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The Effect of Sharing a Mother Tongue with Peers: Evidence from North Carolina Middle Schools

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  • Thomas Ahn
  • Christopher Jepsen

Abstract

This paper provides the first analysis of the relationship between the language mix of Limited English Proficient (LEP) peers and student achievement, using detailed panel data from 2006 to 2012. Percent LEP has a negative association with mathematics and reading test scores, more so for non-LEP students than for LEP students. The overall language mix of LEP students has little if any discernable relationship with achievement. For LEP students, having more LEP peers speak their mother tongue is positively associated with reading achievement and negatively associated with mathematics achievement.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Ahn & Christopher Jepsen, 2015. "The Effect of Sharing a Mother Tongue with Peers: Evidence from North Carolina Middle Schools," Open Access publications 10197/7264, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucn:oapubs:10197/7264
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10197/7264
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    Cited by:

    1. Morales, Camila, 2022. "Do refugee students affect the academic achievement of peers? Evidence from a large urban school district," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    2. Gaastra Sieuwerd & Labanca Claudio, 2021. "Are There Peer Effects from English Learners in Elementary Schools? Evidence from an IV Approach," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(2), pages 825-834, April.
    3. Jürges, Hendrik & Makles, Anna M. & Naghavi, Arash & Schneider, Kerstin, 2022. "Melting pot kindergarten: The effect of linguistic diversity in early education," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    4. Timothy M. Diette & Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere, 2017. "Do limited English students jeopardize the education of other students? Lessons from the North Carolina public school system," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 446-461, September.
    5. Ahn, Tom & Trogdon, Justin G., 2017. "Peer delinquency and student achievement in middle school," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 192-217.
    6. Pope, Nolan G., 2016. "The Marginal effect of K-12 English language development programs: Evidence from Los Angeles Schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 311-328.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Limited English proficiency; Peer effects; Student achievement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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