Supporting Black Homeschooling Leaders

The Opportunity

Traditional school systems have disenfranchised, failed, and harmed Black children long before the emergence of COVID-19. With varying goals for their children, such as providing a personalized learning experience, offering identity-affirming classes, and having more time together as a family to promote connection, self-love, and freedom, Black homeschooling has increased by five times since March 2020, from 3.3% to 16.1%, compared to the 11% national average.

Because of a desire to have a supportive network for themselves and their families, many Black homeschooling parents are deciding to join homeschooling co-ops to share resources, experience the benefit of in-person learning time, and collaborate with one another. 

These organizations, which are led by brilliant entrepreneurs, lack many of the resources afforded traditional schools and districts, such as infrastructure (e.g., curriculum, governance, and training) and public funding. 

In 2022, Outschool.org launched its second cohort of community partner grantees. These ten grantees were selected based on an extensive application and the requirement that they serve at least 75% BIPOC learners. Of this cohort, three are Black homeschooling groups: The Melanin Village, Heritage Homeschoolers, and EPIC Homeschool Network, Inc.

  • The Melanin Village, founded and led by Brenaea Fairchild, offers professional development, support, and coaching to the Black homeschooling community nationwide. There are both free and paid resources available, including two virtual conferences, a resource center, and access to academic testing.

    The Melanin Village recognized a massive need for a culturally-affirming curriculum in Science and Spanish for homeschool families and decided to design high-quality courses from the ground up. These resources contain both asynchronous and synchronous ways to engage with the content, allowing the Village to provide access to excellent curricula to all of their families, and since they are reusable, they can scale to reach even more families.

  • Founded by Amber O’Neal Johnston, Heritage Homeschoolers is an inclusive support group for Black homeschool families in Cobb County, Georgia that strives to create a sense of community, belonging, and relationship for Black homeschooled children, their parents/caretakers, and other homeschool families who share this vision.

    For Heritage Homeschoolers, applying for Outschool.org’s grant would help them achieve the goal of providing a safe space for Black homeschooled children to find belonging and community while receiving academic and enrichment support that is representative of their culture and other communities of color. Heritage’s instructional vision is that their learners will achieve enhanced academic skills and increased cultural engagement as a group while diving deeply into personal areas of passion.

  • EPIC Homeschool Network, Inc. is a multicultural, faith-based educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization led by Andrea Hall, whose mission is to enrich, enhance and empower home education for PreK-12 students.

    EPIC Homeschool Network believes that homeschoolers of color or from low socioeconomic backgrounds deserve learning experiences that support and grow their interests in and outside of the traditional learning path. With the grant, EPIC Homeschool Network could support approximately 65 homeschooling families by creating an individual learning plan and choosing courses from the Outschool marketplace that reflect learner interests and personal goals for SY 2022-2023.

The Solution

Direct investment to address the funding gap

A cash infusion of $75,000 was offered directly to each organization, as well as capacity-building support to co-design and implement academic and enrichment programs. 

We know that with proper funding, trust, and autonomy, families will find the best way to support the education and wellness of their young learners.   

Partnership to provide 1:1 organizational support

Each of the three organizations was assigned an Outschool.org program manager. Our experienced program managers collaborate with community partners to build the infrastructure necessary for these organizations to succeed and scale, and help them to identify goals and measurement, determine budget on educational and virtual learning resources, and determine design (e.g., course or tutoring dosage). 

Additionally, program managers provide coaching throughout program implementation, maintaining regular check-ins to monitor progress, address challenges, and provide additional support.

Tailored offerings to increase access to high-quality resources

Each organization is encouraged to and supported in developing enrichment opportunities and educational resources based on their unique curriculum and learners’ needs. Some have chosen to spend the grant on private classes on Outschool Marketplace, while others on Reconstruction classes, in-person drama classes, or tennis camps. 

Outschool.org supported The Melanin Village in developing an online science curriculum, and the revenue from that course will lead to a new sustainable funding stream for the organization. 

We believe that our partners know their learners best, as the primary decision makers for addressing their needs.  

Community Reflections

On Identity & Belonging:

“I am taking the After-school African American Young Readers' and Writers' Club (on Outschool) … The teacher is really good. I can learn different things like how to write stories, capitalization, periods, commas, and all that other stuff. It feels great. It is important because it teaches me to write stories. It is important to me to learn African-American stories.”

— Learner (age 9), Heritage Homeschoolers  

On Financial Security:

"I unenrolled my children from some wonderful classes on the Outschool platform due to my financial struggles. This grant will allow them to continue using the platform while I get back on my feet. This grant [is] a huge blessing for my family.”

— Homeschool mom of 2, The Melanin Village  

On Teacher Quality & Classroom Experience:

“I’ve enjoyed the classes that are more interactive and face to face, and my confidence has gotten better because of my Outschool classes. The teachers have a positive attitude about HOW a student learns versus WHAT a student learns, and demonstrate lots of patience for their students.”

— Learner (age 13), EPIC Homeschool Network, Inc. 

95%

Learners said their Outschool teachers challenged them and believed they could do well in class  (Compared to 75% in the pre-survey).

90%

Learners cited that their Outschool teacher listened to their ideas (Compared to 71% in the pre-survey).

87%

Learners cited that their Outschool teacher listened to their ideas (Compared to 71% in the pre-survey).

77%

Learners cited that their Outschool teacher listened to their ideas (Compared to 71% in the pre-survey).

The Bottom Line

So far, Outschool has played a role in supporting over 800 students spanning across The Melanin Village, Heritage Homeschoolers, and EPIC Homeschool Network, Inc. 

With Outschool as a reliable thought partner and investor in these organization’s efforts, homeschooling leaders will continue to provide alternative educational and enrichment experiences for students and their families that surpass the offerings of traditional K-12 education. 

Interested in hearing from the three dynamic and inspiring Black homeschooling organization leaders themselves? Check out our panel session recording from SXSW EDU.

  • The Melanin Village (TMV) has seen twice as many enrollments in their programs since beginning their partnership with Outschool. TMV has designed and launched first-of-its-kind culturally-affirming, relevant, and rigorous Spanish courses to families. The content in Everyday Spanish is flexible enough for students from kindergarten through eighth grade to develop their skills in conversational Spanish through both asynchronous and live class components. This course can continue to evolve and serve more learners in perpetuity.

    This spring, TMV will launch a hands-on science course with the same goals. Families in TMV were also offered Outschool Wallets with $120 per learner to explore supplemental and enrichment opportunities based on their needs and interests.

  • Heritage Homeschoolers focused on virtual culturally affirming enrichment courses from both Outschool.org and Reconstruction. In the fall, learners engaged in eight courses, including Black Poetry, African Diaspora classes, and the Spanish class. The vision for this program was that learners will achieve increased cultural engagement as a group while diving deeply into personal areas of passion.

    At the end of the program, we saw learners respond positively to survey questions about cultural affirming learning, sense of belonging and engagement. All students agreed that their Outschool teachers cared about their culture and 92% shared that their Outschool educators used examples of people like them in the things they learn in class. All students agreed that their Outschool teacher encouraged them to do their best and checked to make sure they understood what they were learning.

    Lastly, all Heritage students (92% Yes, 8% A little) shared that they want to take more enrichment classes like the ones they took with Outschool.

  • EPIC Homeschool Network, Inc. learners engaged in different academic enrichment and personal interest classes. Our goal was to support EPIC homeschooling families by enabling learners to choose courses ($200 per learner) that reflect their interest and personal goals. Learners chose classes that included Creative Writing for Young Writers Workshop, Afterschool African American Young Readers' and Writers' Club, Master Your Multiplication Facts - Minecraft Multiplication! (Ongoing) and many others in different subjects that they care about.

    At the end of the program, 97% of students shared that their Outschool’s teachers listened to their ideas in class, and made class fun. 94% of students reported feeling a sense of belonging, indicating that they felt comfortable sharing their ideas and feelings in the classes they were in.