The Bridge Project: Connecting Home, School, and Community for Mexican Immigrant Children

Abstract

This study examines the academic and psychosocial effects of the Bridge Project after-school program on 25 prekindergarten through 6th-grade English language learner Mexican immigrant children and their families living in an affordable housing complex in the San Francisco Bay Area. The results of the study show that the program increased the children’s reading comprehension by an average of 2.8 grade levels and increased children’s English proficiency an average of 2.8 California English Language Development Test levels over a 2-year period. Parents also observed their children’s growth in confidence, social skills, motivation, responsibility, and the ability to ask questions.

Key words:

• after-school program
• English language learners
• Mexican immigrant children
• reading comprehension
• residentially based learning