Annette Lareau is currently associate professor of sociology at Temple University.
Review
"Home Advantage is a superb empirical study of family-school relations. The nuanced analysis, especially
of the dynamics of social class, has given this work the well-earned status of a classic whose insights are of
lasting value."
--Barrie Thorne, author of Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School, University of California, Berkeley
"An important and timely book about the ways parents are able (and unable) to shape their children's educational
experiences. . . . Should be read by all current and future educators . . . required reading for students of qualitative
research."
--American Journal of Sociology
"Home Advantage is already a classic in the sociology of education. It is theoretically rich and its findings
are profound. It is also a model of excellence for qualitative research methods."
--Adam Gamoran, University of Wisconsin, Madison
"Home Advantage is the most compelling empirical illustration I have found of the concept of cultural capital.
It is a rich book to teach, and in the stratification course in which I used it, the students considered it the
best of the books they were assigned."
--Doug Porpora, Department of Psychology and Sociology, Drexel University
"Home Advantage is a marvelous tool for teaching about both the dynamics of school-family linkages and the
realities of the process of social research. The book invariably triggers spirited discussions among students,
and has a lasting influence on how they think about the sociology of education and about research."
--Aaron M. Pallas, Michigan State University
Submitted by Publisher, January, 2002
Summary
"Home Advantage" is already a classic in the sociology of education. It is theoretically rich and
its findings are profound. It is also a model of excellence for qualitative research methods.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Julia Wrigley
Social Class and Parent Intervention in Schooling
What Do Teachers Want From Parents?
Separation Between Family and School: Colton
Interconnectedness Between Family and School: Prescott
Mothers and Fathers: Gender Differences in Parent Involvement in Schooling
Why Does Social Class Influence Parent Involvement in Schooling?
Educational Profits: The Positive Impact of Parental Involvement on Children's School Careers
Social Class Differences in Inter-Institutional Linkages
Appendix: Common Problems in Fieldwork: A Personal Essay