Social Class Differences in Family-School Relationships: The Importance of Cultural Capital Author(s): Annette Lareau Source: Sociology of Education, Vol. 60, No. 2 (Apr., 1987), pp. 73-85 Published by: American Sociological Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2112583 Accessed: 26/01/2010 16:17

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=asa.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

American Sociological Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Sociology of Education.

http://www.jstor.org SOCIAL CLASS DIFFERENCESIN FAMILY-SCHOOLRELATIONSHIPS: THE IMPORTANCEOF CULTURAL CAPITAL

ANNETTE LAREAU SouthernIllinois University

Sociology of Education 1987, Vol. 60 (April):73-85

This paper summarizesa qualitative study of family-school relationships in white working-class and middle-class communities.The results indicate that schools have standardizedviews of the proper role of parents in schooling. Moreover, social class provides parents with unequal resources to comply with teachers' requestsfor parental participation. Characteristicsoffamily life (e.g., social networks)also interveneand mediatefamily-school relationships. The social and cultural elements of family life that facilitate compliance with teachers' requests can be viewed as a form of cultural capital. The study suggests that the concept of cultural capital can be usedfruitfully to understandsocial class differences in children's school experiences.

The influence of family background on Whitty 1985; Anyon 1981; Apple 1979; Erick- children's educational experiences has a curious son and Mohatt 1982; Gearing and Epstein place within the field of sociology of education. 1982; Gaskell 1985; Taylor 1984; Valli 1985; On the one hand, the issue has dominated the Wilcox 1977, 1982). field. Wielding increasingly sophisticated meth- Surprisingly, relatively little of this research odological tools, social scientists have worked has focused on parental involvement in school- to document, elaborate, and replicate the ing. Yet, quantitative studies suggest that influence of family background on educational parental behavior can be a crucial determinantof life chances (Jencks et al. 1972; Marjoribanks educational performance (Epstein 1984; Marjo- 1979). On the other hand, until recently, ribanks 1979). In addition, increasing parental research on this issue focused primarily on participation in education has become a priority educational outcomes; very little attention was for educators, who believe it promotes educa- given to the processes through which these tional achievement (Berger 1983; Seeley 1984; educational patterns are created and reproduced. National Education Association 1985; Robinson Over the past fifteen years, important strides 1985; Trelease 1982; Leichter 1979). have been made in our understanding of social Those studies that have examined parental processes inside the school. Ethnographic re- involvement in education generally take one of search has shown that classroom learning is three major conceptual approachesto understand- reflexive and interactive and that language in the ing variations in levels of parental participation. classroom draws unevenly from the sociolinguis- Some researchers subscribe to the culture-of- tic experiences -of children at home (Bernstein poverty thesis, which states that lower-class 1975, 1982; Cook-Gumperez 1973; Heath 1982, culture has distinct values and forms of social 1983; Labov 1972; Diaz, Moll, and Mehan organization. Although their interpretationsvary, 1986; Mehan and Griffin 1980). Studies of the most of these researchers suggest that lower- curriculum, the hidden curriculum, the social class and working-class families do not value organization of the classroom, and the authority education as highly as middle-class families relationships between teachers and students have (Deutsch 1967). Other analysts trace unequal also suggested ways in which school processes levels of parental involvement in schooling back contribute to social reproduction (Aggleton and to the educational institutions themselves. Some accuse schools of institutional discrimination, claiming that they make middle-class families Versions of this paper were presented at the annual feel more welcome than working-class and meetings of the American EducationalResearch Associ- ation, April 1985, and the American Sociological lower-class families (Lightfoot 1978; Ogbu Association, August 1985. 1 am indebted to Nicole 1974). In an Australian study of home-school Biggart, Pierre Bourdieu, Aaron V. Cicourel, Troy relationships, for example, Connell et al. (1982) Duster, Samuel W. Kaplan, Hugh Mehan, and M. argue that working-class parents are "frozen Katherine Mooney for criticisms of this paper. In out" of schools. Others maintain that institu- addition, the paper greatly benefited from the comments tional differentiation, particularly the role of of Mary Metz and the anonymousreviewers of Sociology of Education. Address correspondenceto the author at teacher leadership, is a critical determinant of the Departmentof Sociology, Southern Illinois Univer- parental involvement in schooling (Epstein and sitv. Carbondale,IL 62901. Becker 1982; Becker and Epstein 1982). 73 74 LAREAU

A third perspective for understanding varying variations in home-school relationships and levels of parental involvement in schooling review the implications for future research. draws on the work of Bourdieu and the concept of cultural capital. Bourdieu (1977a, 1977b; HISTORICAL VARIATIONS IN Bourdieu and Passeron 1977) argues that FAMILY-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS schools draw unevenly on the social and cultural resources of members of the society. For Families and schools are dynamic institutions; example, schools utilize particular linguistic both have changed markedly in the last two structures, authority patterns, and types of centuries. Not surprisingly, family-school inter- curricula; children from higher social locations actions have shifted as well. Over time, there enter schools already familiar with these social has been a steady increase in the level of arrangements. Bourdieu maintains that the parental involvement in schooling. At least three cultural experiences in the home facilitate major stages of family-school interaction can children's adjustment to school and academic be identified. In the first period, parents in rural achievement, thereby transforming cultural re- areas provided food and shelter for the teacher. sources into what he calls cultural capital Children's education and family life were (Bourdieu 1977a, 1977b). intertwined, although parents evidently were not This perspective points to the structure of involved in the formal aspects of their children's schooling and to family life and the dispositions cognitive development (Overstreet and Over- of individuals (what Bourdieu calls habitus street 1949). In the second period, marked by [1977b, 1981]) to understand different levels of the rise of mass schooling, parents provided parental participation in schooling. The stan- political and economic support for the selection dards of schools are not neutral; their requests and maintenance of school sites. Parents were for parental involvement may be laden with the involved in school activities and classroom social and cultural experiences of intellectual activities, but again, they were not fundamen- and economic elites. Bourdieu does not examine tally involved in their children's cognitive the question of parental participation in school- development (Butterworth 1928; Hymes 1953; ing, but his analysis points to the importance of National Congress of Parents and Teachers class and class cultures in facilitating or 1944). In the third and current period, parents impeding children's (or parents') negotiation of have increased their efforts to reinforce the the process of schooling (also see Baker and curriculum and promote cognitive development Stevenson 1986; Connell et al. 1982; Joffee at home. In addition, parents have played a 1977; Ogbu 1974; Rist 1978; McPherson 1972; growing role in monitoring their children's Gracey 1972; Wilcox 1977, 1982). educational development, particularly in special In this paper I argue that class-related cultural education programs, and have moved into the factors shape parents' compliance with teachers' classroom as volunteers (Berger 1983; Levy, requests for parental participation in schooling. I Meltsner, and Wildavsky 1974; Mehan, Hert- pose two major questions. First, what do weck, and Meihls 1986). schools ask of parents in the educational These changes in family-school interactions experience of young children? Are there impor- do not represent a linear progression. Nor is tant variations in teachers' expectations of there only one form of relationship at any given parental involvement in elementary schooling? time. Many factors-e.g., parents' educational Second, how do parents respond to schools' attainment, the amount of nonwork time parents requests? In particular, how does social class can invest in their children's schooling-affect influence the process through which parents the kind and degree of parental involvement. participate in their children's schooling? The Family-school relationships are socially con- analysis - and conclusions are based on an structed and are historically variable. Home- intensive study of home-school relationships of school partnerships, in which parents are involved in the cognitive development of their children in the first and second grades of a white children, currently seem to be the dominant working-class school and an upper-middle-class model, but there are many possible types of school. family-school relationships (Baker and Steven- I begin the discussion with a very brief review son 1986). As in other social relationships, of historical variations in home-school relation- family-school interactions carry the imprint of ships. Then, I describe the research sites and the larger social context: Acceptance of a methodology. In the third section, I examine particular type of family-school relationship teachers' views of family involvement in emerges as the result of social processes. schooling. This is followed by a description of These aspects of family-school relationships family-school interactions in the working-class are routinely neglected in social scientists' and middle-class communities. Finally, I ana- discussions of parental involvement (Epstein lyze the factors contributing to social class 1983, 1984; Seeley 1984). When home-school DIFFERENCES IN FAMILY-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS 75 relationships are evaluated exclusively in terms 30 minutes from Colton. Most of the parents of of parental behavior, critical questions are Prescott students are professionals (Table 1). neither asked nor answered. The standards of Both parents in the family are likely to be the schools must be viewed as problematic, and college graduates, and many of the children's further, the researcher must ask what kinds of fathers have advanced degrees. The school social resources are useful in complying with enrolls about 300 studexntsfrom kindergarten to these standards. fifth grade. Virtually-all the students are white, and the school does not offer a lunch program, RESEARCH METHODOLOGY although the Parents' Club sponsors a Hot Dog Day once a month. The research presented here involved partici- For a six-month period, Januaryto June 1982, pant-observation of two first-grade classrooms I visited one first-grade classroom at each located in two different communities. Also, school. My visits averaged once or twice a week in-depth interviews of parents, teachers, and per school and lasted around two hours. During principals were conducted while the children this time, I observed the classroom and acted as were in first and second grade. Following other a volunteer in the class, passing out paper and studies of social class differences in family life helping the children with math and spelling (Rubin 1976; Kohn 1977), I chose a white problems. working-class community and a professional At the end of the school year, I selected six middle-class community. I sought a working- children in each class for further study. The class community in which a majority of the children were selected on the basis of reading- parents were high school graduates or dropouts, group membership; a boy and a girl were employed in skilled or semiskilled occupations, selected from the high, medium, and low paid an hourly wage, and periodically unem- reading groups. To prevent the confounding ployed. For the professional middle-class school, effects of race, I chose only white children. I I sought a community in which a majority of the interviewed one single mother in each school; parents were college graduates and professionals the remaining households had two parents. In who had strong career opportunities and who both of the schools, three of the mothers worked were less vulnerable to changes in the economy. full time or part time, and three were at home The two communities described here met these full time. All of the Colton mothers, however, criteria. had worked in recent years, when their children Colton School (fictitious name) is located in a were younger. The Prescott mothers had worked working-class community. Most of the parents prior to the birth of their children but had not of Colton students are employed in semiskilled been in the labor force since that time. or unskilled occupations (see Table 1). School When the children finished first grade, I personnel report that most of the parents have a interviewed their mothers individually. When high school education; many are high school they finished second grade, I interviewed their dropouts. The school has about 450 students in mothers for a second time, and in separate kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. sessions, I interviewed most of their fathers. I Slightly over one half of the children are white, also interviewed the first- and second-grade one third are Hispanic, and the remainder are teachers, the school principals, and a resource black or Asian, especially recent Vietnamese specialist at one of the schools. All the immigrants. About one half of the children interviews were semistructured and lasted about qualify for free lunches under federal guide- two hours. The interviews were tape recorded, lines. and all participants were promised confidential- Prescott School (fictitious name) is in an ity. upper-middle-class suburban community about Table 1. The Percentage of Parents in Each Occupa- TEACHERS' REQUESTS FOR PARENTAL tional Category, by School INVOLVEMENT Occupation Colton Prescott The research examined the formal requests Professionals, executives, from the teachers and school administrators managers 1 60 asking parents to participate in schooling, Semiprofessionals,sales, clerical particularly surrounding the issue of achieve- workers, and technicians 11 30 ment. It also studied the quality of interaction Skilled and semiskilled workers 51 9 Unskilled workers(and welfare between teachers and parents on the school site. recipients) 23 1 Although there were some variations among the Unknown 20 - teachers in their utilization of parents in the classrooms, all promoted parental involvement Source: California Departmentof Education 1983. NOTE: The figures for Prescott school are based on the and all believed there was a strong relationship principal's estimation of the school population. between parental involvement (particularly read- 76 LAREAU ing to children) and academic performance. At teacher and should be fired. Teachers wanted both schools, the definition of the ideal parents to support them, or as they put it, to family-school relationship was the same: a "back them up." partnership in which family life and school life Although generally persuaded that parental are integrated. involvement was positive for educational growth, In the course of the school year, teachers in some teachers, particularly in the upper-middle- both schools actively promoted parental involve- class school, were ambivalent about some types ment in schooling in several ways. For example, of parental involvement in schooling. The newsletters were used to notify families of Prescott teachers were very concerned that some school events and to invite them to attend. parents placed too much pressure on their Teachers also reminded children verbally about children. Parental involvement could become school events to which parents had been invited counterproductive when it increased the child's and encouraged the children to bring their anxiety level and produced negative learning parents to classroom and schoolwide events. experiences. As one Prescott teacher put it, In their interactions with parents, educators It depends on the parent. Sometimes it can be urged parents to read to their children. The helpful, sometimes it creates too much principal at Prescott school, for example, told pressure. Sometimes they learn things wrong. the parents at Back to School Night that they It is better for them to leave the basics alone should consider reading the child's homework. . . .and take them to museums, do science, In every class at Colton school, there was a and other enrichment activities. Read at Home Program, in which the teacher kept track of the number of hours a child read to As Becker and Epstein (1982) have found, an adult at home or was read to by a sibling or there was some variation among the teachers in adult. A chart posted in the classroom marked the degree to which they took leadership roles in hours of reading in 15-minute intervals. A child promoting parental involvement in schooling, could choose a free book after eight hours of particularly in the area of classroom volunteers. reading at home. This emphasis on reading also Although all the teachers in the study requested surfaced in the routine interactions between parents to volunteer and had parents in the parents and teachers and between teachers and classroom, there were other teachers in the children. In the classroom, the teachers sug- school who used parents more extensively. gested that children check out library books, Teachers also varied in how they judged read to their parents, or have their parents read parents. While the extreme cases were clear, the to them at home. At parent-teacherconferences, teachers sometimes disagreed about how support- teachers suggested that parents read to their ive parents were or about how much pressure child at home. In one 20-minute parent-teacher they were putting on their children. For conference, for example, the teacher mentioned example, the first-grade teacher at Prescott five times the importance of reading to the child thought one boy's father placed too much at home. pressure on him, but the second-grade teacher Other requests of parents were made as well. judged the family to be supportive and helpful. Teachers encouraged parents to communicate Thus, there were variations in teachers' styles as any concerns they had about their child. In their well as in the way they implemented the model meetings with parents, teachers also expressed a of home-school partnerships. desire for parents to review and reinforce the This study does not, however, support the material learned in class (e.g., to help their thesis that the different levels of parental children learn their spelling words). Generally, involvement can be traced to institutional teachers at both schools believed that the differentiation or institutional discrimination, relationship between parental involvement and i.e., to teachers' pursuit of different kinds of academic performance was important, and they relationships with working-class and middle- used a variety of approaches to encourage class families (Connell et al. 1982; Epstein and parents to participate in education. Becker 1982). All of the first- and second-grade Teachers and administrators spoke of being teachers in the study made similar requests to "partners" with parents, and they stressed the parents. In both schools, teachers made clear need to maintain good communication, but it and repeated efforts to promote parental involve- was clear that they desired parents to defer to ment in the educational process. their professional expertise. For example, a first-grade teacher at Prescott did not believe in Educational Consequences of assigning homework to the children and did not Family-School Relationships appreciate parents communicating their displea- Parents who agreed with the administrators' sure with the policy by complaining repeatedly and teachers' definition of partnership appeared to the principal. Nor did principals welcome to offer an educational advantage to their parents' opinions that a teacher was a bad children; parents who turned over the responsi- DIFFERENCES IN FAMILY-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS 77 bility of education to the professional could the literature aimed at increasing parental negatively affect their child's schooling. participation in education (Epstein and Becker Teachers' methods of presenting, teaching, 1982; Seeley 1984). Particularly in the upper- and assessing subject matter were based on a middle-class school, teachers complained of the structure that presumed parents would help pressure parents placed on teachers and children children at home. At Colton, for example, for academic performance. One mother reported spelling words were given out on Monday and that her son had been stealing small objects students were repeatedly encouraged to practice early in first grade, a pattern the pediatrician and the words at home with their parents before the the mother attributed to the boy's "frustration test on Friday. Teachers noticed which children level" in schooling. A girl in the lowest reading had practiced at home and which children had group began developing stomach aches during not and believed it influenced their perfor- the reading period in first grade. Teachers at mance. Prescott mentioned numerous cases in which This help at home was particularly important parental involvement was unhelpful. In these for low achievers. At Prescott, teachers encour- cases, parents had usually challenged the aged parents of low achievers to work with them professional expertise of the teachers. at home. In one case, a girl missed her spelling Generally, however, the teachers believed lessons because she had to meet with the reading that the relationship between parental participa- resource teacher. Rather than fall behind in tion and school performance was positive. spelling, she and her mother did her spelling at These results provide indications that teachers home through most of the year. Colton teachers take parental performance in schooling very also tried to involve parents in the education of seriously. Teachers recall which parents partici- low achievers. One Colton teacher arranged a pate and which parents fail to participate in special conference at a student's home and schooling. They believe that their requests of requested that the parents urge the student to parents are reasonable and that all parents, practice reading at home. The teacher com- regardless of social position, can help their plained that the girl didn't "get that much help children in first and second grade. at home." The teacher believed that if the parents had taken an active role in schooling, PARENTS' INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLING the child would have been promoted rather than retained. Although teachers at both schools expressed a In other instances, the initiative to help desire for parental participation in schooling, the children at home came from parents. For amount of contact varied significantly between example, at Prescott, one- mother noticed while the sites. The response of parents to teachers' volunteering in the classroom that her son was requests was much higher at the upper-middle- somewhat behind in his spelling. At her request, class school than at the working-class school. she and her son worked on his spelling every day after school for about a month, until he had Attendance at School Events advanced to the lesson that most of the class was on. Prior to the mother's actions, the boy was in As Table 2 shows, the level of attendance at the bottom third of the class in spelling. He was formal school events was significantly higher at not, however, failing spelling, and it was Prescott than at Colton. Virtually all Prescott unlikely that the teacher would have requested parents attended the parent-teacher conferences the parent to take an active role. After the in the fall and spring, but only 60 percent of mother and son worked at home, he was in the Colton parents attended. Attendance at Open top third of the class in his spelling work. The House was almost three times higher at Prescott teachet was very impressed by these efforts and than at Colton. believed that the mother's active involvement in The difference between the two schools was schooling had a positive effect on her son's apparent not only in the quantity of interaction performance: but in the quality of interaction. Although teachers at both schools asked parents to She is very supportive, very committed. If she didn't work in the class [volunteering] her boys wouldn't do too well. They are not Table 2. Percentage of Parents Participatingin School brilliant at all. But they are going to do well. Activities, by School, First GradeOnly, 1981- She is just going to see that they are going to 1982 get a good foundation. A child like that would Colton Prescott flounder if you let him. Activity (n = 34) (n = 28) Not all parental involvement in schooling was Parent-teacherconferences 60 100 so positive, however. There is a dark side to the Open house 35 96 partnership, which is not usually addressed in Volunteeringin classroom 3 43 78 LAREAU communicate any concerns they had about their supervision and scrutiny they gave their child's children, Colton parents rarely initiated contact schooling, they frequently contacted teachers to with teachers. When Colton parents did contact discuss their child's academic progress. the school, they frequently raised nonacademic Parents' attendance at school activities and issues, such as lunchboxes, bus schedules, and their contact with teachers enabled the teachers playground activities. One of the biggest to directly assess parents' compliance with complaints, for example, was that children had requests for involvement. However, Prescott only 15 minutes to eat lunch and that slower teachers had difficulty estimating the number of eaters were often unable to finish. children whose parents read to them at home At Colton, the interactions between parents regularly. The teachers believed that a majority and teachers were stiff and awkward. The of children were read to several times per week parents often showed signs of discomfort: and that many children spent time reading to nervous shifting, blushing, stuttering, sweating, themselves. Among the six families inter- and generally looking ill at ease. During the viewed, all of the parents said that they read to Open House, parents wandered around the room their children almost every day, usually before looking at the children's pictures. Many of the bedtime. Colton teachers used the Read at Home parents did not speak with the teacher during Program to evaluate the amount of reading that their visit. When they did, the interaction tended took place at home. During the participant- to be short, rather formal, and serious. The observation period, only three or four children teacher asked the parents if they had seen all of in the class of 34 brought back slips every day their children's work, and she checked to see or every few days demonstrating that they had that all of the children had shown their desk and read at home for at least 15 minutes. Some folder of papers to their parents. The classrooms children checked out books and brought back at Colton often contained only about 10 adults at slips less frequently. The majority of the class a time, and the rooms were noticeably quiet. earned only two books in the program, indicat- At Prescott, the interactions between parents ing that they had read at home an average of 16 and teachers were more frequent, more centered hours during the 180 days of school, or between around academic matters, and much less formal. two and four minutes a day. Parents often wrote notes to the teacher, The Read at Home Program was actively telephoned the teacher at school, or dropped by promoted by Colton teachers. Children were during the day to discuss a problem. These brought to the front of the class for applause interactions often centered around the child's every time they earned a book, and the teachers academic progress; many Prescott parents mon- encouraged children to check out books and read itored their children's education and requested at home. Nevertheless, in the interviews, only additional resources for them if there were half of the parents said that they read to their problems. Parents, for example, asked that children every day; the remainder read to their children be signed up to see the reading resource children much more irregularly. Colton parents teacher, be tested by the school psychologist, or clearly did not read to their children as often as be enrolled in the gifted program. Parents also the upper-middle-class parents at Prescott. asked for homework for their children or for In addition, Prescott parents played a more materials that they could complete at home with active role in reinforcing and monitoring the their children. school work of their children. Colton parents The ease with which Prescott parents con- were asked by teachers to help review and tacted the school was also apparent at formal reinforce the material at school, particularly school events. At the Open House, almost all of spelling words. Though a few parents worked the parents talked to the teacher or to the with their children, Colton teachers were teacher's aide; these conversations were often disappointed in the response. Colton parents long and were punctuated by jokes and were also unfamiliar with the school's curricu- questions. Also, many of the parents were lum and with the specific educational problems friends with other parents in the class, so there of their children. Parents of children with was quite a bit of interaction between families. learning disabilities, for example, knew only In inviting me to the Open House, the teacher that their children's grades "weren't up to par" described the event as a "cocktail party without or that their children "didn't do too well" in cocktails. " The room did indeed have the noisy, school. Moreover these parents were unaware of crowded, and animated atmosphere of a cocktail the teacher's specific efforts to improve their party. child's performance. In sum, Colton parents were reluctant to Prescott parents, on the other hand, carefully contact the school, tended to intervene over followed their children's curriculum. They often nonacademic matters, and were uncomfortable showed children the practical applications of the in their interactions in the school. In contrast, knowledge they gained at school, made up although Prescott parents varied in the level of games that strengthened and elaborated chil- DIFFERENCES IN FAMILY-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS 79 dren's recently acquired knowledge, and re- several of the fathers, for example, had been viewed the material presented in class with their held back in elementary school. In interviews, children. Parents of low achievers and children they expressed doubts about their educational with learning problems were particularly vigor- capabilities and indicated that they depended on ous in these efforts and made daily efforts to the teacher to educate their children. As one work with children at home. Parents knew their mother stated, problems and knew what the child's specific I know that when she gets into the higher teacher was doing to strengthen their child's grades, I know I won't be able to help her, Parents' efforts on behalf of their perfornmance. math especially, unless I take a refresher children were closely coordinated with the course myself. . . . So I feel that it is the school program. teacher's job to help her as much as possible There were some variations in parents' to understand it, because I know that I won't response to teachers' requests in the two school be able to. communities. Notably, two of the Colton parents (who appeared to be upwardly mobile) Another mother, commenting on her overall actively read to their children at home, closely lack of educational skills, remarked that reading reviewed their children's school work, and preschool books to her young son had improved emphasized the importance of educational suc- her reading skills: The teachers were very impressed by the cess. I graduated from high school and could fill of these parents and by the relatively behavior out [job] applications, but when I was high academic performance of their children. At nineteen and married my husband, I didn't Prescott, parents differed in how critically they know how to look up a word in the the school and in their propensity to assessed dictionary. When I started reading to Johnny, intervene in their children's schooling. For I found that my reading improved. example, some parents said that they "felt sorry for teachers" and believed that other parents in Observations of Colton parents at the school the community were too demanding. The child's site and in interviews confirmed that parents' number of siblings, birth order, and tempera- educational skills were often wanting. Prescott ment also shaped parental intervention in parents' educational skills, on the other hand, schooling. There was some variation in the role were strong. Most were college graduates and of fathers, although in both schools, mothers many had advanced degrees. had the primary responsibility for schooling. Parents in the two communities also divided There were important differences, then, in the up the responsibility between home and school way in which Colton -and Prescott parents in different ways. Colton parents regarded responded to teachers' requests for participation. teachers as "educated people." They turned These pattems suggest that the relationship over the responsibility for education to the between families and schools was independent teacher, whom they viewed as a professional. As in the working-class school, and interdependent one mother put it, in the middle-class school. My job is here at home. My job is to raise him, to teach him manners, get him dressed FACTORS STRUCTURING PARENTS and get him to school, to make sure that he is PARTICIPATION happy. Now her [the teacher's] part, the school's part, is to teach him to learn. Interviews and observations of parents sug- Hopefully, someday he'll be able to use all of gested that a variety of factors influenced that. That is what I think is their part, to teach parents' participation in schooling. Parents' him to read, the writing, any kind of educational, capabilities, their view of the schooling. appropriate divisiohi of labor between teachers and parents, the information they had about their Education is seen as a discrete process that takes children's schooling, and the time, money, and place on the school grounds, under the direction other material resources available in the home of a teacher. This mother's role is to get her son all mediated parents' involvement in schooling. to school; once there, his teacher will "teach him to learn." This mother was aware that her son's teacher Educational Capabilities wanted him to practice reading at home, but Parents at Colton and Prescott had different neither she nor her husband read to their son levels of educational attainment. Most Colton regularly. The mother's view of reading was parents were high school graduates or high analogous to her view of work. She sent her school dropouts. Most were married and had children to school to learn for six hours a day their first child shortly after high school. They and expected that they could leave their generally had difficulties in school as children; schooling (i.e., their work) behind them at the 80 LAREAU school site, unless they had been given flexibility in their work schedules than Colton homework. She believed that her seven-year-old parents. Material resources also influenced the boy's afternoons and evenings were time for educational purchases parents made. Colton him to play. In this context, her son's reading at parents reported that most of the books they home was similar to riding his bike or to playing bought for their children came from the flea with his truck. The mother did not believe that market. Prescott parents had the financial her child's academic progress depended upon flexibility to purchase new books if they his activities at home. Instead, she saw a desired, and many of the parents of low separation of spheres. achievers hired tutors for their children during Other parents had a different conception of the summer months. their role in schooling. They believed education was a shared responsibility: They were partners Information about Schooling with teachers in promoting their children's academic progress. As one mother stated, Colton parents had only limited information about most aspects of their children's I see the school as being a very strong experience at school; what they did know, instructional force, more so than we are here they learned primarily from their children. For example, the at home. I guess that I am comfortable with Colton mothers knew the names of the that, from what I have seen. It is a child's teacher and the teacher's the three-to-one ratio or something, where out of aide, location of the classroom on the school and a possible four, he is getting three quarters of grounds, the name of the janitor, and they were familiar what he needs from the school, and then a with the Read at Home Program. They did not quarter of it from here. Maybe it would be know details of the school or of classroom interaction. better if our influence was stronger, but I am The amount of information Colton parents afraid that in this day and age it is not possible had did not seem to vary by how much contact to do any more than that even if you wanted they had with the school. to. In the middle-class community, parents had Prescott parents wanted to be involved in their extensive information about classroom and child's educational process in an important way. school life. For example, in addition to knowing In dividing up the responsibility for education, the names of their child's current classroom they described the relationship between parents teacher and teacher's aide, the mothers knew the and teachers as a relationship between equals, names and academic reputations of most of the and they believed that they possessed similar or other teachers in the school. The mothers also superior educational skills and prestige. One knew the academic rankings of children in the Prescott father discussed his relationship with class (e.g., the best boy and girl in math, the teachers in this way: best boy and girl in reading). Most of the mothers knew the composition of their child's I don't think of teachers as more educated reading group, the math and than me or in a higher position than me. I spelling packet the child was working on, and the don't have any sense of hierarchy. I am not specific academic problems to which the child was being higher than them, and they are not higher than exposed (e.g., adding single-digit Other me. We are equals. We are reciprocals. So if numbers). details of classroom were I have a problem I will talk to them. I have a experience also widely known, including the names of children sense of decorum. I wouldn't go busting into receiving the services of the reading resource a classroom and say something. . . . They specialist, occupational therapist, and are not working for me, but they also aren't special education teacher. a few fathers had doing something I couldn't do. It is more a Although very specific information about the school, most question of a division of labor. depended on their wives to collect and store this Prescott parents had not only better educa- information. The fathers were, however, gener- tional skills and higher occupational status than ally apprised of the reputations of teachers and Colton parents but also more disposable income the dissatisfactions that some parents had with and more flexible work schedules. These particular teachers. material resources entered into the family-school Much of the observed difference between the relationships. Some Colton mothers, for exam- schools in parents' information about schooling ple, had to make a series of complicated may be traced to differences in family life, arrangementsfor transportationand child care to particularly in social networks and childrearing attend a school event held in the middle of the patterns. Prescott families saw relatively little of afternoon. Prescott parents, on the other hand, their relatives; instead, many parents socialized had two cars and sufficient resources to hire with other parents in the school community. babysitters and housecleaners. In addition, Colton parents generally had very close ties with Prescott parents generally had much greater relatives in the area, seeing siblings or parents DIFFERENCES IN FAMILY-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS 81 three times per week or more. Colton parents different story, however. Parents in both had virtually no social contact with other parents communities valued educational success; all in the school, even when the families lived on wanted their children to do well in school, and the same street. The social networks of the all saw themselves as supporting and helping middle-class parents provided them with addi- their children achieve success at school. Middle- tional sources of information about their child's and working-class parents' aspirations differed school experience; the networks of working- only in the level of achievement they hoped class parents did not (see Bott 1971; Litwack their children would attain. Several Colton and Szeleny 1971). parents were high school dropouts and bitterly The childrearing patterns of the two groups regretted their failure to get a diploma. As one also differed, particularly in the leisure time mother said, "I desperately want her to activities they encouraged. At Colton, children's graduate. If she can do that, that will satisfy after-school activities were informal: bike riding, me." All of the Prescott parents hoped that their snake hunting, watching television, playing with children would get a college diploma, and many neighbor children, and helping parents with spoke of the importance of an advanced degree. younger siblings. Prescott children were en- Although the educational values of the two rolled in formal socialization activities, includ- groups of parents did not differ, the ways in ing swimming lessons, soccer, art and crafts which they promoted educational success did. In lessons, karate lessons, and gymnastics. All the the working-class community, parents turned children in the classroom were enrolled in at over the responsibility for education to the least one after-school activity, and many were teacher. Just as they depended on doctors to heal busy every afternoon with a lesson or structured their children, they depended on teachers to experience. The parents took their children to educate them. In the middle-class community, and from these activities. Many stayed to watch however, parents saw education as a shared the lesson, thus providing another opportunity to enterprise and scrutinized, monitored, and meet and interact with other Prescott parents. supplemented the school experience of their Discussions about schools, teachers' reputa- children. Prescott parents read to their children, tions, and academic progress were frequent. For initiated contact with teachers, and attended many parents, these interactions were a major school events more often than Colton parents. source of information about their children's Generally, the evidence demonstrates that the schooling, and parents believed that the discus- level of parental involvement is linked to the sions had an important effect on the way in class position of the parents and to the social which they approached their children's school- and cultural resources that social class yields in ing. American society. By definition, the educational status and material resources of parents increase DISCUSSION with social class. These resources were ob- served to influence parental participation in Teachers in both schools interpreted parental schooling in the Prescott and Colton communi- involvement as a reflection of the value parents ties. The working-class parents had poor placed on their children's educational success educational skills, relatively lower occupational (see Deutsch 1967; Strodbeck 1958). As the prestige than teachers, and limited time and principal at Prescott commented, disposable income to supplement and intervene This particular community is one with a very in their children's schooling. The middle-class strong interest in its schools. It is a wonderful parents, on the other hand, had educational situation in which to work. Education is very skills and occupational prestige that matched or important to the parents and they back that up surpassed that of teachers; they also had the with an interest in volunteering. This view necessary economic resources to manage the that education is important helps kids as well. child care, transportation, and time required to If parents value schooling and think it is meet with teachers, to hire tutors, and to important, then kids take it seriously. become intensely involved in their childrens' The teachers and the principal at Colton placed a schooling. similar interpretation on the lack of parental These differences in social, cultural, and participation at the school. Speaking of the economic resources between the two sets of parents, the principal remarked, parents help explain differences in their re- sponses to a variety of teacher requests to They don't value education because they participate in schooling. For example, when don't have much of one themselves. [Since] asked to read to their children and to help them they don't value education as much as they at home with school work, Colton parents were could, they don't put those values and reluctant to comply because they felt that their expectations on their kids. educational skills were inadequate for these Interviews and observations of parents told a tasks. Prescott parents, with their superior 82 LAREAU educational skills, felt more comfortable helping example, they may request additional educa- their children in these areas. Parents at Colton tional resources for their children, monitor the and Prescott also differed in their perceptions of behavior of the teacher, share costs of a tutor the appropriaterelationship between parents and with other interested parents, and consult with teachers. Prescott parents conceived of school- other parents and teachers about their children's ing as a partnership in which parents have the educational experience. right and the responsibility to raise issues of It is important to stress that if the schools their choosing and even to criticize teachers. were to promote a different type of family- Colton parents' inferior educational level and school relationship, the class culture of middle- occupational prestige reinforced their trust in class parents might not yield a social profit. The and dependence on the professional expertise of data do not reveal that the social relations of educators. The relatively high occupational middle-class culture are intrinsically better than position of Prescott parents contributed to their the social relations of working-class culture. view of teachers as equals.' Prescott parents Nor can it be said that the family-school occasionally had more confidence in their right relationships in the middle class are objectively to monitor and to criticize teachers. Their better for children than those in the working occupational prestige levels may have helped class. Instead, the social profitability of middle- both build this confidence and demystify the class arrangements is tied to the schools' status of the teacher as a professional. definition of the proper family-school relation- Finally, more straightforwardeconomic differ- ship. ences between the middle- and working-class Future research on parental participation in parents are evident in their different responses to education should take as problematic the requests to attend school events. Attendance at standards that schools establish for parental parent-teacher conferences, particularly those involvement in schooling and should focus on held in the afternoon, requires transportation, the role of class cultures in facilitating and child care arrangements, and flexibility at the impeding compliance with these standards. In workplace-all more likely to be available to addition, research might profitably examine the Prescott parents than to Colton parents. role of social class in structuring the conflict The literature on family life indicates that between the universalistic concerns of the social class is associated with differences in teacher and the particularistic agenda of parents social networks, leisure time, and childrearing (Waller 1932; McPherson 1972). Parents and activities (Bott 1971; Kohn 1977; Rubin 1976). teachers may be "natural enemies" (Waller The observations in this study confirm these 1932) and may face enduring problems of associations and, in addition, indicate that social negotiating "boundaries" between their "territo- class differences in family life (or class cultures) ries" (Lightfoot 1978). Social class appears to have implications for family-school relation- influence the educational, status, monetary, and ships. Middle-class culture provides parents informational resources that each side brings to with more information about schooling and that conflict. promotes social ties among parents in the school community. This furthers the interdependence between home and school. Working-class cul- Family-School Relationships ture, on the other hand, emphasizes kinship and and Cultural Capital promotes independence between the spheres of family life and schooling. These results suggest that social class position Because both schools promote a family- and class culture become a form of cultural school relationship that solicits parental involve- capital in the school setting (Bourdieu 1977a; ment in schooling and that promotes an Bourdieu and Passeron 1977). Although working- interdependence between family and school, the class and middle-class parents share a desire for class position and the class culture of middle- their children's educational success in first and class families yield a social profit not available second grade, social location leads them to to working-class families. In particular, middle- construct different pathways for realizing that class culture provides parents with more infor- success. Working-class parents' method-depen- mation about schooling and also builds social dence on the teacher to educate their child-may networks among parents in the school commu- have been the dominant method of promoting nity. Parents use this information to build a school success in earlier periods within the family-school relationship congruent with the middle class. Today, however, teachers actively schools' definition of appropriate behavior. For solicit parents' participationin education. Middle- class' parents, in supervising, monitoring, and overseeing the educational experience of their 1 Some Prescottparents, however, did reportthat they children, behave in ways that mirrorthe requests felt intimidatedby a teacher on some occasions. of schools. This appears to provide middle-class DIFFERENCES IN FAMILY-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS 83 children with educational advantages over work- Historical studies help reveal the way in which ing-class children. cultural resources of social groups are unevenly The behavior of parents in this regard is not valued in a society; these studies help illustrate fully determined by their social location. There the dynamic character of these value judgments. are variations within as well as between social Historical work on definitions of cultural capital classes. Still, parents approach the family- can also shed light on the arbitrariness of the school relationship with different sets of social current social standards. resources. Schools ask for very specific types of In addition, research on cultural capital could behavior from all parents, regardless of their fruitfully expand its focus to include more social social class. Not all cultural resources are groups. The research on high culture (Bourdieu equally valuable, however, for complying with 1977a, 1977b; DiMaggio and Useem 1982; schools' requests. The resources tied directly to Cookson and Persell 1985) has made a useful social class (e.g., education, prestige, income) contribution to the field (see also Lamont and and certain patterns of family life (e.g., kinship Lareau 1987). This study, however, suggests ties, socialization patterns, leisure activities) that middle-class families have cultural re- seem to play a large role in facilitating the sources that become a form of cultural capital in participation of parents in schools. Other aspects specific settings. In moving beyond studies of of class and class cultures, including religion elites, it might be useful to recognize that all and taste in music, art, food, and furniture social groups have cultural capital and that some (Bourdieu 1984) appear to play a smaller role in forms of this capital are valued more highly by structuring the behavior of parents, children, the dominant institutions at particular historical and teachers in the family-school relationship. moments. As Samuel Kaplan (pers. comm. (These aspects of class cultures might, of 1986) points out, members of the working class course, influence other dimensions of school- have cultural capital as well, but it is only rarely ing.) recognized by dominant social institutions. These findings underline the importance of During World War II, for example, the studying the significance of cultural capital dangerous and difficult task of the marksman within a social context. In recent years, was usually filled by working-class youths; only Bourdieu has been criticized for being overly rarely was it assigned to a college boy. deterministic in his analysis of the role of Marksman skills and, more generally, compli- cultural capital in shaping outcomes (Giroux ance with the expectations of supervising 1983; Connell et al. 1982). Connell et al., for officers are important in the military. Here, the example, argue that cultural capital childrearing values of working-class parents (e.g., obedience, conformity) may advantage practically obliterates the person who is working-class youths; the values of middle-class actually the main constructor of the home/ families (e.g., self-direction, autonomy, and school relationship. The student is treated permissiveness) may disadvantage middle-class mainly as a bearer of cultural capital, a bundle youth (Kohn 1977; Kohn and Schooler 1983). of abilities, knowledges and attitudes fur- nished by parents. [p. 188] IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER Moreover, Bourdieu has focused almost RESEARCH exclusively on the social profits stemming from Educators and policymakers may seek to high culture. Although he is quite clear about increase parental involvement in schooling by the arbitrary character of culture, his emphasis boosting the educational capabilities and infor- on the value of high culture could be misinter- mation resources of parents. For sociologists preted, His research on the cultural capital of interested in family, schools, and social stratifi- elites may be construed as suggesting that the cation, a somewhat different task is in order. culture of elites is intrinsically more valuable Families and schools, and family-school relation- than that of the working class. In this regard, the ships, are critical links in the process of social concept of cultural capital is potentially vulner- reproduction. For most children (but not all), able to the same criticisms that have been social class is a major predictor of educational directed at the notion of the culture of poverty and occupational achievement. Schools, partic- (Valentine 1968). ularly elementary and secondary schools, play a This study highlights the need for more crucial role in this process of social reproduc- extensive research in the area of cultural capital. tion; they sort students into social categories that It would be particularly useful for future award credentials and opportunities for mobility research to take into account historical varia- (Collins 1979, 198 1c). We know relatively little tions in definitions of cultural capital. Family- about the stages of this social process. school relationships have changed over time; The concept of cultural capital may help by what constitutes cultural capital at one point in turning our attention to the structure of opportu- time may or may not persist in a future period. nity and to the way in which individuals proceed 84 LAREAU through that structure (see also Collins 198 la, Collins, Randall. 1979. The Credential Society. New 198 lb; Knorr-Cetinaand Cicourel 1981). More- York: Academic Press. over, the concept does not overlook the . 1981a. "Micro-Translation as a Theory- importance of the role of the individual in Building Strategy." Pp. 81-108 in Advances in Social Theory: Toward an Integration of Micro- and constructing a biography within a social struc- Macro-Sociologies, edited by K. Knorr-Cetina and ture. Class provides social and cultural re- A.V. Cicourel. Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul. sources, but these resources must be invested or . 1981b. "On the Micro-Foundationsof Macro- activated to become a form of cultural capital. Sociology. " American Journal of Sociology Analyzing the role of cultural capital in 86:984-1014. structuring family-school relationships, particu- _ 1981c. Sociology Since Midcentury:Essays in larly parental participation in education, pro- Theory Cumulation.New York: Academic Press. vides a rich setting for analyzing the linkages Connell, R.W., D.J. Ashendon, S. Kessler, and G.W. between micro and macro levels of analysis. Dowsett. 1982. Making the Difference: Schools, Families and Social Division. Sydney: George Allen and Unwin. Cook-Gumperez, Jenny. 1973. Social Control and REFERENCES Socialization: A Study of Class Difference in the Language of Maternal Control. Boston: Routledge and Aggleton, Peter J., and Geoff Whitty. 1985. "Rebels Kegan Paul. Without a Cause? Socialization and SubculturalStyle Cookson, Peter W., Jr., and Caroline H. Persell. 1985. Among the Children of the New Middle Classes." Preparing for Power: America's Elite Boarding Sociology of Education 58:60-72. Schools. New York: Basic Books. Anyon, Jean. 1981. "Social Class and School Knowl- Deutsch, Martin. 1967. "The Disadvantaged Child and edge." CurriculumInquiry 11:1-42. the Learning Process." Pp. 39-58 in The Disadvan- Apple, Michael W. 1979. Ideology and Curriculum. taged Child, edited by M. Deutsch. New York: Basic London:Routledge and Kegan Paul. Books. Baker, David, and David Stevenson. 1986. "Mothers' Diaz, Stephan, Luis C. Moll, and Hugh Mehan. 1986. Strategies for School Achievement: Managing the "Sociocultural Resources in Instruction: A Context- Transition to High School." Sociology of Education Specific Approach." Pp. 187-230 in Beyond Lan- 59:156-66. guage: Social and Cultural Factors in Schooling Becker, Henry Jay, and Joyce L. Epstein. 1982. "Parent Language Minority Students, edited by the Bilingual Involvement:A Survey of TeacherPractices." Elemen- Education Office. Los Angeles: California State tary School Journal 83:85-102. University, Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assess- Berger, Eugenia H. 1983. Beyond the Classroom: ment Center. Parents as Partners in Education. St. Louis: C.V. DiMaggio, Paul, and Michael Useem. 1982. "The Arts Mosby. in Cultural Reproduction." Pp. 181-201 in Cultural Bernstein, Basil. 1975. Class, Codes and Control. Vol. and Economic Reproduction in Education, edited by 3. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Michael W. Apple. London: Routledge and Kegan . 1982. "Codes, Modalities and the Process of Paul. Cultural Reproduction: A Model." Pp. 304-55 in Epstein, Joyce. 1983. "Effect on Parents of Teacher Cultural and Economic Reproduction in Education, Practices of Parent Involvement." Report No. 346. edited by Michael W. Apple. London: Routledge and Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, Center for the Kegan Paul. Social Organizationof Schools. Bott, Elizabeth. 1971. Family and Social Networks. New . 1984. "Effects of Teacher Practices and Parent York: Free Press. Involvement on Student Achievement." Paper pre- Bourdieu, Pierre. 1977a. "Cultural Reproduction and sented at the annual meetings of the American Social Reproduction." Pp. 487-511 in Power and EducationalResearch Association, New Orleans. Ideology in Education, edited by J. Karabeland A.H. Epstein, Joyce, and Henry Jay Becker. 1982. "Teachers' Halsey. New York: Oxford University Press. Reported Practices of Parent Involvement: Problems . 1977b. Outline of a Theory of Practice. and Possibilities. " Elementary School Journal Cambridge:Cambridge University Press. 83:103-13. . 1981. "Men and Machines." Pp. 304-17 in Erickson, Frederick,and GeraldMohatt. 1982. "Cultural Advances in Social Theory: Toward an Integration of Organization of Participation Structures in Two Micro- and Macro-Sociologies, edited by K. Knorr- Classrooms of Indian Students." Pp. 132-75 in Doing Cetina and A.V. Cicourel. Boston: Routledge and the Ethnographyof Schooling, edited by G. Spindler. Paul. Kegan New York: Holt, Rinehartand Winston. . 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Gaskell, Jane. 1985. "Course Enrollment in the High Judgment of Taste. Translated by Richard Nice. School: The Perspective of Working-ClassFemales." Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversity Press. Bourdieu, Pierre, and Jean-Claude Passeron. 1977. Sociology of Education 58:48-59. Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. Gearing, Frederick, and Paul Epstein. 1982. "Learning Translatedby RichardNice. Beverly Hills: Sage. to Wait: An EthnographicProbe into the Operationof Butterworth,Julian E. 1928. The Parent-TeacherAssoci- an Item of Hidden Curriculum."Pp. 240-67 in Doing ation and Its Work.New York: Macmillan. the Ethnographyof Schooling, edited by G. Spindler. California Department of Education. 1983. California New York: Holt, Rinehartand Winston. AssessmentProgram 1981-1982. Sacramento:Califor- Giroux, Henry A. 1983. Theory and Resistance in nia Departmentof Education. Education. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Harvey. DIFFERENCES IN FAMILY-SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS 85

Gracey, Harry L. 1972. Curriculumor Craftsmanship. The View from Classroom Interactions." Social Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Inquiry 50:357-98. Heath, Shirley B. 1982. "Questioning at Home and at Mehan, Hugh, Alma L. Hertweck, and J.L. Meihls. School: A ComparativeStudy." Pp. 102-31 in Doing 1986. Handicapping the Handicapped. Stanford: the Ethnographyof Schooling, edited by G. Spindler. StanfordUniversity Press. New York: Holt, Rinehartand Winston. National Congress of Parents and Teachers. 1944. The . 1983. Wayswith Words.London: Cambridge Parent-Teacher Organization, Its Origins and Devel- University Press. opment. Chicago: National Congress of Parents and Hymes, James L., Jr. 1953. Effective Home-School Teachers. Relations. New York: Prentice-Hall. National Education Association. 1985. "Teacher-Parent Jencks, Christopheret al. 1972. Inequality. New York: Partnership Program, 1984-1985 Status Report." Basic Books. Unpublishedpaper. Washington,DC: National Educa- Joffee, Carol. 1977. Friendly Intruders. Berkeley: tion Association. University of CaliforniaPress. Ogbu, John. 1974. The Next Generation. New York: Knorr-Cetina, Karin, and Aaron V. Cicourel. 1981. Academic Press. Advances in Social Theory: Toward an Integration of Overstreet, Harry, and Bonaro Overstreet. 1949. Where Micro- and Macro-Sociologies. Boston: Routledge and Children Come First. Chicago: National Congress of Kegan Paul. Parentsand Teachers. Kohn, Melvin L. 1977. Class and Conformity.Chicago: Rist, Ray C. 1978. The Invisible Children. Cambridge, University of Chicago Press. MA: HarvardUniversity Press. Kohn, Melvin L., and Carmi Schooler. 1983. Workand Robinson, Sharon. 1985. "Teacher-ParentCooperation." Personality: An Inquiry into the Impact of Social Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Stratification.Norwood, NJ: Ablex. AmericanEducational Research Association, Chicago. Labov, William. 1972. SociolinguisticPatterns. Philadel- Rubin, Lillian B. 1976. Worlds of Pain. New York: phia: University of PennsylvaniaPress. Basic Books. Lamont, Michele, and Annette Lareau. 1987. "Cultural Seeley, David. 1984. "Home-School Partnership."Phi Capitalin American Research:Problems and Possibil- Delta Kappan 65:383-93. ities." Working Paper No. 9. Chicago: Center for Strodbeck, F.L. 1958. "Family Interaction,Values, and Psychosocial Studies. Achievement." Pp. 131-91 in Talent and Society, Leichter, Hope Jensen. 1979. "Families and Communi- edited by D.D. McClelland. New York: Van Nostrand. ties as Educators:Some Concepts of Relationships." Taylor, Sandra. 1984. "Reproductionand Contradiction Pp. 3-94 in Families and Communitiesas Educators, in Schooling: The Case of Commercial Studies." edited by H.J. Leichter. New York: Teachers College British Journal-of Sociology of Education 5:3-18. Press. Trelease, James. 1982. The Read-AloudHandbook. New Levy, Frank, Arnold J. Meltsner, and Aaron Wildavsky. York: Penguin. 1974. Urban Outcomes. Berkeley: University of Valentine, Charles A. 1968. Culture and Poverty. CaliforniaPress. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. New Lightfoot, Sara Lawrence. 1978. Worlds Apart. Valli, Linda. 1985. "Office Education Students and the York: Basic Books. Meaning of Work." Issues in Education 3:31-44. Litwack, Eugene, and I. Szeleny. 1971. "Kinship and Waller, Willard. 1932. The Sociology of Teaching. New Other PrimaryGroups." Pp. 149-63. in Sociology of the Family, edited by M. Anderson. Middlesex, York: Wiley. England:Penguin. Wilcox, KathleenA. 1977. "Schooling and Socialization Marjoribanks,Kevin. 1979. Families and TheirLearning for Work Roles." Ph.D. diss., HarvardUniversity. Environments:An Empirical Analysis. London: Rout- . 1982. "Differential Socialization in the Class- ledge and Kegan Paul. room: Implications for Equal Opportunity." Pp. McPherson, Gertrude H. 1972. Small Town Teacher. 269-309 in Doing the Ethnography of Schooling, Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversity Press. edited by G. Spindler. New York: Holt, Rinehartand Mehan, Hugh, and Peg Griffin. 1980. "Socialization: Winston.