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Vortragende Person/Vortragende Personen:
Pia Schilling (University of Konstanz)

Starting off on the Right Foot - Language Learning Classes and the Educational Success of Immigrant Children

^{(joined work with Lisa Sofie Höckel)}

Abstract: We study the effect of separate preparatory language learning classes on the academic success of immigrated primary school-aged children in comparison to their direct integration into regular classrooms. Employing unique administrative panel data and using the quasi-random allocation of refugee children to neighborhoods and therewith schools, we show that primary school-aged refugees who visit a preparatory class perform significantly worse in standardized test scores in fifth grade and have a slightly lower probability of attending the academic track. Our results indicate that integrating newly immigrated children directly into regular classrooms fosters their academic achievement more than prior language learning classes.