TY - JOUR TI - Understanding the factors that shape low-income immigrant student experience DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T34M92TJ PY - 2014 AB - The purpose of this case study was to describe the factors that shape the experiences of low-income immigrant preschool students of Hispanic or Asian descent. The overarching question was How do various factors shape preschool experiences of low-income immigrant students of Hispanic and Asian descent? Two research questions were addressed: (a) How do within-school factors (teacher-student interactions, peer interactions, and classroom culture) shape low-income Hispanic and Asian immigrant students’ preschool experiences? and (b) How do outside-of-school factors (families’ immigration processes, access and use of social and cultural capital, and culture) shape low-income Hispanic and Asian immigrant students’ preschool experiences? Three Pre-Kindergarten classes in a Head Start program in New Jersey were studied. Each class was studied in entirety: 15 students in Class 2 AM, 15 in Class 2 PM, and 20 in Class 3, along with the classroom teachers. In addition, 12 of the immigrant students were studied in depth (based on parental consent and parental availability to interview). Data were collected through a complex qualitative design consisting of parent and teacher interviews, field observations, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), and the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS). Findings indicate that a complex set of within-school and outside-of-school factors (including teacher-student interactions, peer interactions, and classroom culture, families’ immigration processes, access and use of social and cultural capital, and culture) shape the experience of low-income immigrant students in preschool. The factors are complex in themselves and they produce complex processes as they interact. For example, parental limited language proficiency limits access to economic capital, which in turn limits access to social and cultural capital, including the family’s ability to focus on schoolwork at home. The complexity of each child’s story somewhat belied the stereotypes of Asian and Hispanic students. Each student’s situation was not dependent on region of origin but rather on a set of these complex factors that interact to shape student realities. KW - Global Affairs KW - Early childhood education--New Jersey KW - Immigrant children--Education (Early childhood)--New Jersey LA - eng ER -