No Child Left Behind and outreach to families and communities: the perspectives of exemplary African-American science teachers

Abstract

This qualitative study examines the perspectives of eight exemplary African-American science teachers toward No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and their outreach to families and communities in the context of the USA. Data revealed that whereas these exemplary teachers applauded the general intent of NCLB, they were concerned with its overemphasis on testing and the limited resources provided to support quality science instruction. To address these challenges, these teachers looked for ways to reach out to families and communities, with particular emphasis on working with communities. Data further revealed that their outreach efforts to families and communities corresponded with three dimensions in Boykin’s Afrocultural Ethos (harmony, communalism and orality), thereby suggesting that there is a need to reexamine school–family–community partnerships when working with students and families from diverse backgrounds, and particular with predominately African-American communities.

Keywords:

• African-American teachers
• No Child Left Behind
• science education
• school–family–community partnerships

Notes

1. This research described in this paper was supported by a grant from National Science Foundation. Any findings, conclusions, or opinions expressed in the paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.