Research · EduBlck Institute
What happens when AI meets a classroom that wasn't built with Black students in mind?
The formal research question: How is the adoption of AI tools in grades 5 to 9 affecting the educational experiences and outcomes of Black students, and what community-based infrastructure is needed to ensure equitable implementation? I'm asking it with a BA in mathematics, twelve years inside classrooms, and a PhD trajectory ahead. And I'm asking it from inside the community, not above it.
Five themes
Pick a rock. I've been turning them all over.
Click any theme to open it. Plain language on purpose: if a Pittsburg parent can't read this page, the research has already failed its own methodology.
Racial Bias in AI Educational Tools
McKinsey · EdTech Equity Project · Stanford
AI tools carry racial bias because they reflect the blind spots of their designers. The tech industry is 92.6% non-Black, and the tools being built for Black students are rarely built by people who understand their experience.
The Digital Divide and AI Access
Pew Research · PPIC California · Stanford
72% of White teens have heard of ChatGPT versus 56% of Black teens. The awareness gap begins at home, before any teacher deploys a tool. In Pittsburg, CA, broadband equity is a live community issue.
Teacher Training and Institutional Failure
RAND Corporation · U.S. Dept. of Education
As of fall 2024, only 47% of teachers received any AI training, typically a one-time event. Black students receive tools not designed for them, deployed by teachers not trained to use them.
The Achievement Gap at Grades 5-9
EdWeek · Darling-Hammond · Hechinger Report
Only 39.3% of 8th graders in majority-Black schools met grade-level reading standards in 2025. In math, my own subject, students remain up to 14 points below pre-pandemic levels.
Equity-Centered Research Frameworks
Ladson-Billings · Woodson · CBPR
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Community-Based Participatory Research, and Carter G. Woodson's foundational work ground every methodological decision EduBlck Institute makes.
The work right now
Active · Collecting
Four live community surveys
Educators and parents, short and research-partner versions. Student research is deferred until IRB review upon PhD enrollment, on purpose. Rigor over speed.
Educator Survey, Short
Educator Survey, Research Partner
Parent and Guardian Survey, Short
Parent and Guardian Survey, Research Partner
In progress
Working literature review
Five themes, full citations, and the research gap this work fills. Download the full document
Why CBPR is the whole point: Community-Based Participatory Research means the people this research is about help shape it, not just supply data for it. Every survey, every theme, every finding gets built with Pittsburg families and educators, not just about them.