ABSTRACT
There is a consensus in sociological and educational research that social class is intricately implicated in the relation between parenting practices and a child’s academic development (Bornstein & Bradley, 2003; DeGarmo, Forgatch & Martinez, Jr., 1999; Hughes, Jr. & Perry-Jenkins, 1996). Social class, the hierarchical social distinctions between individuals or groups in a given society or culture (traditionally defined by parental occupation, education, income, and private ownership), is believed to influence parents’ ways of raising and educating a child, which in turn affects the child’s sociocognitive and academic development. For example, middle-class parents (mostly European Americans) are reported to be more responsive to their children’s needs, more communicative to their children at home, and are more likely to use inductive reasoning and authoritative parenting (clear setting of standards and firm enforcement of rules, and encouragement of independence and individuality, etc.) than their working-class and poor counterparts. They often engage in a process of concerted cultivation in which children’s talents are cultivated early on in life through organized activities such as music lessons and sports; this concerted, deliberate cultivation usually fosters a sense of entitlement that helps negotiate more class advantages when interacting with schools (Lareau, 2003). In addition, middle-class parents are also reported to be more involved in their children’s education in school and at home. They are more likely to be more directly involved in school than low SES parents. In Lareau’s (2000) study, for example, the upper-middle-class parents influence their children’s school programs through requests for teachers and for placement in specialized programs, and through direct intervention of classroom instructional practices in subjects such as spelling and math. They also take a more assertive role than working-class parents in shaping the promotion and retention decisions (Lareau, 2000, 2003). These childrearing and parental involvement practices are reported to inculcate more positive attitudes in children toward school and help form better study habits, reduce absenteeism and dropping out, and therefore promote more positive academic outcomes.
