Reproducing (Dis)Advantage: The Role of Family-based, School-based, and Cumulative-based Processes

Abstract

Pierre Bourdieu's theory of cultural and social reproduction (Bourdieu 1973; Bourdieu and Passeron 1977) offers a model that can be used to explain the existence of persistent educational stratification in the United States, which contributes to perpetuation of social inequality, more generally. This theoretical model purports three mechanisms through which structured social inequalities are perpetuated and reproduced: (1) the effective transmission of family-based cultural knowledge and skills to children, (2) teachers' and schools' preference for students who possess these family-based cultural resources (in favor of upper- and middle-class children), which influences academic achievement, and (3) the cumulative effect of high achievement at the start of school--as a result of having entered the school system with cultural resources valued by the education system--on subsequent achievement. While qualitative research has provided evidence in support of Bourdieu's framework, quantitative research has not confirmed Bourdieu's propositions. I used data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) to investigate the mechanisms through which family-based, school-based and cumulative processes contribute to early educational achievement. I asked the following questions: (1) How large are the SES effects on academic achievement (math and reading) prior to schooling (age 4½), and how much of the difference is mediated by family-based cultural resources (parental habitus and parenting practices)?; (2) Do kindergarten teachers perceive themselves as closer to students with higher levels of SES (net of the student's academic abilities), and do kindergarten teachers' ratings mediate the relationship between SES and academic achievement in first grade?; (3) Does SES have effects on academic achievement post school entry (first grade), even when controlling for academic achievement prior to school entry, family-based cultural resources, and the student-teacher relationship? This study finds that family-based cultural resources partially mediate the effect of SES on first grade academic achievement, and the student-teacher relationship does not mediate the effect of SES on first grade academic achievement. Further, this study finds some support for a cumulative effect of (dis)advantage.