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Veda Pendleton McClain uses a case study of the "Coleman family"
to examine support for literacy within an economically disad
vatanged family.
You're not going to find what I think you're looking for. Lisa's mom is not supportive of her school work at all. She never helps her with any of her work. I don't think Ms. Coleman can read or write. I'm not sure about that though. But she never comes for parent-teacher conferences. I don't care how many notes I send home, she doesn't come to school. One time I saw her in Wal-Mart and she wanted to know if we could have the conference right then and there. She really didn't understand. When I saw them, it seemed as if Lisa was in charge.
-Ms. Wilson
Ms. Wilson was Lisa's classroom teacher. She had been teaching for several years and made these comments during an interview I conducted with her about Lisa and about the amount of support in reading she believed Lisa received at home. Ms. Wilson was being candid about what she knew about Lisa's home life and felt she should warn me about what I would see during my visit to the Coleman home. I was interviewing economically disadvantaged families and their children who were successful readers. I asked Ms. Wilson to elaborate on her statements: "What do you mean Lisa was in charge?"
MS. WILSON: It seemed as if Lisa was handling their affairs, taking care of the business. It looked as if Lisa was holding the money and the food stamps.
VEDA: Was she deciding what to buy?
MS. WILSON: I think so. But in any case, she seemed to be taking the lead.
As I left the classroom, I thought about Ms. Wilson's words about Ms. Coleman1 and her daughter. I thought about Lisa and her reading achievement. Lisa had been identified by Ms. Wilson as a successful reader. Her score on her most recent informal reading inventory had been above grade level and far above those of her peers. In fact, Ms. Wilson said she believed that Lisa's scores may have been the highest of all the children in fifth grade that year. I was impressed.
This particular story of Lisa and her mom...