Media mention: Fields-Smith interviewed on homeschooling trends

The 74, a nonprofit educational news website, recently featured an interview with Cheryl Fields-Smith, associate professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, on why more African-American families are choosing to homeschool their children. This trend runs counter to the stereotype of white Christian families who homeschool; instead, Fields-Smith says, the families she has interviewed for her research cite issues ranging from resegregation to safety to tradition in their decision to homeschool.

Every single one of my families knew people who were homeschooling before they decided to do it," she said. “If you have people in your social network that are homeschooling and you get to interact with those children and you see how well they are doing, that could be a motivating factor as well.