Length of stay in the host country and educational achievement of immigrant students: the Italian case

Using Italian data on language standardized tests for different levels of schooling we investigate 1) if the observed gap in educational attainments in first generation immigrants tends to lower the longer their stay in Italy and 2) if younger children reduce the gap faster than their older schoolmates. Results confirm the presence of a significant gap between natives and immigrants students in school outcomes for all grades, with first generation immigrants showing the largest gap. Further, comparing the results between first and second generation immigrant students suggests that the significant gap observed in the first generation is mainly due to the negative performance of immigrant children newly arrived in Italy. That is, for first generation students, closing the gap with second generation ones seems to be, for the most part, a matter of time. At the same time, the gap between natives and second generation immigrants remains significant in all grades. Finally, when we compare the results across the different years, it turns out that interventions at younger ages are likely to be more effective.