Describes research demonstrating how a group of urban Black elementary school students were denied full access to literacy based on teacher assessments of their attitudinal displays as inappropriate, although they demonstrated literacy skills in peer and nonschool contexts. Argues that admission to literacy not acquisition of literacy was the…

Examines class and ethnic differences in narrative style. Reviews recent research and outlines the basic differences between White middle-class narrative and the styles of various cultural groups. Explicates some of the uses of narrative in educational research and deals specifically with the educational implications of narrative differences. (CMG)