Throughout UNCF’s 80-year existence, we have known one thing to be true—collective voice and action is consequential for enduring change in education. Introduction
For many, the past few years have been an awakening as the country simultaneously battled the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic racism and deep-seated inequities on full display from health care to criminal justice, housing and the educational system.
However, for many Black families, these inequities were already apparent and palpable before the pandemic. Many educational disparities did not just appear during the pandemic. If we are to move forward in this “new normal” and to traverse the educational landscape with a renewed sense of educational equity and justice, we must be committed to hearing—and believing—what Black parents and caregivers have been saying throughout the years about their experience with the educational system.
What we have known at UNCF for decades is that Black parents are deeply engaged in the educational lives of their children, yet far too often they are denigrated and deemed disengaged about their children’s learning environment. However, consider these few statistics regarding Black families during the pandemic.
- According to Census data, at the end of the 2020 school year Black families spent about 13.1 hours, on average, per week with their children on educational activities, which is more than many racial groups and on par with the national average. This was more than twice the amount of time students met with teachers virtually during the same period.1US Census Bureau. (2020). Household Pulse Survey Data
Tables. Week of April 23rd to May 5th 2020. www.census.gov/programs-surveys/household-pulse-survey/data.html. - During some summer months of 2020, Black families spent more time, on average, with their children on educational activities than other racial groups.
- Another poll showed that higher proportions of non-White and low-income households reported all types of academic activities compared to White and high-income households in the summer of 2020.2Saavedra, A., Rapaport, A., Silver, D., Polikoff, M., Garland, M. and Haderlein, S. (2020, April 3). Parents’ perspectives on the effects of covid-19 on k-12 education. The Evidence Base, USC Schaeffer. https://healthpolicy.usc.edu/evidence-base/parents-perspectives-on-the-effects-of-covid-19-on-k-12-education-april-july-2020//
Our findings from the first edition of the Black parent research series and this current wave reify these statistics; Black parents are deeply engaged in their children’s educational experiences, but they are concerned about opportunity gaps and want better resources for their children.
What We’ve Learned in the UNCF Perceptions Research Series
UNCF’s Advocacy team began this work to hear from the Black community a decade ago with the inaugural African American parent perceptions report, Done to Us, Not with Us: African American Parents’ Perceptions of K-12 Education. That report provided a national, comprehensive view of Black parents’ and caregivers’ perspectives on issues such as college readiness, school safety and school quality. The title is emblematic of their sentiments—they did not want policy and reform efforts being done to them. Done to Us, Not with Us also helped further dismantle deficit narratives about Black families as the findings showed they overwhelmingly wanted their children to attend college and were deeply engaged in their education.
A salient finding from the report was that 62% of Black parents said that education reform efforts would be more effective if more African American leaders were involved. To that end UNCF conducted interviews and surveyed influential African American community or grasstop leaders to gauge perspectives on education, with a particular focus on their community engagement efforts and concerns. In 2017, we released these findings in Lift Every Voice and Lead: African American Leaders’ Perceptions of K-12 Education. These leaders told us they wanted tools to help them in their community engagement endeavors. As a supplement to the report, we released The Lift Every Voice and Lead Toolkit to provide tangible ways for leaders to become engaged in K-12 advocacy.
Finally, we closed the perceptions series with youth perspectives in A Seat at the Table: African American Youth’s Perceptions of K-12 Education, because far too little research includes youth voices—especially youth voices of color—in a meaningful way. Despite common deficit narratives about African American youth achievement, our data revealed that they have high aspirations for college attainment and promising careers. Many felt they had caring adults in their schools, yet they also voiced the need for improvements in their learning environment and more information about the college process.
Overall, the first wave of the perceptions research showed that: (1) race remains a salient factor in our education system, (2) Black parents, leaders and students overwhelmingly aspire to post-secondary education opportunities, (3) there is a real concern about safety for students and families and (4) all groups have an intrinsic desire in their ability to make change. More importantly, the perception series continues to underscore the fact that Black voices matter in education.
The second wave of the parent research illuminated both synergies and divergent views from Done to Us, Not with Us, but one thing remains clear—Black parents have and always will be integral stakeholders in the education landscape. Their voice is imperative, their expertise is invaluable and their unwavering commitment to not only their children but those in their communities is why we must always provide space and place for Black parents.
Throughout UNCF’s 80-year existence, we have known one thing to be true—collective voice and action is consequential for enduring change in education. It is what spurred Dr. Frederick D. Patterson and Mary McLeod Bethune to create UNCF to collectively fundraise for HBCUs in 1944 and it is also the impetus for the K-12 advocacy work we have been leading for over a decade. African American parents do not just want a seat at the table, they want a voice at the table and the opportunity to decide what is on the agenda. Their voices matter. This report uplifts those voices, and we hope the findings can help center Black families as critical education stakeholders in our education system. We must be committed to hearing and believing our Black parents because we know in various sectors, from healthcare to criminal justice and education, the voices of Black parents may be heard, but their opinions are dismissed and devalued.
Footnotes
Black parents have and always will be integral stakeholders in the education landscape. Their voice is imperative, their expertise is invaluable and their unwavering commitment to not only their children but those in their communities is why we must always provide space and place for Black parents.