Safety, security, freedom of expression, love, and support are critical components for adolescent youth that encourage growth and development. This study explored how Black girls make sense of their educational experiences while partnering with school staff through the RoyalSapphires program. Children must be in relationships with well intended…

The prison abolition movement has brought attention to the American carceral crisis, or better yet, the mass incarceration and disproportionate criminalization of Black people in America. It has also led to and fomented recent calls to defund prison systems, the police, and to remove police from schools. While discussions of prison abolition have…

Children with autism and their families often face challenges accessing early intervention and related services. African American children face additional challenges due to disparities in diagnoses and access to services. These disparities present a great need for parent advocacy to combat culturally insensitive service delivery and strained…

This issue brief is the first in a series examining timely topics that are relevant to Black families and children in the United States. The series identifies key information and opportunities for consideration by policymakers, researchers, practitioners, philanthropists, and others interested in supporting the progress of Black families and…

The purpose of this study was to describe community partners' (CPs) perceptions of an out-of-school swimming program (OSSP) for under­served children and youth. Participants were four CPs associated with the OSSP during three consecutive summers and parents of the children and youth who participated in the program. We employed a theoretical…

Purpose: Both fictional oral narrative and expository oral discourse skills are critical language competencies that support children's academic success. Few studies, however, have examined African American children's microstructure performance across these genres. To address this gap in the literature, the study compared African American…

The goal of every early educator is to prepare all students for school success--but for young Black children, entrenched biases and racial inequities have created an achievement gap that must be closed. Transform your practices "and" work for systemic change with this visionary guidebook, a comprehensive roadmap to promoting racial…

Purpose: This conceptual paper aims to explore biases in reading textbooks that have been used to teach generations of Americans, including children in urban communities. While these texts are no longer used, the images they present and the ideas embedded in these texts unfortunately contribute to who we are as a nation.…

Purpose: In this mixed-methods study, we address two aims. First, we examine the impact of language variation on the ratings of children's narrative language. Second, we identify participants' ideologies related to narrative language and language variation. Method: Forty adults listened to and rated six Black second-grade children on the quality…

Anne Dyson confronts race and racism head-on with this ethnographic study of a child's efforts to belong--to be a child among children. Follow the journey of a small Black child, Ta'Von, as he moves from a culturally inclusive preschool through the early grades in a school located in a majority white neighborhood. Readers will see Ta'Von…

This brief is the third in a series examining timely topics that are relevant to Black families and children in the United States. It presents recent data on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black families' access to stable housing in the United States and, at the local level, in Newark, New Jersey. First, it highlights national findings…

In September 2021, the Equity Research Action Coalition, in partnership with the National Black Child Development Institute and POINTS of ACCESS, LLC, collaborated in creating the Black Child National Agenda to challenge the negative and stereotypical narrative of Black children, families, and communities and to identify 10 priorities to dismantle…

This qualitative study explores the transition to kindergarten special education of four Somali autistic children in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This dissertation answers a single, two-part research question: What aspects of the transition to kindergarten process do stakeholders find facilitate the transition process? What parts of the transition do…

Individually administered intelligence measures are commonly used in diagnostic work, but there is a continuing need for research investigating possible test bias among these measures. One current intelligence measure, the Differential Ability Scales, Second Edition (DAS-II), is a test with growing popularity. The issue of test bias, however, has…

This chapter reviews two strands of identity-based research in mathematics education related to Black children, exemplified by Martin (2000) and Nasir (2002). Identity-based research in mathematics education is a burgeoning field that is disrupting narratives around the meanings of mathematical competence and brilliance. We argue that the…