Not surprising, but notable disconnect in a Florida report titled, “New Education Majority" between parents and schools. On the one hand are the parents who express the following:
Then you have those that are ostensibly serving these communities of color faulting them for what they see as families not valuing education. This article points out correctly just how faulty this perception is. As I've written previously, with few exceptions, all parents care about their children's well-being and success. The issue is rather whether schools can even apprehend this caring and respond in an effective manner, on the one hand, and the extent to which parents can translate their caring into effective practices that promote academic achievement. That's why we need schools to partner with parents and community-based organizations that can help address what turns out to be a systematic disconnect. Wade Henderson of The Leadership Conference Education Fund indicates as much:A majority of poll respondents said that when their children make it to college, it is largely due to the student’s and family’s efforts, while only about 15 percent said the school’s role was the most important factor.
“Too often, the prevailing dialogue faults families of color for bad educational outcomes instead of grappling meaningfully and seriously with the need for the system to make different policy choices."My only quibble with this piece and by extension, the title of the report is with the title and reference to the "new majority." As a sociologist, I must point out that the term, "majority," doesn't refer to numbers but rather to power. That is, a group can be a numerical majority but still lack cultural, political, economic, and social power—and thusly, be a minority. The concept of majority-minority relations points out those that are in, as opposed to those that are not, in power along all of these dimensions. Stated differently, simply being a group that is large in numbers doesn't automatically equate to or mean that they call the shots on the education they receive. Repression and Anglo conformity can still occur. Why aren't we a bilingual or multilingual nation by now if minority groups hold power?
That said, this new, numerical majority—which is itself not actually new, but part of the very national landscape out of which majority-minority relations have been forged—has a voice and an important perspective on what a quality school can be. Adequate school funding, highly qualified, anti-racist teachers, and a rigorous multicultural/ethnic studies curriculum is what should begin finding a home in our public education system if parents' and communities' sense of possibility is to take root.
Growing critically conscious teachers: A social justice curriculum for educators of Latino/a Youth offers an alternative route along the lines suggested above. This is an organic, community-based alternative that invests in the talent that resides
You can order the book here: http://store.tcpress.com/0807756830.shtml
All royalties will go to our national organization, the National Latino/a Education Research and Policy Project (NLERAP) in support of our grow your own Latin@ Teacher Education Institutes Initiative in 5 cities in 5 states at present. Contributors: Carmen Mercado BarbosaAdele Arellano, Jennifer Ayala, Margarita Margie Ines Berta-Avila, Julio Cammarota, José Cintrón, Barbara Flores, Melissa Rivera, and Louie Rodriguez. Thanks to Sonia Nieto, Christine Sleeter, and Antonia Darder for the foreword, afterword, and blurb, respectively.
Angela Valenzuela
c/s
#RacialPolitics #Latino #LatEdPolicy #BlackLivesMatter #EdPolicy #TxEd #TxLege
Racially diverse 'new majority' set to reshape US public schools
Modes of thought| For the first time, classrooms in public schools are filled mostly by nonwhite students. The concerns of minority parents could change American schools and education policies.
America’s public schools are a snapshot of a changing America:
Since 2014, for the first time in the country’s history, a majority of
those in public schools have been students of color.
That’s more than just a statistic. The rise of this “new majority” promises to have sweeping effects on American schools over time. The voices and interests of these students and their parents will need to be better woven into the decisionmaking that affects United States classrooms, many education experts say.
What’s their emerging message? In part it’s in keeping with the age-old desires of families everywhere: a good education in safe schools. But it’s also a call for greater equity in school quality – a longstanding sore spot in America’s education system that’s growing harder to ignore. And for some in this new majority, the definition of a good education includes shaping lessons that truly embrace diversity.
“The quality is not the same due to less
funding,” a Latino parent said of schools serving primarily students of
color, during a Chicago focus group tied to the poll. The parent said
the money gap means “less teachers, less technology available … and less
overall academic opportunities.”
And opportunity is the goal for these new-majority parents. Judging by the poll and focus-group responses, they want their kids held to rigorous standards and expectations, and they’re ready to do their part to prod their children forward. They just want schools to be up to the task at hand.
“Will states and school districts rise to the occasion and build a K-12 public education system designed to address the educational needs of students of color? Or will they shirk their duty … and condemn a majority of public school students to a future with little to no promise?” asks Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference Education Fund, in a report on the poll results.
More than three-quarters in the poll said schools in low-income communities – often those with many African-American or Latino residents – receive less funding than schools in wealthy communities. Parents who believed there are racial disparities in the quality of education attributed it primarily to this lack of funding. The next two factors they pointed to: lower teacher quality and overall racial bias.
“I’ve seen it so many times before. They don’t offer to black schools what they offer to white schools,” an African-American parent told a focus group in Philadelphia.
In all, 6 in 10 Latinos and 8 in 10 African-Americans in the survey said schools serving their group receive less than schools in white communities.
The vast majority also believed students should be challenged more and that low-income students should be held to the same or higher expectations, because of the importance of education as a path out of poverty or limited opportunities.
The call for better schools and greater equity comes at an important moment in national education policy. States are working to refine their school accountability systems within the parameters of the new federal education law known as the Every Student Succeeds Act. The law replaced the law known as “No Child Left Behind,” giving states greater flexibility in how to ensure strong schools.
As is often the case with polls of parents, more than 8 out of 10 said the school their children attend is good or excellent. But even within this question, the backdrop of racial equity lurked. Among African-Americans whose child attended a school that is mostly white, 94 percent rated the school highly, compared with 75 percent of those whose school was mostly black.
When asked an open-ended question about what factor is most important to make a great school, half cited good teachers.
A majority of poll respondents said that when their children make it to college, it is largely due to the student’s and family’s efforts, while only about 15 percent said the school’s role was the most important factor.
But such family support is not always top of mind for educators at struggling schools.
In a high school in Florida that had some of the worst outcomes, an intervention leadership team at first thought of the families as largely unemployed and not particularly valuing education. The team believed that, in turn, this caused the children to not aspire to higher education.
After they surveyed the students, they found quite the opposite, according to an account by Rebecca Carlo, then-coordinator of a Florida project working with struggling learners.
Nearly all the students believed attending school beyond high school was an important goal, and more than 9 out of 10 said their family supported their educational goals and encouraged them to keep trying when things were difficult.
“Too often, the prevailing dialogue faults families of color for bad educational outcomes instead of grappling meaningfully and seriously with the need for the system to make different policy choices,” notes Mr. Henderson of The Leadership Conference Education Fund in the report, which acknowledges that the new majority includes Asians and Native Americans, who are likely to be included in future polls. “We cannot hope to build the public education system all children deserve without including the parents and families of the students who will most benefit from a truly high-quality education.”
But to truly engage with families in Latino and African-American neighborhoods to ensure equity will require a deeper dive into the subtext of the poll, said Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade, a longtime teacher in largely Latino East Oakland, Calif., and a professor at San Francisco State University, during a panel discussion following the poll’s release April 11.
When parents of color call for “rigor” in education, for instance, they aren’t necessarily calling for more academic tests. “You can’t be engaged in academically rigorous education without being engaged in a culturally relevant education,” he said. “For us, the inclusion and centrality of valuing our culture, valuing our history … is by definition what we mean by academic rigor.”
That’s more than just a statistic. The rise of this “new majority” promises to have sweeping effects on American schools over time. The voices and interests of these students and their parents will need to be better woven into the decisionmaking that affects United States classrooms, many education experts say.
What’s their emerging message? In part it’s in keeping with the age-old desires of families everywhere: a good education in safe schools. But it’s also a call for greater equity in school quality – a longstanding sore spot in America’s education system that’s growing harder to ignore. And for some in this new majority, the definition of a good education includes shaping lessons that truly embrace diversity.
Consider just this one finding from a new poll of black
and Latino parents: The sense of racial bias was so strong for some
parents that a quarter of Latinos and a third of African-Americans
agreed with the statement, “Schools in the US are not really trying to
educate Black/Latino students.”
And opportunity is the goal for these new-majority parents. Judging by the poll and focus-group responses, they want their kids held to rigorous standards and expectations, and they’re ready to do their part to prod their children forward. They just want schools to be up to the task at hand.
“Will states and school districts rise to the occasion and build a K-12 public education system designed to address the educational needs of students of color? Or will they shirk their duty … and condemn a majority of public school students to a future with little to no promise?” asks Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference Education Fund, in a report on the poll results.
What parents see
Mr. Henderson’s group is the research and education arm of a large civil rights coalition, and sponsored the new poll for a report titled, “New Education Majority: Attitudes and Aspirations of Parents and Families of Color.” The survey included 400 black and 400 Latino parents and guardians of school-age children, interviewed by phone in March by the polling firm Anzalone Liszt Grove Research (ALG).More than three-quarters in the poll said schools in low-income communities – often those with many African-American or Latino residents – receive less funding than schools in wealthy communities. Parents who believed there are racial disparities in the quality of education attributed it primarily to this lack of funding. The next two factors they pointed to: lower teacher quality and overall racial bias.
“I’ve seen it so many times before. They don’t offer to black schools what they offer to white schools,” an African-American parent told a focus group in Philadelphia.
In all, 6 in 10 Latinos and 8 in 10 African-Americans in the survey said schools serving their group receive less than schools in white communities.
The vast majority also believed students should be challenged more and that low-income students should be held to the same or higher expectations, because of the importance of education as a path out of poverty or limited opportunities.
The call for better schools and greater equity comes at an important moment in national education policy. States are working to refine their school accountability systems within the parameters of the new federal education law known as the Every Student Succeeds Act. The law replaced the law known as “No Child Left Behind,” giving states greater flexibility in how to ensure strong schools.
As is often the case with polls of parents, more than 8 out of 10 said the school their children attend is good or excellent. But even within this question, the backdrop of racial equity lurked. Among African-Americans whose child attended a school that is mostly white, 94 percent rated the school highly, compared with 75 percent of those whose school was mostly black.
When asked an open-ended question about what factor is most important to make a great school, half cited good teachers.
Considering new priorities
The poll results may help broaden education policy agendas. In the dominant narrative around education reform, “a lot of the debates that we hear about … just don’t reflect what these new-majority parents have to say,” says Liz King, director of education policy for The Leadership Conference Education Fund. “The hemming and hawing about opt-out [related to standardized testing], for example, we just don’t see that as a priority concern.”A majority of poll respondents said that when their children make it to college, it is largely due to the student’s and family’s efforts, while only about 15 percent said the school’s role was the most important factor.
But such family support is not always top of mind for educators at struggling schools.
In a high school in Florida that had some of the worst outcomes, an intervention leadership team at first thought of the families as largely unemployed and not particularly valuing education. The team believed that, in turn, this caused the children to not aspire to higher education.
After they surveyed the students, they found quite the opposite, according to an account by Rebecca Carlo, then-coordinator of a Florida project working with struggling learners.
Nearly all the students believed attending school beyond high school was an important goal, and more than 9 out of 10 said their family supported their educational goals and encouraged them to keep trying when things were difficult.
“Too often, the prevailing dialogue faults families of color for bad educational outcomes instead of grappling meaningfully and seriously with the need for the system to make different policy choices,” notes Mr. Henderson of The Leadership Conference Education Fund in the report, which acknowledges that the new majority includes Asians and Native Americans, who are likely to be included in future polls. “We cannot hope to build the public education system all children deserve without including the parents and families of the students who will most benefit from a truly high-quality education.”
But to truly engage with families in Latino and African-American neighborhoods to ensure equity will require a deeper dive into the subtext of the poll, said Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade, a longtime teacher in largely Latino East Oakland, Calif., and a professor at San Francisco State University, during a panel discussion following the poll’s release April 11.
When parents of color call for “rigor” in education, for instance, they aren’t necessarily calling for more academic tests. “You can’t be engaged in academically rigorous education without being engaged in a culturally relevant education,” he said. “For us, the inclusion and centrality of valuing our culture, valuing our history … is by definition what we mean by academic rigor.”
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