The Impact of Growing Up and Now Teaching at the Same Title-I School District

The purpose for this narrative study was to examine the resources that made a positive impact for Latino students in their success at a high-poverty, low-performing Title-I school district. In addition, this research examined the reasons these same students were now teaching in the same school district. The theoretical framework that I used to guide my qualitative research was Yosso's theory on Community Cultural Wealth. Two sets of in-depth interviews were given to five Latino participants of a Title-I school district in south Texas. All five participants grew up in the Title-I school district and had taught in the same Title-I school district for at least three years. The narratives from the five participants revealed three emergent themes about growing up in a Title-I school district. First, Title-I students needed to have access to community resources to overcome the barriers they faced from the culture and image of the district. Second, familial support and caring educators were needed continuously in a K-12th school setting because they were the aspirational capital and navigational capital that inspired the Title-I students to overcome obstacles and be successful in school. Finally, when a Title-I student returned to teach in the same district, they realized two things: 1. They were the cultural capital and mentors for new Title-I students and 2. The asset-based approach to education should be utilized to support students attending a Title-I school.