The Purchasing Practice of Low-Income Students: The Relationship to Mathematical Development

Abstract

The purpose of this 2-part study was to explore the mathematical and purchasing competencies present in students' engagement in shopping practices in a low-income African American neighborhood. Study 1 consisted of in situ analyses of children's shopping activities at a local store, revealing the variety of arithmetic tasks that emerged in relation to varied artifacts, shopping routines, social norms, and clerk support. In an effort to reveal competencies that could not be measured through observation alone, Study 2 consisted of individual interviews of 30 first and second graders about tasks that required them to purchase items at a mock store. Analyses revealed both strategies that were frequently and infrequently associated with successful purchasing and the relationship between children's strategy choices and the demands of particular purchases. This research documents the many mathematical competencies children present that may not be captured in traditional school assessments and considers how this prior knowledge might be used to inform instruction and treatments of sociocultural frameworks.

Notes

¹Though the term liquor store often refers to state-sponsored establishments designed exclusively for the sale of wine and spirits, the use of the term in this particular community and in other African American communities is different. I use the term liquor store here to be faithful to its use by the members of this community and to ensure consistency between the language used by participants and that in my reports of my observations.

*Significant even after the Bonferroni correction is applied.

²Many of the purchasing strategies were consistent with those described in Guberman (1996). Global correspondences were similar to idiosyncratic, and covert calculation was similar to total, but because of differences between the tasks that children were provided and the marked difference in the type and value of currency used in these two countries, different strategies were possible. For example, decomposition was not possible for some of the tasks presented, and distinguishing between efficient verses inefficient forms of currency presentations was not possible for some of the tasks.