Heath (1983) describes the many functional ways that literacy is used by adults and their children. She shows how differences in language and culture between students' home and school settings make academic success at school difficult. She expresses concern about the "effects of the preschool home and community environment on the learning of those language structures and uses which were needed in classrooms and job settings" (p. 2). Heath found that the African-American children are socialized at home to explore, while the Caucasian children are socialized in a far different manner, they are accustomed to answering questions for which the questioner knows the response, mirroring the structure of learning in the classroom.

Heath concluded that when literacy in the home is at variance with the school, it could contribute to low school achievement. For instance, unlike the Roadville parents, Trackton parents did not typically buy toys or books for their children, nor create reading or writing tasks for them, or model reading or writing themselves. Heath found that some other ways that the mainstream Roadville parents support their children's literacy development include asking them questions, engaging them in conversations, reading bedtime stories to them, surrounding them with print and remaining an active volunteer at school.

When the Roadville children started school, their home and school worlds were a better match than the Trackton children because of their socialization to literate ways of the school. That is, the environment in which they grew up allowed them to use language in the manner expected at school. In contrast, the Trackton children who were well-prepared for life in their own community, were confused when teachers asked hypothetical questions or ones in which the teacher knew the answer. They reacted strangely at school and many soon learned to tune out because their form of language was not promoted at school. Upon recognition that the beliefs and styles of interaction of the children differed from the townspeople, Heath (1983) then recommended a program to "help working-class black and white children [to] learn more effectively"(p. 4).