The Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence has released a new report entitled Securing Educational Equity: Learning from the Lived Experiences of Black, Latino, and Low-Income Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond, by Amy Lewin, PsyD and Kevin Roy, PhD.
The Coalition worked with the University of Maryland School of Public Health to conduct interviews and focus groups with Black and Latino parents and students served by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), as well as MCPS educators, in order to determine the impediments to virtual learning among underserved students. The researchers found that students desperately want more from the adults in MCPS; students need the resources such as desks, school supplies and tech support that make learning possible; and students and parents need much more communication from MCPS.
According to the report, “the COVID-19 pandemic has unearthed and exacerbated long-standing educational disparities for underserved Black, Latino, and low-income students in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland. However, the pandemic – and all of the systemic efforts to transform how and where students learn – offers a unique and urgent opportunity to address these disparities, during the pandemic and beyond.”
The Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence is a partnership of community organizations and individuals standing together to challenge systemic patterns of inequities in education in Montgomery County Public Schools and to ensure all students have equitable access to the resources, opportunities and supports they need to be successful in school, work and life.
The Coalition was founded in 2019 by Identity and the NAACP – Montgomery County Chapter and has grown to include over 30 organizations which collectively serve tens of thousands of Black, Brown and low-income students and families. Learn more at bandbcoalition.org.
