China’s urban educational policies have been established to solve the problems of potential discrimination and inequitable access to education, disrupting migrant children who move from rural areas to urban cities and who tend to suffer from a range of mental health issues. However, little is known regarding how China’s urban educational policies affect migrant children’s psychological capital and social integration. This paper aims to explore the effect of urban education policies on improving migrant children’s psychological capital level in China. The second objective of this paper is to examine whether policies can encourage them to integrate into urban society in a positive way. This paper thoroughly analyzes the impact of China’s urban educational policies on three dimensions of social integration of migrant children (identification, acculturation, and psychological integration), and also verifies the mediating effects of psychological capital on the relationships between these variables. The subjects of this study are 1770 migrant children in grades 8–12, who are sourced from seven coastal cities in China. Multiple regression analysis and mediation effect tests are employed to analyze the data. This study reveals that migrant children’s identification with educational policies has a significant positive impact on their psychological capital. Psychological capital has partial mediating effects on the relationship between identification with educational policies and the three dimensions of social integration. In other words, identification with educational policies indirectly affects the process of social integration of migrant children through psychological capital. Based on this, for the purpose of promoting the positive impacts of educational policies of inflow cities on the social integration of migrant children, this study makes the following recommendations: (a) at the micro-level, the psychological capital of individual migrant children should be enhanced; (b) at the meso-level, the partnerships between migrant children and urban children should be taken seriously; and (c) at the macro-level, the urban educational policies related to migrant children should be improved. This paper not only makes policy recommendations for improving the educational policies of inflow cities, but also offers a Chinese perspective on the research related to the tricky issue facing all countries around the world, the social integration of migrant children.

While there have been studies on the relationship between higher education institutions and regional economic growth, few have delved into the economic impact of decentralized higher education institutions at the county level and associated reginal disparities in terms of socio-economic development. Utilizing the data of the Chinese universities that started to establish their campuses in counties since the year 1999, this study investigates the influence of rural university campuses on county-level GDP and industrial composition spanning from 2001 to 2020. It also delves into the temporal dynamics and regional discrepancies associated with this impact. The findings of this study show that (a) rural university campuses wield a notable positive influence on the GDP of their respective counties, particularly shaping the structure and ratio of secondary and tertiary industries; (b) the magnitude of this effect is contingent upon the duration of campus establishment and growth, intensifying over time; (c) variations in this impact are evident across the eastern, central, and western regions of China, where there are vast socio-economic differences. This study underscores the significant spillover effect of higher education decentralization on county-level economies and advocates for the pivotal role of rural university campuses in propelling county-level economic progress. Additionally, it proposes coordinated policy support from national, regional, and rural university campus authorities; the establishment of requisite support structures; and the comprehensive consideration of regional nuances.

Introduction: As math learning anxiety remains a persistent barrier to student achievement and well-being, it is crucial to understand how digital learning environments can alleviate or intensify this issue. Methods: Drawing on large-scale PISA 2022 survey data from high-school students, this study examines how the quality, usage frequency and manner of use of digital learning resources relate to students’ math learning anxiety, with teacher support and sense of school belonging tested as moderators. Results: Linear regression analyses reveal that both the quality of digital learning resources and their manner of use are significantly associated with reduced math learning anxiety, whereas usage frequency shows no significant effect. Moderation analyses further indicate that teacher support consistently buffers the impact of all three dimensions of digital resource accessibility on math anxiety, while sense of school belonging only moderates the effects of quality and manner of use. Discussion: These findings underscore the importance of ensuring high-quality digital resources, fostering supportive teacher–student interactions, and cultivating students’ sense of belonging to reduce math-learning anxiety. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and self-reported data; future longitudinal or experimental studies should test these patterns across contexts.

Migrant children’s discrimination perceptions directly affect their cultural adaptation in the city of influx. In response to migrant children, cities in China have issued relevant urban education policies such as the different-location college entrance examination policy. This study aims to investigate the impact of China’s urban educational policies on the relationship between perceptions of discrimination and acculturation among migrant children. The research sample for this paper was drawn from nine cities that pioneered the policy reform, and a total of 1436 questionnaires were collected. This study analyzed the data using multiple regression analysis and mediation effect tests. This study reveals the following: (a) Migrant children’s educational policy identity has a significant positive impact on their acculturation, whereas their perception of discrimination has a significant negative effect on their acculturation. (b) As the influence of urban educational policies increases, the negative effects of discrimination perceptions on migrant children’s school cultural adaptation, community cultural adaptation, and customs and language adaptation will all diminish. To further explore the facilitating effect of urban educational policies on the cultural adaptation of migrant children, this study proposes recommendations for the household registration system, college entrance examination admission system, and child protection system. This paper not only puts forward policy recommendations for cities of inflow but also provides a Chinese research horizon for the urban cultural adaptation of migrant children in cities of inflow.

This study examined the relationship between the urban dialect ability and academic performance of migrant children, as well as the role of school integration between the two. This study collected data from 1687 migrant children aged 5–15 from 28 county-level units (counties, districts, cities) in China, sourced from the 2010 China Education Panel Survey (CEPS). The research results indicate the following: (1) the urban dialect ability of migrant children has a significant positive impact on their academic performance. (2) School identification, peer–peer engagement, and peer acceptance, as the three dimensions of school integration, play a mediating role between the urban dialect ability and academic performance of migrant children. Overall, this study provides theoretical support and policy recommendations for promoting school integration and academic performance development for migrant children.