3rd Journal Review...

Title:
Race and Class Challenges in Community Collaboration for Educational Change
By Linwood H. Cousins, Roslyn A. Mickelson, Brian Williams and Anne Velasco
From The School Community Journal, 2oo8, Vol. 18, No.2

Abstract:
This article reports the challenges of race and social class in an action research project to facilitate educational change through community collaboration with African American parents, community organizations, and public schools. This project was undertaken in Charlotte, North Carolina to enhance the participation of African American parents in their children's math and science course selection and placement in middle and high school. Focusing on the communities of three high schools and their feeder middle schools, this article reports important lessons and outlines strategic implications for future work in the intersection among African American communities, public schools and education, and universities.

Samples:
African American parents in Charlotte, North Carolina

Settings:

• Based at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Charlotte-Mecklenburg School.
• Workshop in a 6 weeks format. Weekly sessions were roughly 2 and one-half hours in length.

Procedures:
- Recruitment
Recruit parents for collaborating with them. Recruitment strategies included a) radio and TV public service announcements b) speaking at churches and community organization meetings and program officers c) discussions with public housing authorities and parent advocates d) distributing flyers in barbershops, beauty salons and at grocery stores.

1. Authors employed a mixed method design. During the entire planning and implementation process authors collected extensive qualitative data through field notes, observations and interviews with participants.
2. Authors selected a purposive sample of racially and ethnically diverse high scholls to receive the treatment and matched them with high schools that would not receive the treatment. Parents of students in the treatment schools were recruited for HOME workshop.

- Helping Ourselves Mold Education (HOME) Workshop

• Parents who attended learned about their educational rights under the North Carolina constitution.
• They engaged in hands-on math and science activities and participate in role playing designed to equip them for effectively managing their childrens educational careers.
• Workshop sites varied in order to maximize convenience for parents. They included the UNC Charlotte campus, community recreation centers, public schools and local churches.
• Transport provided on an as-needed basis.
• Authors established a website and developed a project newsletter that mailed out every 2 months.

Findings:

1. HOME began 6 workshop series. Three workshop series were successfully implemented. Three series did not have enough participants to make conducting them worthwile interms of the goals and resources of the project, and after one or two initial sessions, the workshops were cancelled.
2. Parents of African American had concern about social class issues and about protecting the African American community by not supporting a project that could possibly harm and exploit African American people.
3. Despite the challenges and difficulties, the findings include the fact that the overwhelming majority of parents who participated in the workshop expressed gratitude regarding the helpful things they learned.
4. Parents who participated in HOME were pleased and wanted others to share the same positive experience.