W@TC - The New Kids at School: Immigrants and Academic Performance in Peru

Renzo Severino is a fifth-year Ph.D. Candidate in Public Policy at Duke University. His research focuses on student minorities within the school system in Peru and their interaction with their peers and other actors in and outside school. Renzo's dissertation examines the effect of increased immigrant presence in Peruvian high schools on the performance of native students. Additionally, Renzo is a Co-PI in a Randomized Controlled Trial that provides native-language sexual education to communities in rural Peru. Before coming to Duke, Renzo majored in Economics at Universidad del Pacifico. In this talk, Renzo Severino will share findings from his dissertation research about Venezuelan immigration into Peru and how it affects Peruvian high school students. Venezuelan presence in Peru rose from around 8,000 people to close to a million people from 2015 to 2019. The academic performance of Peruvian students declined after introducing immigrant students into their classroom, but this decline was remarkably similar to the one produced by incorporating new Peruvian students into a classroom. This suggests that the fact that immigrant children are new students in the receiving country schools is a key factor in understanding how they might affect the academic performance of native students.