Much of the current research on African-American academic performance, which seeks to determine why African-American children perform less well in school than their Euro-American counterparts follows a comparative methodology, which examines whole group differences. In order to better understand what is happening in the school lives of African-American children one must begin to study the family lives of these children. This book opens the discussion to socialization practices of African-American families and the variations that exist within families through an in-depth case study of five families. It examines the instructional styles that African-American families use in instructing their children in non-academic tasks, and their impact on the children s learning and school performance. Two styles of instruction are analyzed within the context of home and school practices. This analysis should help shed new light on ways in which African-American children learn and how teachers can best support these learning styles for academic success. This book is written for teachers and others in the field of education.