This project looks at the diverse pathways that children from different cultural backgrounds take in reaching their potential in school. The focus is on how parents' everyday interactions with their children around school shape children's motivation to do well and ultimately their achievement. Because African Americans are so frequently outperformed by their European American counterparts, we are examining what parents in the two cultures do differently. A key aim is to understand the practices parents in each culture use that maximize children's success. Children and their parents in the Champaign-Urbana area are being followed over the course of a year while children are in middle school. Their participation involves completing a set of questionnaires at the beginning and end of the year. Families also complete interviews every evening for two weeks.