Sociologist Robert Putnam illustrates that educational success strongly correlates with the amount of “social capital” in the family and community.

Many believe that family and community are at the heart of learning. However, outlining the practical steps for shifting away from our current school-centered approach and toward communities that support learning remain unclear.

Edmund Gordon argues that school programs are insufficient to meet the educational challenges we face. Rather, he believes focusing on developing families and communities ability to foster learning is the pathway toward success.

The view that schools hold the responsibility for learning, and that education is primarily delivered by schools is as inaccurate today as the idea that the sun revolves around the earth.

Lareau’s research demonstrates that it is culture and cultural repertoires based within families and communities that are at the heart of successful learning and education.

Homes that embody a cultural commitment to learning are often filled with a love of learning. In these homes, learning is not simply a useful skill, or a set of knowledge, or even a degree of intelligence. Rather, learning is a way of life, without which life is otherwise incomplete.

Betty Hart and Todd Risley findings underscore that the use of language and words in American homes are the foundation of children’s early experiences with language.