The Influence of Cultural Capital Transmission on Reading Achievement in African American Fifth Grade Boys.

Abstract

Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K) were used to examine the relationship between cultural capital transmission and reading achievement within a nationally representative sample of 5th grade African American males. Logistic regression techniques were used to examine several differences between high- and low-achieving African American male students. Regression analyses controlling for 3rd grade achievement, family structure, socioeconomic status, and parent involvement. The findings indicated that parent supervised artistic activities were related to positive academic development, whereas artistic activities supervised by other adults were not. Implications are discussed in terms or increasing the reading achievement levels of African American males. Keywords: African American boys, literacy, parental involvement, cultural capital Reading underachievement has been observed in African American boys from kindergarten through high school (National Center of Education Statistics, NCES, 2007). While there are a multitude of studies that discuss the negative outcomes of African American males, the same cannot be said of the availability of studies that document the antecedents and possible interventions to these problems (Swanson, Cunningham, & Spencer, 2003). The documentation of negative outcomes related to reading achievement and African American boys is plentiful in the educational and psychological research literature. Negative outcomes include high incarceration rates, overrepresentation in special education, and lack of representation in gifted programs (Donovan & Cross, 2002). With the dearth of literature on constructs related to reading achievement in elementary school, it is imperative to understand which modifiable factors contribute to high achievement in African American boys. PARENT INVOLVEMENT AND ACADEMIC OUTCOMES One factor that has been consistently related to high levels of academic achievement has been parental involvement (Fan, 2001). The degree to which parents are involved in their children's schooling has been directly linked to positive educational outcomes (Jeynes, 2005). Conceptually, parent involvement is a complex phrase that encompasses a variety of parental behaviors such as reading to children, attending school activities, and facilitating the participation in extracurricular activities (Fantuzzo, Mc Wayne, Perry, & Childs, 2004; Hill & Craft, 2003). In accord with the diversity in defining parental involvement, there are also differences in how each conceptualization is related to academic outcomes (Gauvain, Savage, & McCollum, 2000). In particular, activities such as school-based parent participation, helping children with their homework, and parent supervision have a noticeable impact on children's academic achievement (Fantuzzo et al., 2004). In light of these issues it is imperative to use multiple topologies to ascertain various parental involvement effects simultaneously on academic outcomes. PARENTAL TRANSMISSION OF CULTURAL CAPITAL AND ACADEMIC OUTCOMES According to Pierre Bourdieu (1973) cultural capital is a mechanism used by society's affluent parents to socialize their children to develop cultural and educational competencies and successes. There are three components to this process: (a) parental possession of cultural capital; (b) parental transmission of cultural capital; and (c) children's absorption of cultural capital (Jaeger, 2009). There are three types of capital that parents can possess: (a) objectified cultural capital, which are objects, like art that necessitate special cultural abilities to appreciate; (b) institutionalized cultural capital, which are educational credentials and the credentialing system; and (c) embodied cultural capital, which is an awareness and appreciation of cultural goods (Bourdieu, 1997). Without the investment of time by parents, the aforementioned types of capital would not be absorbed by children, and would ultimately not lead to successful societal outcomes such as educational attainment. …