A Family Case Study: How Money Might Matter for Academic Learning

• Main Author: Catherine Compton - Lilly
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mercy College 2014-04-01
• Series: Global Education Review
• Subjects: education; poverty; socio-economic; African American
• Online Access: http://ger.mercy.edu/index.php/ger/article/view/4/31

Many children living in low income communities do not face struggles in school. Many learn quickly and easily. But for some students, living in a high poverty communities and attending underfunded schools has consequences that can make learning difficult. In this paper, Compton-Lilly draws on the words of a parent living in a low-income community to explore how economic and social challenges affected the schooling of her daughter over a ten-year period. As the following accounts reveal, Ms. Rodriguez, an African American, low-income parent, was committed to her daughter’s learning and school progress and brought a thoughtful and informed critique to her children’s school experience that reveals the multiple ways that money affects academic learning.