Racial equity contributes to quality of early childhood education

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – A recent study by the National Voices Project, a W.K. Kellogg Foundation supported initiative at the University of Michigan revealed that quality of early childhood and elementary education and the availability of high quality of child care  are significantly impacted by racial inequities in a child’s community. 

“Adults in communities across the U.S. feel that racial equity fosters a happy, healthy educational experience for our youth,” said Matthew M. Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P., director of the National Voices Project, professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at the University of Michigan Medical School and professor of Public Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. “For quality of early childhood education and availability of high quality child care, racial inequity is a clear problem.  Adults who perceive inequity in their communities are much less likely to rate early childhood education and child care as high quality.”
The full survey shows that where there are perceived inequities at the community level, there are also perceptions of diminished opportunities for young children and teens in the domains of nutrition, health, and healthcare.

A survey of 2,311 adults from 48 states and the District of Columbia found that 38 percent of adults who perceive few or no racial or ethnic inequities in their communities rate the overall quality of early childhood and elementary education as “excellent,” compared to only 21 percent of adults who perceive many or some racial or ethnic inequities in their communities.
 
Read the full report.
 
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports The National Voices Project through the America Healing initiative to identify concerns about children’s health, education, and economic security at the community level across the nation.