Black Kids Love Math 3.0 - The Year of The Parents' Voices

From research to action: supporting and partnering with parents to ensure Black students thrive and excel in math.

Black Kids Love Math 2026 is centered on one critical idea:

We've heard our students; now we're listening to our parents.

This year’s summit is not about surface-level inspiration... we’ve moved beyond that.
It’s not about identifying problems... we’ve done that.

This is about actionable partnership.

We are equipping families with the tools, language, and confidence to engage deeply in their child’s math journey. We are redefining what it means to support learning at home, in schools, and within the community.

When families are informed, empowered, and connected:

• Children see themselves as capable mathematicians.
• Learning becomes consistent, not conditional.
• Outcomes begin to change... not by chance, but by design.

Black Kids Love Math 2026 From Conversation to Transformation

In its fourth year, Black Kids Love Math has grown beyond a summit. It is now a movement grounded in truth, research, and the undeniable power of family.

What began in 2023 as FACTS BET ON ME was a bold confrontation with reality. We brought together Black math experts to ask the hard questions. Why are Black students still at the bottom in math achievement? The conversations were honest, necessary and at times uncomfortable. Experts challenged educators to take responsibility, not only to acknowledge disparity but to truly address it. At some point, we must stop explaining outcomes and start changing them.

Still, we knew something was missing.

We refused to let that first convening become just another moment where people gathered, talked and left feeling good while nothing changed for our children.

We made a clear decision. We would not generalize the problem. We would get specific.

Because the truth is, the narrative has been wrong.

For too long, the world has said Black kids do not like math. Black kids cannot do math.

We chose to change that narrative.

Black Kids Love Math!

That shift changed everything.

By late 2023, we turned our focus to the voices that had been missing all along, the children themselves. Through research interns and emerging scholars, we began to examine math education through a new lens. What we uncovered made one thing clear. Academic outcomes cannot be separated from lived experiences.

Post-pandemic realities, health disparities and systemic inequities all shape how Black children show up in the classroom. At the same time, important questions began to surface.

If millions are spent each year on math education for Black students, why are outcomes not improving? If educators are highly trained, why are Black children not consistently experiencing that level of excellence in the classroom?

So we went deeper.

In 2025, under the leadership of our Director of Math Projects and funded by the National Centre for Youth Law, we listened directly to 500 Black students in our presented seminal research gathered and assessed by Stanford Graduate students. 

For too long, decisions have been made about them without their voices being included. Through a student panel, directors of school districts across the state heard how students feel overlooked and undertaught in California classes, particularly in Los Angeles. 

This work sparked national attention, partnerships, and investment. It opened the door to new models of engagement, including Family Math and Black Family University, where learning extends beyond the classroom and into the home.

And one truth became undeniable.

Family is the missing link.

For decades, conversations about math achievement have centered schools, systems and standards, while overlooking the most powerful influence in a child’s life, their family.

Black Kids Love Math 2026 is centered on parents. We listened to the students. Now we must listen to their parents. How can we support them? What tools should they be using? How do they navigate AI for their child and in life? What does student proficiency mean in terms of California Standards?

The Knowledge Shop has always believed in the importance of partnership when it comes to parents and their child's education. This year will be a chance to showcase that the educational institution that stands wants parents to have a seat at the table and to be heard.

As we move into math adoption and new textbooks are selected for instructional planning, this collaboration is more important than ever. Cultural pedagogy MUST be considered for these students to succeed. When Black students succeed, research has shown all students perform higher. Diversity in the STEM field will be realised with the changes we are defining.