ABSTRACT
Rarely does a child become accomplished on his or her own. For most of us, it takes a range of familial, school, and community support to be successful. Children from middle-class families are born with this support. Middle- and upper-class families are structured to prepare their children for school, to be available to the school for communication about the child, and to provide for the child those experiences (e.g., sports, music lessons, or sit down family dinners) that teach the social skills of school (e.g., delaying gratification, paying attention, deference to authority, and performance under pressure). The lower a family’s economic status the more difficult it is to provide this support. As Wilson (1997) demonstrated, in low-income environments, particularly in urban areas where work is not available, children have fewer opportunities to see the behaviors that translate into school success. When adults are denied work opportunities, children are denied the opportunity to learn the social skills that lead to the work habits of a mainstream occupation.
