Black Parent Involvement in Schools and Distrust: An Investigation of Parent-Educator Relationships in Different Urban School Types

• In Event: Power and Trust in Cultivating Family, School, and Community Partnerships

Abstract

In this paper, I investigate the relationship between urban African-American parent involvement and these parents' trust or distrust in schools. Through a qualitative approach—including interviewing Black parents of elementary school children and conducting fieldwork in three schools in historically Black neighborhoods—I found that power asymmetries between parents and educators fostered distrust. This erosion of trust manifested differently in each school type. In low-income schools serving students of color, parents felt that their schools struggled systematically with being responsive, accessible and respectful of parents. In gentrifying schools, parents felt marginalized by the power that affluent White families wielded. Finally, in No Excuses charter schools parents their schools left little recourse for parents to voice concerns about school policies.

Author

• Kathryn Hill, Research Alliance for New York City Schools