An alternative way of understanding the students and their schools, is
perhaps as Mike suggested, to look at the culture(s) of the community(ies)
that the school participants have come from and to look at the interaction of
different cultures in the classroom / school.
On the other hand, one would not want to neutralize some societal
inequalities into merely "cultural differences", either.
There is always this question of what kinds of cultures,
what kinds of cultural practices are more valued
and lead to school success, and sometimes even with the
best-intentioned and most caring and skillful teachers, the inequalities
cannot be addressed without also looking at the exam/assessment system of
the polity (or as approved by school
boards in the situation of N. America).
It is difficult to have to keep in mind so many different things, from as
micro as face-to-face interactions in the classroom, to institutional
organization, to the cultures of the communities, to the educational
system and social selection system of the society, the district, the
economy, the nation as a whole... but not to do so seems to be missing
part of the picture and constructing a partial model somehow...
Any thoughts?
Best wishes,
Angel