Social Bonds Across Immigration Generations and the Immigrant School Enclave

The purpose of this research is to examine the role immigration has on the known relationships between school, social bonds, student violence, school disorder, and educational failure. This research will examine the linkages between these factors through the lens of social bond theory and the assimilation theoretical framework. Data is drawn from the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS) administered by the Research Triangle Institute for the National Center for Education Statistics at the Department of Education. This data was designed to monitor the transition of a national sample of youth as they progress from 10th grade through the world of college and work. It includes information obtained from students, their school records, their parents, teachers and administrators of their high school, including the principal and the library media center director. The data includes information for 9,870 youth collected in 2002, 2004, and 2006, with another round of data collection anticipated for 2012. The ELS will also be linked to the Common Core Data (CCD) that is the Department of Education's primary database on public elementary and secondary education in the U.S. It provides school level data. The data will be analyzed using two methods, hierarchical linear modeling and structural equation modeling. The nested structure of the ELS (i.e., students within schools) makes multilevel modeling an appropriate analytic tool. Hierarchical Linear and Nonlinear Modeling (HLM) will be utilized to analyze the multilevel relationships between school social bonds, race, ethnicity, gender, immigration, violence, and disorder. To address the longitudinal research questions associated with this proposal, the grantee will incorporate Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). SEM is ideal for identifying causal mechanisms because it allows for the simultaneous estimation of direct and indirect effects. It will be used to determine the extent to which student violence, school disorder, and school social bonds serves as mechanisms that contribute to or ameliorate the children of immigrants' likelihood of dropping out.ca/ncf