CHAPTER 13: Caribbean Immigrant Students: Funds of Knowledge and Possibilities for Successful Academic Performance

The increasing diversity that comes with contemporary migration trends underscores the shifting linguistic, ethnic, and racial distribution of students in United States schools enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade. This chapter critically explores the social, cultural, institutional, and/or historical phenomena as they relate to the academic performance of a group of Caribbean immigrant students in one southeastern state of the United States of America. An analysis of test data scores of 8th grade students from one USA state showed that when the data were disaggregated, Caribbean students were performing as well as White students and could not be classified as ‘failing.’ In addition, a closer look at data from a study of the experiences of a smaller group of Caribbean students and parents in the same state (McLean, 2008) revealed that cultural heritage played an important role in their attitudes towards schooling and education. In this chapter, three Caribbean scholars argue that greater respect needs to be shown for groups of immigrant students like these who bring with them funds of knowledge that serve as motivating factors and contribute to their successful academic performance.