{"id":{"repo_id":"buffalo","oai_identifier":"oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/79983"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/buffalo/oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/79983","repository":{"repo_id":"buffalo","name":"Buffalo","base_url":"https://ubir.buffalo.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The Factors Shaping Young Immigrant Students STEM Achievement Cross-Nationally: Unpacking the Immigrant Educational Paradox","abstract":"Ph.D.","abstract_html":"Ph.D.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Rejjal, Noor; 0000-0001-6714-8438"],"institution":"State University of New York at Buffalo","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Brutt-Griffler, Janina","Educational Leadership and Policy"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-07-30T15:11:36Z","date_published":"2019-07-30T15:11:36Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:21Z","subjects":["educational administration","educational leadership"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10477/79983","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Brutt-Griffler, Janina","Educational Leadership and Policy"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Rejjal, Noor; 0000-0001-6714-8438"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2019-07-30T15:11:36Z","2019","2019-05-16 13:16:11"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["State University of New York at Buffalo"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text","Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["educational administration","educational leadership"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/79983"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Ph.D.","This study presents a conceptual and evidentiary study pertaining to the micro and macro level factors influencing the achievement gap among migrant children from a cross-national standpoint. First, this study provides the most systematic investigation of the immigrant educational paradox theory, which asserts that on average, immigrants' educational outcomes tend to exceed those of non-immigrants. This study examined the validity of the immigrant educational paradox theory cross-nationally for three content areas (mathematics, science, and reading), across the different types of tests, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016, across fourth and eighth grades. As immigration is a rapidly-growing global phenomenon, this study ranked countries based on first and second generation immigrants’ achievement. Thus, the findings revealed that in some traditional immigration countries, the immigrant educational paradox was discovered, including New Zealand, Australia, England, and Singapore. Further, the immigrant educational paradox was revealed with a high magnitude in all content areas and across both grades in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries including The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Oman. Overall, the findings indicate that the immigrant educational paradox is a very heterogeneous phenomenon and varies by country, grade, and type of content assessed. Younger students show a larger immigrant achievement gap when compared to eighth graders where the widest gap was in science. The second paper of this dissertation presents a conceptual and evidentiary study about the micro and macro level factors influencing the achievement gap among migrant children from a cross-national standpoint. This research study was able to include micro and macro level variables using TIMSS 2015 grade four to measure first and second generation immigrants’ math and science achievement. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was chosen as it estimated assuming that students are nested within schools. HLM control for nesting effects and their standard errors are more accurate than other tools. It underscores that the migrant experience is a heterogenous and multilayered phenomenon. The major predictors for migrant children’s performance socio-economic status (SES) and language proficiency, however, their experiences vary based on the host country type. This study draws out policy recommendations for educational systems and school leaders to impact malleable variables in schools and develop more effective mechanisms to reduce educational inequalities among migrant children. Finally, the third study was to compare and contrast student, teacher, and school factors that are associated with mathematics achievement gap in Saudi Arabia and the United States."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Factors Shaping Young Immigrant Students STEM Achievement Cross-Nationally: Unpacking the Immigrant Educational Paradox"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Brutt-Griffler, Janina","Educational Leadership and Policy"],"dc:creator":["Rejjal, Noor; 0000-0001-6714-8438"],"dc:date":["2019-07-30T15:11:36Z","2019","2019-05-16 13:16:11"],"dc:description":["Ph.D.","This study presents a conceptual and evidentiary study pertaining to the micro and macro level factors influencing the achievement gap among migrant children from a cross-national standpoint. First, this study provides the most systematic investigation of the immigrant educational paradox theory, which asserts that on average, immigrants' educational outcomes tend to exceed those of non-immigrants. This study examined the validity of the immigrant educational paradox theory cross-nationally for three content areas (mathematics, science, and reading), across the different types of tests, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016, across fourth and eighth grades. As immigration is a rapidly-growing global phenomenon, this study ranked countries based on first and second generation immigrants’ achievement. Thus, the findings revealed that in some traditional immigration countries, the immigrant educational paradox was discovered, including New Zealand, Australia, England, and Singapore. Further, the immigrant educational paradox was revealed with a high magnitude in all content areas and across both grades in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries including The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Oman. Overall, the findings indicate that the immigrant educational paradox is a very heterogeneous phenomenon and varies by country, grade, and type of content assessed. Younger students show a larger immigrant achievement gap when compared to eighth graders where the widest gap was in science. The second paper of this dissertation presents a conceptual and evidentiary study about the micro and macro level factors influencing the achievement gap among migrant children from a cross-national standpoint. This research study was able to include micro and macro level variables using TIMSS 2015 grade four to measure first and second generation immigrants’ math and science achievement. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was chosen as it estimated assuming that students are nested within schools. HLM control for nesting effects and their standard errors are more accurate than other tools. It underscores that the migrant experience is a heterogenous and multilayered phenomenon. The major predictors for migrant children’s performance socio-economic status (SES) and language proficiency, however, their experiences vary based on the host country type. This study draws out policy recommendations for educational systems and school leaders to impact malleable variables in schools and develop more effective mechanisms to reduce educational inequalities among migrant children. Finally, the third study was to compare and contrast student, teacher, and school factors that are associated with mathematics achievement gap in Saudi Arabia and the United States."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/79983"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["State University of New York at Buffalo"],"dc:rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"dc:subject":["educational administration","educational leadership"],"dc:title":["The Factors Shaping Young Immigrant Students STEM Achievement Cross-Nationally: Unpacking the Immigrant Educational Paradox"],"dc:type":["Text","Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:21Z"}