The Effect of Immigrant Student Concentration on Native Test Scores

This paper investigates the effect of non-native students on the learning attainment of the native students in the same grade. Using the PISA data of five European countries, I explore the within-school variation of first- and second-generation immigrant student concentration by conducting a fixed effect regression analysis, using school fixed effects to account for the endogenous allocation of students to schools. The results show significant and negative effects of both generation students in France, but mostly positive effects in Denmark and Switzerland. Regression analyses between subsamples of native students do not indicate a specific subgroup of students for which effects are strongest.