevalent in the dominant mainstream society. Therefore, ethnic retention (i.e., immigrant families and people of color embracing their own ethnic values, artifacts, and practices) is frequently thought to be a major factor leading to academic underachievement. However, based on empirical evidence, ethnic retention is actually predictive of higher academic achievement among children from immigrant families. For blacks, although the academic benefits of cultural retention seems credible, the matter is more complex given the longer history of social oppression collectively experienced in the community. In this article, the author discusses the classroom and policy implications of these empirical findings.