These two researchers turned to the strength of the family as educator model and a recognition of the resilience of these families to explain their findings. What they learned, however, was that there is a mismatch between the expectations of the school and the cultural expectations and interpretations of the home. The school provides primarily workbook and drill activities, while the families offer their children rich reading and writing experiences. D. Taylor and Dorsey-Gaines (1988) suggest that a problem arises when the students employ the discourse practices of their home to learning situations at school.

As D. Taylor and Dorsey-Gaines (1988) emphasize, much literacy learning takes place in the context of family-based interactions and activities before formal school instruction. Clearly, the child's literacy development is shaped by experiences at home right from birth. Therefore, supporting parents in their role as their children's first teachers can have a positive impact on the child's emerging literacy skills and attitudes toward learning which has long term implications for the child's future success not only in school, but later for life (Heath, 1983; L. M. Morrow, 1989; Nickse, 1989; D. Taylor & Dorsey-Gaines 1988).

Halle, Kurtz-Costes and Mahoney (1997) also present research related to culture and education. They studied how African-American disadvantaged parents circumvent detrimental effects of poverty and translate academic aspirations for their children into reality. They report that the number of books in the homes of these low-income families was related to children's reading scores in the subsequent year. They conclude that providing access to children's books through libraries may be one of the most important activities that disadvantaged communities and schools can do to help.

Leichter (1984) studied family environments to obtain a picture of home literacy resources. She clustered the conceptions of the ways family environments support or hinder literacy development into three categories: (a) interpersonal interactions - parental response to child's literacy learning; (b) physical environment - available resources and household arrangement; and (c) home emotional and motivational climate.

Results revealed that parents bring their literacy and school experiences to their child's reading and writing exploration, often trying to compensate for an unpleasant past by making literacy positive for their child. Also, she discovered that there is a wide range of learning activities and these are classified differently by parents in terms of educational value. Although Leichter (1984) acknowledges that the dynamics within the family must be understood by those engaging in literacy education, some of her categories may not be equally important in all families.