Abstract
Ogbu and Simons’ thesis, based on the Cultural-Ecological Theory of School Performance that Black immigrant students academically outperform their non-immigrant counterparts and that achievement differences are attributed to stronger educational commitment in Black immigrant families, was examined. Two hypotheses, based on data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study of 2006 (N=782), are that Black immigrant students differ from non-immigrants in school performance and that the effect of immigrant status as predictors persists, after including selected behavioral and cultural factors. Using analysis of variance, correlation, and multiple-regression techniques, the findings refute the Ogbu-Simons thesis in that immigrant and non-immigrant students did not differ in school achievement and that other predictors may be more important.