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Following recent clips circulating on social media highlighting black students’ learning gaps or lack of parental involvement, Ashley Thomas, an Indianapolis parent advocate and mother of three, says that is removed from the reality for a lot of black parents.

“A lot of times, a lot of us as Black parents, we hear negativity when something bad happens, or, ‘Oh, these parents aren’t showing up,’” Thomas said. BLACK ENTERPRISES.

“We’ve seen numerous TikToks about what parents are doing, but parents are doing the whole lot they will and so they’re literally changing the sport… and we’re patting parents on the back for that and saying, ‘Hey, that drum beat, you possibly can keep doing that.’

A brand new report from the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) entitled “Hear Us, Believe Us: Centering the Voices of African American Parents in K-12 Education.” confirms Thomas’s feelings with research on the subject offers a comprehensive evaluation of experiences, challenges and aspirations African American parents on race, college aspirations, parental involvement, and more.

“We are really excited about this work and the opportunity to elevate parent voices because too often we know that parent voices are silenced, but we know that they have been making a difference in education for decades,” said Dr. Meredith BL Anderson , said UNCF Director of K-12 Research TO BE.

Although UNCF just celebrated its eightieth anniversary^vol anniversary of highlighting minority students pursuing higher education, the organization also has K-12 Advocacy shoulder to ensure the subsequent generation is college ready.

“For the past 12 years, we have been elevating the voices of the Black community on a variety of issues related to K-12 education, from race to college readiness to equity,” Anderson said.

“So my role is to produce research reports, talk to community members – whether they’re parents, students, counselors, teachers – and make sure that we’re dismantling some of these deficit narratives when it comes to our Black communities, because we know that they are engaged, informed and ready to make a difference.”

UNCF’s Advocacy Division creates college preparation tools and has over 20 publications and resources on the elementary and middle school levels alone. The latest report, released May 2, highlights the critical role African American parents play in their children’s education. It emphasizes the importance of understanding their unique perspectives and incorporating them into educational policies and practices.

UNCF conducted the study on a national sample of black parents using telephone surveys and focus groups. The study also oversampled black parents in Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans and Memphis. Some of the important thing ones report arrangements include:

1. Black parents report higher academic aspirations for their child and fewer school suspensions when more Black teachers work in their child’s school. For black parents and guardians whose children attended schools where many or most of the teachers were black, the likelihood that their child received exclusionary discipline is sort of 3 times lower than when their child attended schools with fewer black teachers.
2. Black parents highly value higher education and are deeply involved in and invested in their children’s education with 84% of black parents feeling it is crucial for their child to attend and graduate from college, and over 80% checking their child’s homework and talking to their child’s teacher repeatedly. Meanwhile, 93% of Black parents say they need more opportunities to be involved in their child’s education and have input on education laws.
3. Black parents want to see more Black leaders in education. Seventy percent of African American parents and guardians consider that involving African American leaders and organizations will make school improvement efforts more practical.
4. School safety is a key issue for Black parents and caregiverswith 80% of African American parents and guardians rating safety because the most necessary factor when selecting a college.

Dr. Anderson emphasized that the report focuses on the importance of Black teachers.

“We also found that black parents felt more respected when there were more black teachers. So we know that Black teachers are important,” she said.

The report concludes with a series of recommendations designed to address the concerns and aspirations of African American parents.

Recommendations for the K-12 sector

• Invest unapologetically in Black teachers.
• Create more intentional opportunities for parent involvement.
• Create a learning environment that reflects African American history and culture.
• Partner with local organizations to provide resources and services for families.
• Value and treat support staff in school budgets.
• Prioritize student safety.

Recommendations for higher education

• Make intentional efforts to provide students and families with college opportunities.
• Create intentional pipelines of collaboration with districts and charter organizations to increase teacher diversity.
• Ensure teacher training programs include anti-racist and culturally relevant teaching practices.
• Collaborate with K-12 schools and districts to provide students and families with financial and literacy resources.

For Thomas, an Indianapolis parent advocate, her personal passion for investing in her children’s education has translated into her skilled work as founder and CEO of an organization Consulting by the ANT Foundation, which provides community organizing training, strategic community mobilization, and organizational leadership development. It encourages parents and educators to “co-parent” for their child’s educational success and to take seriously the calls to motion in this report.

“I tell parents all the time, ‘When I move, you move, that’s just the way it is.’ We need to work together in the community to make something happen. So we also need to make sure that these reports don’t just sit there; we use them to empower parents to move and have a voice at the federal level, at the state level, at the political level, at the school district level – whatever it is – because our voices are powerful.”

Access to full report here AND Tune in to stream BLACK ENTERPRISE on Friday, May 3 at noon ET platforms down podcast where Dr. Anderson discusses the report’s findings and Ms. Thomas gives parents recommendations on working with schools.