A bond develops between the child and the teacher, who now joins in supporting the overall development of the child. By contrast, a child from a poor or marginal family is likely to enter school without adequate preparation. The child may arrive without ever having learned such social skills as negotiation or compromise. A child who is expected to learn to read at school may come from a home where he or she was never read a bedtime story, or even observed an adult reading. It is because such circumstances are at variance with mainstream expectations that these children are often misjudged to be of low academic potential, or considered to have behavior problems.
Parents take such problems as a personal failure or as evidence of animosity from the mainstream.
They lose hope and become less supportive of the school. Some parents, who are ashamed of their speech, dress, or failure to hold jobs, may become defensive and hostile, avoiding contact with the school staff. The result is a high degree of distrust between home and school. This degree of alienation between home and school makes it difficult to nurture the necessary bond between child and teacher that will support development and learning. Dr. Comer found that even when educators wanted to change their approach, there wasn't a mechanism that allowed parents, teachers, and administrators to understand the children's needs, or to collaborate with and help each other address those needs in an integrated, coordinated way.