Immigrant Families and Early Childhood Education

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013 American Community Survey, 25% of children under age 6—a total of nearly 5.8 million children—either were immigrants themselves (5%) or were [Page 713]native born but had at least one parent who was an immigrant (95%). In some states, such as California, these first- or second-generation immigrant children comprise closer to half of all children under age 6. Given the robust evidence that high-quality early childhood education (ECE) programs can boost children’s school readiness, there is growing attention paid to the opportunities for accessing such programs on the part of immigrant children and their families. This entry briefly describes the patterns of ECE use and quality for immigrant children, summarizes the evidence of ECE effectiveness for immigrant children, and ...