THE CAUSE: Highlighting racial disparities in education to support academic success for urban youth via GRAD Cincinnati. This organization works directly with administration, teachers, and students in the school district the data comes from.
THE CHALLENGE: For every person who completes and submits 1114 total minutes of activity between 3/15/22 and 3/29/22, we will donate $23 to GRAD Cincinnati. This means you can complete the minutes over multiple days and can post/submit multiple times for this challenge. Post a screenshot of your stats from your tracking device’s app in the discussion section of our Facebook March 2022 event page, tag us in a post on Instagram (special instructions apply), or submit your results manually on our website. Submissions will be accepted until 4/1/2022 at 11:59 PM EST.
THE WHY: In 11 out of 14 high schools in Cincinnati Public School District, not a single Black student passed an AP exam out of 552 Black students who took one (Tichavakundra). Nationally, only 23% of Black students enrolled in AP classes earned AP credit compared to almost double that percentage for white students (de Brey, et. al.). As Dr. Tichavakundra stated in his research, this is not an attack or undermining of the hard work of educators, administrators, staff, parents, the community, or the students’ themselves. This is an exploration of the data available so that we can look further for solutions. It is also important to note that AP exams do not capture the whole picture of a students’ college readiness and academic achievement, nor is attending college the ultimate goal for every student.
There’s no doubt that preparing our youth for the future is important. There is high value placed on education in American society and all kids have a right to a free public education. The constitution requires that all kids be given equal educational opportunities regardless of race, sex, religion, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, or citizenship. However, that does not correlate to equal outcomes and our systems once again leave students of color trailing behind their white counterparts. Again, this is NOT to say that students of color are less capable, less motivated, less disciplined, less intelligent, less studious, or less of anything. We cannot stress that enough, so please check your biases if you find yourself defaulting to that thought. On that note, let’s get to moving and raise some money to support students’ success!
de Brey, et. al. “Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups 2018.” US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 2018. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019038.pdf
Tichavakunda, Antar A. “Cincinnati and the State of Black Students and Higher Education.” 2021. PDF. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jQJicTCMoRBh170n2PLyEdnAXaKT3CXi/view