Dr. Compton-Lilly is carrying out research on literacy practices in families and the role that literacy has in children's home lives. According to Compton-Lilly, reading instruction in schools is an important factor in building children's identities as students and readers.

She is the author of the books Reading Families: The Literate Lives of Urban Children (Teachers College Press, 2003), Confronting Racism, Poverty and Power (Heinemann, 2004) and Rereading Families (Teachers College Press, 2007), and the editor of Breaking the Silence (International Reading Association, 2009). Professor Compton-Lilly has also published many articles on family literacy and reading instruction in leading journals from the Journal Citation Reports. She is currently a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the highest-ranking institution in this field. She is also active in giving reading instruction to children from various communities and works with teachers at local schools.

Dr. Compton-Lilly gave two lectures in the Faculty of Education's auditorium. The first was for students from the Bachelor's Degree Programmes in Primary and Preschool Education, while the second was for the UIC teaching staff.