In spite of the growing numbers and geographic dispersion of foreign-born
children, the school outcomes of foreign-born teens improved during the
1990s. Analysis of Decennial Census data reveals that fewer immigrant
youth dropped out of school and their English language proficiency
improved. Some of the improvement is due to compositional change in
the foreign-born teen population. Levels of parental education increased
over the decade. Poverty among foreign-born adolescents declined. Other
youth background characteristics did not change in a favorable direction.
Multivariate analysis reveals that there was a large decline in the likelihood
of immigrant teens dropping out of school above and beyond the
demographic changes over the decade. For example, the likelihood that
a Mexican-born teen educated in U.S. schools drops out of school declined
by an estimated 43 percent over the 1990s. There is little evidence,
however, that U.S. schools have improved in their English language
instruction over the decade.