In this study, we examine the intersections and divergences of class- and race-based parenting motivations and practices as they connect to education through an exploration of the purposeful, race-conscious ways that a socioeconomically mixed sample of Black families approaches and practices academic and social enrichment and development. Drawing from focus groups and interviews with 28 African American caregivers and their middle school children, we propose the concept of racialized compensatory cultivation to describe the racialized ways Black parents across socioeconomic classes understand and engage in educationally focused enrichment practices. We add to the body of work that actively challenges the centering of White, middle-class caregiving norms and connections to schools as the dominant and most effective practices and strategies.
AaltonenS.KarvonenS. (2016). Floating downstream? Parental support and future expectations of young people from less privileged backgrounds. Sociology, 50, 714–730.
2.
AinsworthJ. W. (2002). Why does it take a village? The mediation of neighborhood effects on educational achievement. Social Forces, 81, 117–152.
3.
AkivaT.CareyR. L.CrossA. B.Delale-O’ConnorL.BrownM. R. (2017). Reasons youth engage in activism programs: Social justice or sanctuary?Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 53, 20–30.
4.
AuerbachS. (2007). From moral supporters to struggling advocates: Reconceptualizing parent roles in education through the experience of working-class families of color. Urban Education, 42, 250–283.
5.
BallS. J. (2003). Class strategies and the education market: The middle classes and social advantage. Abingdon, England: RoutledgeFalmer.
6.
BallS. J.VincentC.KempS.PietikainenS. (2004). Middle class fractions, childcare and the “relational” and “normative” aspects of class practices. Sociological Review, 52, 478–502. doi:10.1111/j.1467-954X.2004.00492.x
7.
Baquedano-LópezP.AlexanderR. A.HernándezS. J. (2013). Equity issues in parental and community involvement in schools: What teacher educators need to know. Review of Research in Education, 37, 149–182.
8.
BartonA. C.DrakeC.PerezJ. G.St. LouisK.GeorgeM. (2004). Ecologies of parental engagement in urban education. Educational Researcher, 33(4), 3–12.
9.
BellS. E. (2004). Intensive performances of mothering: A sociological perspective. Qualitative Research, 4, 45–75.
10.
BennettP. R.LutzA. C.JayaramL. (2012). Beyond the schoolyard: The role of parenting logics, financial resources, and social institutions in the social class gap in structured activity participation. Sociology of Education, 85, 131–157.
11.
BodovskiK.FarkasG. (2008). “Concerted cultivation” and unequal achievement in elementary school. Social Science Research, 37, 903–919. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2008.02.007
12.
BourdieuP.PasseronJ.-C. (1977). Reproduction in education, society and culture (R. Nice, Trans.). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. (Original work published in French 1970)
13.
BowmanP. J.HowardC. (1985). Race-related socialization, motivation, and academic achievement: A study of black youths in three-generation families. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 134–141.
14.
CalarcoJ. M. (2018). Negotiating opportunities: How the middle class secures advantages in school. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
15.
CareyR. L. (2016). “Keep that in mind…You’re gonna go to college”: Family influence on the college going processes of Black and Latino high school boys. The Urban Review, 48, 718–742. doi:10.1007/s11256-016-0375-8
16.
CarreónG. P.DrakeC.BartonA. C. (2005). The importance of presence: Immigrant parents’ school engagement experiences. American Educational Research Journal, 42, 465–498.
17.
CaughyM. O. B.RandolphS. M.O’CampoP. J. (2002). The Afrocentric home environment inventory: An observational measure of the racial socialization features of the home environment for African American preschool children. Journal of Black Psychology, 28, 37–52.
18.
ChavkinN. F.WilliamsD. L.Jr. (1993). Minority parents and the elementary school: Attitudes and practices. In ChavkinN. F. (Ed.), Families and schools in a pluralistic society (Vol. 4, Issue 2, pp. 73–83). New York: SUNY Press.
19.
CheadleJ. E.AmatoP. R. (2011). A quantitative assessment of Lareau’s qualitative conclusions about class, race, and parenting. Journal of Family Issues, 32, 679–706.
20.
ChinT.PhillipsM. (2004). Social reproduction and child-rearing practices: Social class, children’s agency, and the summer activity gap. Sociology of Education, 77, 185–210.
21.
ColemanJ. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95–S120.
22.
CooperC. W. (2007). School choice as “motherwork”: Valuing African-American women’s educational advocacy and resistance. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 20, 491–512.
23.
CooperC. W. (2009). Parent involvement, African American mothers, and the politics of educational care. Equity and Excellence in Education, 42, 379–394.
24.
CooperC. W.RiehlC. J.HasanA. L. (2010). Leading and learning with diverse families in schools: Critical epistemology amid communities of practice. Journal of School Leadership, 20, 758–788.
25.
Delale-O’ConnorL.GrahamD. L. (2019). Teachers’ talk about race and caregiver support: “You can never be too sure about parents.”Urban Education, 54, 499–534.
DesimoneL. (1999). Linking parent involvement with student achievement: Do race and income matter?Journal of Educational Research, 93, 11–30.
28.
DiamondJ. B.GomezK. (2004). African American parents’ educational orientations: The importance of social class and parents’ perceptions of schools. Education and Urban Society, 36, 383–427.
29.
DowD. M. (2019). Mothering while Black: Boundaries and burdens of middle-class parenthood. Berkeley: University of California Press.
30.
DumaisS. A.KessingerR. J.GhoshB. (2012). Concerted cultivation and teachers’ evaluations of students: Exploring the intersection of race and parents’ educational attainment. Sociological Perspectives, 55, 17–42.
31.
DurlakJ. A.WeissbergR. P.PachanM. (2010). A meta-analysis of after-school programs that seek to promote personal and skills in children and adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 45, 294–309.
32.
EdwardsP. A. (1996). Before and after school desegregation: African American parents’ involvement in schools. In ShujaaM. (Ed.), Beyond desegregation: The politics of quality in African American schooling (pp. 138–161). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
33.
EngelR. J.SchuttR. K. (2013). The practice of research in social work. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
34.
Fields-SmithC. (2005). African American parents before and after Brown. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 20, 129–135.
35.
Fields-SmithC. A. (2006). Motivation for participation: Why highly involved African American parents participate in their children’s education. Journal of School Public Relations, 27, 234–257.
36.
FreixasC.AbbottM. (2019). What have we wrought? An explication of the consequences of segregation. In FreixasC.AbbottM. (Eds.), Segregation by design: Conversations and calls for action in St. Louis (pp. 117–168). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
37.
GilliesV. (2005). Raising the “meritocracy” parenting and the individualization of social class. Sociology, 39, 835–853.
38.
GorskiP. (2006). The classist underpinnings of Ruby Payne’s framework. Teachers College Record, ID number 12322.
39.
GosaT. L.AlexanderK. L. (2007). Family (dis)advantage and the educational prospects of better off African American youth: How race still matters. Teachers College Record, 109, 285–321.
40.
HalpernR. (2003). Making play work: The promise of after-school programs for low income children. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
41.
HardawayC.McLoydV. (2009). Escaping poverty and securing middle class status: How race and socioeconomic status shape mobility prospects for African Americans during the transition to adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38, 242–256. doi:10.1007/s10964-008-9354-z
42.
HarryB.KlingnerJ. K. (2006). Why are so many minority students in special education? Understanding race and disability in schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
43.
HarryB.KlingnerJ. (2007). Discarding the deficit model. Educational Leadership, 64(5), 16–21.
44.
HillN. E.TorresK. (2010). Negotiating the American dream: The paradox of aspirations and achievement among Latino students and engagement between their families and schools. Journal of Social Issues, 66, 95–112.
45.
Hoover-DempseyK. V.WalkerJ. M.SandlerH. M.WhetselD.GreenC. L.WilkinsA. S.ClossonK. (2005). Why do parents become involved? Research findings and implications. Elementary School Journal, 106, 105–130.
46.
HowardT. C.ReynoldsR. (2008). Examining parent involvement in reversing the underachievement of African American students in middle-class schools. Educational Foundations, 22, 79–98.
47.
HughesD.RodriguezJ.SmithE.JohnsonD.StevensonH.SpicerP. (2006). Parents’ ethnic-racial socialization practices: A review of research and directions for future study. Developmental Psychology, 42, 747–770.
48.
HughesM.ThomasM. E. (1998). The continuing significance of race revisited: A study of race, class, and quality of life in America, 1972 to 1996. American Sociological Review, 63, 785–795.
49.
HuguleyJ. P.WangM. T.VasquezA. C.GuoJ. (2019). Parental ethnic-racial socialization practices and ethnic-racial identity: A meta-analysis of research. Psychological Bulletin, 145, 437–458.
50.
JanssenI. (2015). Hyper-parenting is negatively associated with physical activity among 7–12 year olds. Preventive Medicine, 73, 55–59.
51.
KingstonP. (2001). The unfulfilled promise of cultural capital theory. Sociology of Education, 12, 88–99. doi:10.2307/2673255
52.
LamontM.LareauA. (1988). Cultural Capital: Allusions, Gaps and Glissandos In Recent Theoretical Developments. Sociological Theory, 6(2), 153–168. doi: 10.2307/202113
53.
LareauA. (2003). Unequal childhood: Class, race, and family life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
54.
LeonardoZ. (2002). The souls of white folk: Critical pedagogy, whiteness studies, and globalization discourse. Race Ethnicity and Education, 5, 29–50.
55.
LeonardoZ.GrubbW. N. (2018). Education and racism: A primer on issues and dilemmas. New York, NY: Routledge.
56.
Lesane-BrownC. (2006). A review of race socialization within Black families. Developmental Review, 26, 400–426. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2006.02.001
57.
LewisA. (2003). Race in the schoolyard: Negotiating the color line in classrooms and communities. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
58.
LewisA.DiamondJ. (2015). Despite the best intentions: How racial inequality thrives in good schools. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
59.
Lewis-McCoyR. H. (2014). Inequality in the promised land: Race, resources, and suburban schooling. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
60.
Lewis-McCoyR. (2016). Boyz in the ’burbs: Parental negotiation of race and class in raising Black males in suburbia. Peabody Journal of Education, 91, 309–325. doi:10.1080/0161956X.2016.1182839
61.
LieberE.WeisnerT. (2015). Dedoose (Version 6.1.18) [Software]. Retrieved from www.dedoose.com
62.
LubienskiS. T. (2003). Celebrating diversity and denying disparities: A critical assessment. Educational Researcher, 32(8), 30–38.
63.
MazamaA.LundyG. (2012). African American homeschooling as racial protectionism. Journal of Black Studies, 43, 723–748.
64.
McGrathD. J.KuriloffP. J. (1999). “They’re going to tear the doors off this place”: Upper-middle-class parent school involvement and the educational opportunities of other people’s children. Educational Policy, 13, 603–629.
65.
McHaleS. M.CrouterA. C.KimJ. Y.BurtonL. M.DavisK. D.DottererA. M.SwansonD. P. (2006). Mothers’ and fathers’ racial socialization in African American families: Implications for youth. Child Development, 77, 1387–1402.
66.
McKayM. M.AtkinsM. S.HawkinsT.BrownC.LynnC. J. (2003). Inner-city African American parental involvement in children’s schooling: Racial socialization and social support from the parent community. American Journal of Community Psychology, 32, 107–114.
67.
MelmanS.LittleS. G.Akin-LittleK. A. (2007). Adolescent overscheduling: The relationship between levels of participation in scheduled activities and self-reported clinical symptomology. High School Journal, 90(3), 18–30.
68.
MilesM.HubermanA.SaldañaJ. (2014). Qualitative data analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
69.
MilnerH. R.IV. (2007). Race, culture, and researcher positionality: Working through dangers seen, unseen, and unforeseen. Educational Researcher, 36, 388–400.
70.
MilnerH. R.IV. (2013). Analyzing poverty, learning, and teaching through a critical race theory lens. Review of Research in Education, 37, 1–53.
71.
MollL. C.AmantiC.NeffD.GonzálezN. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 31, 132–141.
72.
MollL. C.GonzálezN. (2004). Engaging life: A funds-of-knowledge approach to multicultural education. In BanksJ. A.BanksC. A. M. (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (2nd ed., pp. 699–715). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
73.
Musu-GilletteL.RobinsonJ.McFarlandJ.KewalRamaniA.ZhangA.Wilkinson-FlickerS. (2016). Status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups 2016 (NCES 2016-007). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/2016007.pdf
74.
NeblettE.Jr.Rivas-DrakeD.Umaña-TaylorA. (2012). The promise of racial and ethnic protective factors in promoting ethnic minority youth development. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 295–303. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00239.x
75.
PattilloM. (2005). Black middle-class neighborhoods. Annual Review of Sociology, 31, 305–329.
76.
PattilloM. (2013). Black picket fences: Privilege and peril among the Black middle class. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
77.
PattonM. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
78.
PearlA. (1997). Cultural and accumulated environmental deficit models. In ValenciaR. R. (Ed.), The evolution of deficit thinking: Educational thought and practice (pp. 132–159). Abingdon, England: RoutledgeFalmer.
79.
PotterD.RoksaJ. (2013). Accumulating advantages over time: Family experiences and social class inequality in academic achievement. Social Science Research, 42, 1018–1032. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2013.02.005
80.
ReardonS.PortillaX. (2016). Recent trends in income, racial, and ethnic school readiness gaps at kindergarten entry. AERA Open, 2(3). doi:10.1177/2332858416657343
81.
ReayD. (2005). Mothers’ involvement in their children’s schooling: Social reproduction in action. In CrozierG.ReayD. (Ed.), Activating participation: Parents and teachers working towards partnership (pp. 23–38). Staffordshire, England: Trentham Books.
82.
ReynoldsR. (2010). “They think you’re lazy,” and other messages Black parents send their Black sons: An exploration of critical race theory in the examination of educational outcomes for Black males. Journal of African American Males in Education, 1, 144–163.
83.
Rios-AguilarC.KiyamaJ. M.GravittM.MollL. C. (2011). Funds of knowledge for the poor and forms of capital for the rich? A capital approach to examining funds of knowledge. Theory and Research in Education, 9, 163–184.
84.
RizzoK. M.SchiffrinH. H.LissM. (2013). Insight into the parenthood paradox: Mental health outcomes of intensive mothering. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 22, 614–620.
85.
RoksaJ.PotterD. (2011). Parenting and academic achievement: Intergenerational transmission of educational advantage. Sociology of Education, 84, 299–321. doi:10.1177/0038040711417013
86.
Santiago-RiveraA. L.AdamesH. Y.Chavez-DueñasN. Y.Benson-FlórezG. (2016). The impact of racism on communities of color: Historical contexts and contemporary issues. In AlvarezA. N.LiangC. T. H.NevilleH. A. (Eds.), Cultural, racial, and ethnic psychology book series. The cost of racism for people of color: Contextualizing experiences of discrimination (pp. 229–245). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
87.
SolorzanoD. G.YossoT. J. (2001). From racial stereotyping and deficit discourse toward a critical race theory in teacher education. Multicultural Education, 9(1), 2–8.
88.
Thompson DorseyD. N. (2013). Segregation 2.0: The new generation of school segregation in the 21st century. Education and Urban Society, 45, 533–547.
ValenciaR. R. (2012). Introduction. In ValenciaR. R. (Ed.), The evolution of deficit thinking: Educational thought and practice (pp. ix–xvi). New York, NY: Routledge.
91.
ValenzuelaA. (1999). Subtractive schooling: Issues of caring in education of US-Mexican youth. New York: SUNY Press.
92.
VandellD. L.LarsonR. W.MahoneyJ. L.WattsT. W. (2015). Children’s organized activities. In LernerR. M. (Series Ed.), BornsteinM. H.LeventhalT. (Volume Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Ecological settings and processes (7th ed., pp. 305–344). New York, NY: Wiley.
93.
VincentC.BallS. (2007). Making up the middle-class child: Families, activities and class dispositions. Sociology, 41, 1061–1077. doi:10.1177/0038038507082315
94.
Votruba-DrzalE. (2003). Income changes and cognitive stimulation in young children’s home learning environments. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 341–355.
95.
WilliamsE. R.BaberC. R. (2007). Building trust through culturally reciprocal home-school-community collaboration from the perspective of African-American parents. Multicultural Perspectives, 9(2), 3–9.
96.
YossoT. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 81, 69–91.
