Both Sides of Inequality - New York Times

A concise distillation of the work of the sociologist, Annette Lareau, who has studied class specific parenting styles and how this effects future prospects of children...
Both Sides of Inequality - New York Times: "Lareau's work is well known among sociologists, but neglected by the popular media. And that's a shame because through her close observations and careful writings — in books like 'Unequal Childhoods' — Lareau has been able to capture the texture of inequality in America. She's described how radically child-rearing techniques in upper-middle-class homes differ from those in working-class and poor homes, and what this means for the prospects of the kids inside."

The thing you learn from her work is that it's wrong to say good parents raise successful kids and bad parents raise unsuccessful ones. The story is more complicated than that.