Social disparities of educational participation and school achievement have proven as highly stable over the last decades. To explain this fact the school system can be made responsible for reproducing social inequality; as another effect familial transmission can be brought into account. In the study presented here both perspectives are linked together: What is the impact of structural and process-based characteristics of families in different school environments on reading performance and social skills? The study examines N = 15,783 students of different school types (Hauptschule/Gymnasium) of PISA 2000-E. Multi-group structural equation models show differential effects of family background and school type.

Keywords
Social disparity; School type; Reading performance; Social skills