The Relative Importance of Home and School in the Development of Literacy Skills for Middle-Grade Students

Variations in the home environments of poor and middle-income children affect their literacy development, which leads to substantial differences in reading ability and behavior. Schools can mediate influences from home through the conditions that they foster and the instructional policies and procedures they promote. The result of schools' efforts may either ameliorate or magnify the inequities in reading development related to family economic conditions. This study tests these contentions in middle-grade schools by using a nationally representative sample of poor and middle-class eighth graders from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Home and school effects on our measure of literacy development--a standardized test of reading comprehension--are explored with multilevel methods (hierarchical linear modeling). While homes exert an important influence on this outcome, findings focusing on schools and classrooms are emphasized. The study also highlights school conditions and policies that foster social equity in the literacy development of young adolescents. Implications of current school reform efforts are discussed.