An overwhelming number of research studies indicate that children in families with limited economic and social resources and from racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to achieve their educational goals and occupational aspirations than their more advantaged peers.1 A principal contribution of educational sociological research has been to document the ways in which institutions (through specifi c policies, practices, and values) undermine the ability of certain students to achieve their aspirations. Families, schools, peer groups, and neighborhood communities have all been shown to infl uence the educational and occupational trajectories of children; however, these infl uences vary among groups of students-particularly those in minority groups with limited economic and social resources. Social scientists have frequently focused their research on the roles that schools can play in encouraging student ambitions and ameliorating the negative infl uences of other institutions.