Providing immigrant children, including those who are English language learners, with services and supports through a community school program raises student achievement in both math and reading, according to new research in the journal Child Development.

Eric Dearning and five other researchers from Boston College compared the math and reading scores of first-generation immigrant children who received support services from one of eight community schools in Boston with the scores of similar immigrant students who did not receive community school supports. Test scores were tracked for seven school years, from 2001–02 to 2008–09.

The math scores of immigrant students who received the community school services averaged about four points higher than those of students who had not received those interventions, while reading scores averaged about three points higher. The more time students spent attending a school using a community school approach, the greater their gains in both subjects.

The community school supports also narrowed the achievement gap between English language learners and immigrant children proficient in English by 75 percent in math and 50 percent in reading. English language learners receiving the community school supports scored at the 36th and 24th percentiles in math and reading, respectively, compared with the 19th and 11th percentiles for English language learners who did not receive community school supports.

Of the 667 children in the study, approximately 40 percent were Hispanic, 30 percent were Asian, 25 percent were black and about 5 percent were white. Most of the students were from low-income families and two-thirds were English language learners.

“Connections to community and school-based supports that build on children’s developmental strengths and address barriers to learning and health can improve the achievement of first-generation immigrant children, particularly those who enter school not fluent in English,” said Mary Walsh, one of the study’s co-authors.