Communities of Color and Public School Reform

Posted by on November 21, 2011

In their terms

New research from the Campaign for High School Equity finds that African-American and Latino parents and caregivers perceive high dropout rates and low college attendance as problems, particularly in their own communities. These parents show a high level of individual commitment to ensuring the educational success of their children, but are unaware of the larger public school reform movement, and face a reality in stark contrast to what they want for their children. Because these parents overwhelmingly share the goals of a strong education and college degrees for their children, researchers see an opening to engage them in a collective, coordinated effort that would empower them to hold the educational system accountable for more effective and inclusive reforms and innovations. In working to engage and empower this group of parents and caregivers, it is crucial that reform organizations and education leaders work with parents on the parents’ terms. With that in mind, organizations can play a large role in developing reforms that better reflect parent and community priorities while also helping parents understand the relevance of any reform that is being promoted as increasing their child’s chances to be ready for college and complete a degree.

See the contextual summary: http://publiceducation.org/pdf/2011_National_Conference/Communities_of_Color_Summary.pdf

See the research: http://publiceducation.org/pdf/2011_National_Conference/Communities_of_Color_Slides.pdf