This report offers a focused analysis of ‘bright spots’: public schools and community-based organizations well known for their long-standing reputations of offering quality educational services in Los Angeles. In a city where Black people constitute less than 10% of the overall population, Black students constitute 22-68% of the population served by these schools and organizations. The schools and organizations highlighted in this report are located in high-poverty communities where over 80% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and the despite the challenges of racial and economic inequality, each school and organization has remarkable histories of fostering student achievement, demonstrated by test scores and graduation rates for Black students that exceed statewide averages and are substantially greater than what would be expected. Despite the pronounced structural disadvantages affecting Black students—many of which have been exacerbated by pandemic-impacted educational conditions—these schools and organizations have established a history of illuminating paths toward academic success for the Black students that they serve. As such, their strategies are also illuminative for practitioners and scholars concerned with charting a course toward broader equity within educational systems. This report follows Beyond the Schoolhouse: Overcoming Challenges and Expanding Opportunity for Black Youth in LA County which documented academic, social and environmental patterns of Black students across Los Angeles County and Beyond the Schoolhouse: Digging Deeper | COVID-19 & Reopening Schools for Black Students in Los Angeles that additionally documented promising practices, both in-school and out-of-school, for fostering academic success for Black students. Learn more on the CTS website.
This report builds upon our 2019 analysis that explored how various educational, health, and social factors impact the academic and developmental outcomes of Black students in Los Angeles. We focus on 14 school districts in Los Angeles County that have populations of 800 or more Black students. Collectively, these districts serve two out of three Black students in Los Angeles: ABC Unified School District Antelope Valley Union High School District Bellflower Unified School District Centinela Valley Union High School District Compton Unified School District Culver City Unified School District Inglewood Unified School District Long Beach Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District Paramount Unified School District Pasadena Unified School District Pomona Unified School District Torrance Unified School District William S. Hart Union High School District We cannot ignore the profound impacts COVID-19 is having on Black students and their families. Many are experiencing financial, physical, and emotional hardships associated with job loss, lack of adequate healthcare, and social isolation from prolonged shutdowns. Given that many of the inequities discussed in this report were already pervasive prior to the pandemic, we present our findings along with a set of recommendations for reopening schools and prioritizing the academic success and well-being of Black students with $6 billion in new federal monies available to these 14 school districts. Promising models implemented by districts and schools are offered including descriptions of features and benefits, core objectives, approaches, and practices in support of the social and emotional needs of Black students and families. Finally, we present recommendations for policymakers at all levels of government–city, county, state and federal–that can help to mitigate the disadvantages faced by Black students. While safety remains the number one priority, a more comprehensive approach will be needed to respond to the growing gaps between Black youth and many of their peers. To be clear, schools cannot be expected to do this alone. Learn more on the CTS website.
There are 109,00 Black students in the county, but Black students are overrepresented among those who are underprepared for college, who are subject to punitive forms of discipline, and who are chronically absent from school. Moreover, a disproportionate number of Black students in LA County attend schools that the state has identified as “low-performing” often where critical resources (e.g. school counselors, nurses, social workers, highly qualified teachers, etc.) are in short supply. While considerable attention has been focused on efforts to reform schools and raise student achievement, far less attention and effort has been directed at addressing the out-of-school factors that influence a child’s development, or the social and economic conditions in the neighborhoods where they live. We must do both. Throughout this report, we reference the ways in which the accumulation of disadvantage across various educational, health and social indicators interact with the academic and developmental outcomes of Black children in Los Angeles County. Failure to recognize how poverty, health, and educational performance are related has made it more difficult for education policy to have a positive impact on the needs of the most vulnerable children. This report aims to correct this oversight, suggesting solutions that are designed to counter the effects of these disadvantages. Learn more on the CTS website.
