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Racial differences in learning to read are explained by the application of a sociological model of school system, classroom, and instructional organization. Neither differences in individual background characteristics (aptitude and SES) nor variation in structural position (ability group assignment) alone suffice to explain why nonblacks learn more than blacks in a sample of 302 first graders. To account for such differences it is necessary to consider educational technology, the conditions and activities that constitute instruction. The results show that learning is produced through a set of technological conditions, primarily time spent in instruction and the coverage of curricular materials. These features of instruction in our sample differ in schools attended by blacks and in those attended by nonblacks, with black students being exposed to restricted learning opportunities orginating in district and school differences in the availability of technological resources.
Dreeben et al. (Wed,) studied this question.