Immigrant Students’ Background in TIMSS 2007

Abstract

In this chapter attention is paid to the background differences of immigrant students compared to native students in the countries that participated in TIMSS 2007. The students are grouped as native students, first-generation immigrant students, and second-generation immigrant students. Furthermore the achievement levels in mathematics are analyzed for some subgroups of immigrant students and are contrasted to the levels achieved by native students. The variables explored include students’ age, showing that in more than half of the study participants, first-generation immigrant students are statistically significantly older than their native peers, the diverse age at immigration and its effect on mathematics achievement, and gender differences that reveal an underrepresentation of girls in the educational systems. Presenting student questionnaires, the chapter further explores the influence of socioeconomic background on achievement and students’ attitudes towards school and mathematics as well as their self-esteem, which leads to some interesting results where high self-esteem does not match the students’ achievement scores.