Reducing the Relational Distance between Actors

Abstract

The research reported here centers on two African American principals and their efforts to include parents in a school restructuring program. One was successful, whereas the other was not. The findings are presented within a sociological frame work as principals' attempts to reduce the relational distance between home and school. Although some have argued that this distance is countered by matching actors on racial characteristics, these results indicate that the problem is somewhat more complex. Rather, one principal's ability to correctly read the surrounding community and his relationship to it emerged as the most important factor in determining his success in minimizing the home/school gap.