Purpose

This study conducted a meta-analysis of empirical research published between 2000 and 2025 to examine the academic achievement differences between immigrant (so-called “new immigrant”) and non-immigrant students in Taiwan. Motivated by the rapid growth of the immigrant population over the past three decades and the implementation of multiple educational support policies by the Ministry of Education, the study aimed to clarify inconsistent findings in previous research by integrating two prior meta-analyses (Chung, 2009; Hsieh & Hsieh, 2013) and incorporating 18 additional studies from 2012 to 2025.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis adopted both “horizontal extension” and “vertical deepening” approaches to examine changes in academic disparities between the two groups and the effects of moderating variables. Using Hedges’g as the effect size index, a total of 77 studies (98 effect sizes) were analyzed under a random-effects model. Six moderators were examined along with meta-regression: academic achievement, geographical region, educational stage, publication type, publication period, and data source.

Findings/results

The results revealed an overall small effect size, indicating that non-immigrant students performed slightly better than immigrant students, and the performance gap has gradually narrowed over time. Significant moderating effects were found for geographical region and educational stage: the largest gap appeared in eastern regions and in the elementary stage, while differences in junior and senior high school were negligible. Subject-wise, notable gaps persisted in mathematical ability, English achievement, and social studies, whereas differences in Chinese language performance nearly disappeared. In terms of publication period, the overall gap decreased from a moderate effect size in the early 2000s to a small effect size in the past decade. Publication bias tests also confirmed that the results are robust and reliable.

Originality/value

This study contributes by updating and extending prior meta-analytic evidence, incorporating both horizontal extension and vertical deepening, offering a thirty-year overview of educational outcomes for immigrant students in Taiwan. Findings underscore the positive association between educational policy interventions and social support mechanisms and the reduction of group disparities, which may correspond to improvements in family environments and cultural adaptation 2 among immigrant populations. However, this still requires further empirical verification.

Implications for policy/practice

Policy implications include enhancing educational resources in rural and eastern regions to improve structural inequalities, reinforcing basic literacy and numeracy support at the elementary level to implement early intervention, and extending future research to include learning motivation, strategies, and abilities. Overall, the results provide possible insights into policy effectiveness and offer empirical evidence and a foundation for subsequent research on educational equality among different groups in Taiwan.