Conference Program

Taking advantage of the possibility offered by INVALSI data to link students’ performance over time, this study investigates the educational trajectories of students with a migrant background in the Italian school system, focusing on the evolution of achievement gaps. Specifically, it examines whether second-generation students’ academic outcomes progressively converge toward those of native students, as predicted by classic theories of generational progress, while first-generation students experience a more persistent disadvantage (Portes & Zhou, 1992; Alba & Nee, 1997).

Although evidence on generational progress is substantial, it largely refers to traditional immigration countries. Research on the Italian context has often been limited by the historically smaller presence of second-generation students (Azzolini et al., 2012) and by the lack of longitudinal data (Lovaglio et al., 2018).

This study exploits population-based standardized assessments of reading and numeracy administered by INVALSI. The analysis follows a cohort of students who attended Grade 5 in the 2018/19 school year through lower secondary school (Grade 8 in 2022/23) and into the second year of upper secondary education (2023/24).

The study addresses two main research questions. First, do second-generation students display greater convergence toward native peers than first-generation students over the course of their school trajectories? Second, to what extent are these differences explained by socio-economic background?

To answer these questions, the analysis reconstructs the evolution of achievement gaps between migrant generations and native students across school stages. The empirical analysis relies on OLS models controlling for survey wave to estimate the relative position of first- and second-generation students compared with native peers at different points in their school careers.

Overall, the study contributes to the understanding of migration-related educational inequalities by providing longitudinal evidence on how achievements gaps between migrant generations and native students evolves across different stages of school careers.