3:3 Cultural Capital

When and where did I find this word?
I found this word while reading through the Handbook of Reading Research.  It was in a chapter entitled, Literacy Policies; Multicultural Perspective.  The word was in the following sentence:  "In practice, those judged most able are mainstream students who enter school with considerable cultural capital."  The paragraph was describing the current policy, focusing on excellence and equity, on multicultural education and English Language Learners.

What does this word mean?
According to http://www.wikipedia.com/, the term cultural capital refers to non-financial assests that involve educational, social, and intellectual knowledge provided to children who grow up in non-wealthy but highly educated and intellectually-sophisticated families.

What was my familiarity with the word?
This word has crossed my path many times over the course of my education but I never really knew what it meant until I looked it up.

Do I want to know this word and why? 
I do want to know this term because it is a sophisticated way to describe many aspects of students lives that are severly overlooked in most classrooms.

Is this a word that I want others to know well? 
Most people think of monetary matters.  The term, cultural capital, is another way to measure assets, but non-monetary assets.  These non-monetary assets are just as important, if not more important, than financial assets in certain situations.  As educators, this term should be refected upon and acted upon.