Table of contents
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................... 2
1.1. Overview.............................................................................................................. 2
1.2. The attainment gap............................................................................................... 2
1.3. Distal and proximal factors.................................................................................. 5
1.4. A conceptual model of the inter-generational transmission of learning.............. 8
1.5. Caveats, limitations and alternative perspectives .............................................. 11
2. Proximal family processes ........................................................................................ 21
2.1. Introduction........................................................................................................ 21
2.2. Parenting style.................................................................................................... 24
2.3. Educational behaviours...................................................................................... 29
3. The importance of context ........................................................................................ 36
3.1. The meaning of context ..................................................................................... 36
3.2. Neighbourhoods................................................................................................. 40
3.3. Schools............................................................................................................... 43
3.4. Pre-schools......................................................................................................... 46
4. Characteristics of the family ..................................................................................... 50
4.1. Introduction........................................................................................................ 50
4.2. Parental cognitions............................................................................................. 51
4.3. Parental well-being and mental health............................................................... 57
5. Distal family factors.................................................................................................. 62
5.1. Introduction........................................................................................................ 62
5.2. Family structure ................................................................................................. 63
5.3. Family size......................................................................................................... 65
5.4. Teenage motherhood.......................................................................................... 67
5.5. Income and poverty............................................................................................ 69
5.6. Maternal employment........................................................................................ 71
6. More complex modelling.......................................................................................... 74
6.1. Introduction........................................................................................................ 74
6.2. The model of mediating process for the effects of income................................ 74
6.3. The mechanisms mediating the effects of poverty on children’s intellectual
development....................................................................................................... 75
6.4. How money matters for young children’s development: Parental investment
and family processes .......................................................................................... 77
6.5. Economic well-being and children’s social adjustment: The role of family
process in an ethnically diverse, low income sample ........................................ 79
6.6. Summary............................................................................................................ 81
7. Conclusions............................................................................................................... 82
7.1. The key channels for education effects.............................................................. 82
7.2. Future research................................................................................................... 83
7.3. Policy relevance ................................................................................................. 84
References......................................................................................................................... 86