Age at immigration and scholastic achievement in school-age children: Is there a vulnerable age?

This study investigates the relationship between age at immigration and edu cational achievement at age 14 among all the students (about 45,000) who im migrated to Israel between 1952 and 1970. The relationship is examined for verbal and nonverbal components of an achievement test, in subpopulations d efined by gender and ethnic background (Western-versus Eastern-born childre n). The findings indicate a monotonic decrease in achievement as a function of immigration age starting at the age of 7. This decrease is considerably stronger for the Verbal subtest than for the Mathematical subtest, particu larly in the Western group. These results refute the vulnerable age hypothe sis: They support the view that the foreign language acquisition factor pla ys a central role in the relationship between age of immigration and schola stic achievement, and are consistent with the expectation of a monotonic de cline in achievement as age of immigration increases (and length of residen ce decreases). Hence, when immigration involves the need to learn a new lan guage, the drop in school achievement is likely to be particularly marked i n subject areas requiring higher levels of mastery of the language of instr uction. Finally, the results suggest that age 7 may represent a critical ag e for the scholastic achievement of immigrant students.