2023

Is Book Banning Here to Stay? - Word In Black: And, as we head into primary and election seasons, book bans provide a way to “mobilize those who don’t feel comfortable with some of the topics that are being taken up in books,” says Dr. Sonya Douglass, professor of education leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University, and the founding director of the Black Education Research Center.

Florida Isn’t the Only State Banning Books - Word In Black: “We’re deeply disturbed by efforts by elected officials, particularly state legislators to adopt laws that are intended to censor books dealing with gender identity, sexual orientation, and race and racism in the United States, removing them from school library school curricula in particular,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and executive director of the Black Education Research Center, tells Word In Black.

School Districts Push for Black Studies: Led by Dr. Sonya Douglass, founding director of the Black Education Research Collective, the program started this year in K-12 schools. During the livestream premiere of the curriculum, she sat down with Michele Verdiner, principal at Teachers College Community School, to explain why it’s necessary for students in NYC and nationwide.

Many States Are Limiting How Schools Can Teach About Race. Most Voters Disagree: A strong majority of voters want Black studies curriculum and the history of racism and slavery and its legacy taught in K-12 public schools, according to new polling data from the Black Education Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Florida limited lessons about Black history. Many voters disagree.: Though perhaps the most high profile in its actions, Florida was one of several states to implement laws since 2021 restricting the instruction of race or gender. The Black Education Research Center at Columbia University wanted to see if such laws reflected public sentiment. Its latest survey suggests they do not.

Florida’s Limited Black History Lessons Face Disapproval from Voters - Bollyinside: A survey conducted by the Black Education Research Center at Columbia University suggests that these laws do not reflect public sentiment.

Florida’s Limited Black History Lessons Spark Controversy Among Voters - Bollyinside: Despite the national attention, Florida is not alone in implementing laws that restrict the instruction of race or gender. The ban on the African American studies Advanced Placement course and the adoption of academic standards that diminish the experiences of slaves are just some of the controversial policies enacted. However, a recent survey conducted by the Black Education Research Center at Columbia University suggests that these laws do not reflect the sentiments of the public. This raises questions about the impact of such restrictions on the education of students and the importance of teaching diverse perspectives.

2022

Fewer Kids Might Be Reading on Grade Level Due to the Pandemic: In a July 2021 report, the Black Education Research Collective at Columbia University found that around 45% of participants were “extremely” concerned about the academic progress of Black students in the wake of COVID-19, and a little more than 30% of respondents felt that the mental health and wellness of Black students was “extremely impacted.”

Luring Covid-cautious parents back to school: Sonja Douglass Horsford, a professor of educational leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University, and the founding director of the Black Education Research Collective, has examined the response of Black parents to the pandemic and to other recent stressors, such as the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. (The Hechinger Report is an independent media organization based at Teachers College.)

'We’ve got to do better by Black children': leaders call for action on Black youth literacy | Education | stlamerican.com: The disruptions to learning that COVID-19 brought, according to the Black Education Research Collective at Columbia University, have made the situation worse. In a July 2021 report, it found that around 45% of Black educator respondents were “extremely” concerned about the academic progress of Black students in the wake of COVID-19, and a little more than 30% of respondents felt that the mental health and wellness of Black students was “extremely impacted.”

Juneteenth: How and Why It Should Be Taught in K-12 Schools: Douglass is also the founding director of the university’s Black Education Research Collective, which is developing a Black studies curriculum for preK-12 schools in New York City.

Suburban Schools Saw Huge Drops in White Enrollment During the Pandemic: “We’ve been projecting these demographic changes and the browning of America for decades,” said Sonya Douglass, a professor of Education Leadership at Teachers College Columbia University, where she is also the founding director of the Black Education Research Collective. “Now it’s here.”

2021

Spelman faculty won't teach in person, citing COVID-19 rules - The 19th: A recent survey of Black educators, parents and students released by the Black Education Research Collective at Columbia’s Teachers College — in which the large majority of respondents were women — found that the pandemic, police brutality and other major events have eroded the Black community’s trust in the education system.

How Veteran Educators Can Support New Teachers This Year | Edutopia: For example, low-income students and communities of color disproportionately feel the cost of the Covid-19 pandemic. A survey from Columbia Teachers College’s Black Education Research Collective indicates that black families have been experiencing an undue amount of trauma during the pandemic. Also, during the past two school years, student absenteeism was high and shifts to online classes led to students’ learning less new content than they would have in physical classrooms. A recent McKinsey report estimates that the pandemic caused students to be about four months behind in reading and five months behind in math. In addition to losing class time, more than 1.5 million children lost a primary or secondary caregiver due to the pandemic.

NYC public schools unveil groundbreaking curriculum change to teach children Black studies - ABC7 New York: The money will go to a handful of organizations including the Black Education Research Collective at Columbia University and the Eagle Academy Foundation who will help craft the curriculum.

Education Equity Action Plan for 2022 | | qchron.com: United Way was allocated $3.4 million; BE-U $50,000; The Eagle Academy Foundation, a sixth-to-12th-grade college preparatory organization, $3.2 million; the Black Education Research Collective at the Teachers College of Columbia University $3.25 million; and the Association of Black Educators of New York $50,000 from the EEAP fund for collaborating on the curriculum and to help the DOE implement the program in 2022.

Why is critical race theory such a hot button on the local school level?: The debate should not center on critical race theory, said Sonya Horsford, director of the Black Education Research Collective at Columbia University's Teachers’ College, which last month unveiled a Black studies curriculum for K-12 schools in New York City. The focus, rather, should be on what we are teaching students and whether it is enough to allow them to be contributing members of society.