Transforming Active Parents Into Parent Activists: A Community-Based Organization Engages African American Parents for Educational Reform

• In Event: Marginalized Contexts and Partners Influencing Family-School-Community Partnerships

Abstract

Research on active parents in urban schools has indicated the need to “make the engagement practices of parents more visible and to show their potential as activists in the face of educational policy changes” (Abraham et al., 2019, p. 540). While parent involvement has been shown to have positive academic outcomes for their children, for structural changes to be made, parents have to go from being active to taking on a more activist role. Findings from this qualitative study examine how community-based organizations can serve as a catalyst to engage African-American parents in the educational reform process and build a platform for them as activists.

Authors

• Kristine Lewis Grant, Drexel University

• Stephanie Smith Budhai, Neumann University