Details of the study

Lareau investigated two distinct areas of a California community. Upper middle-class families and blue-collar families were represented

Many analyses of behavior were conducted. Only a small portion of the finds are reported

Social class differences

Upper-middle-class parents have the capacity to understand the diagnostic and instructional language used by teachers, or, more generally, the competence to help their children at school. Most of the time these parents could easily handle the materials presented to their children in school

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Social status itself also provided a resource

Upper-middle-class parents approached teachers as social equals. Social status provided these parents with confidence in the school environment

Status influenced parent beliefs in their proper role in schooling, especially their rights and responsibilities

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Income and material resources played a role in facilitating family-school relations. Transportation and money were not concerns of the upper-middle-class group studied

Style, routine, and purpose of parents' work affected relations. Upper-middle-class parents have a pattern of interconnectedness between home and work

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Networks, themselves linked to social class position, provided parents with different amounts of general information about schooling. Social networks mediated connections to the school.

Higher social class provides parents with more resources to intervene in schooling and to connect with social institutions

Lareau argues

"The standard belief in the desirability of parent involvement rests on certain hidden pre-conditions. It is easier for upper-middle-class parents to comply with teachers' requests than for parents at a lower position in the social stratification system. … The advice that parents receive differs in how closely it is aligned with the standards of the professionals."