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

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.