What is the Oklahoma GEAR UP Parent Leadership Academy?
The Oklahoma GEAR UP Parent Leadership Academy (PLA) helps Oklahoma parents become more involved in improving public schools to enhance academic achievement for all students
Who can participate?
Participation in the Oklahoma GEAR UP Parent Leadership Academy is open to all parents, grandparents and guardians who have or have had children in any of the 10 GEAR UP schools/sites in the Oklahoma GEAR UP grant and who is not a current employee or their spouse of the school or school district.
Participants will:
Enhance their leadership and communication skills.
Learn about the public education system in Oklahoma.
Receive and learn how to read and understand the test data from their school and district.
Learn about achievement gaps in their school.
Partner with their school administrators, teachers, and other parents to improve student achievement.
Connect to an existing network of committed parents and community leaders.
Commit to attend all three sessions (3-days total).
Commit to leading at least one project in a school or community.
Receive support and coaching as they plan and implement their project.
Maintain an ongoing connection with Oklahoma GEAR UP.
What are the mission and goals of the Oklahoma GEAR UP Parent Leadership Academy?
Mission: To develop a network of skilled confident parents who will partner with local school sites to significantly increase the number of students who are prepared to enter and succeed in post-secondary education.
Goals: Graduates of the PLA will be able to: (1) provide leadership in parent-school-community partnerships that enhance student achievement in preparation for entrance and success in postsecondary education, (2) design and implement school-wide or district-wide processes that promote a high-performance learning culture, and (3) encourage historically under-involved parents to engage in a strong community-school partnership.
What will participants in the Academy be trained to do?
Participants will be trained in leadership and communications skills, given information, including achievement data, and provided an explanation of Oklahoma’s public education system. Training will enable them to work more effectively with other parents in their communities to improve local schools and increase student achievement by designing and completing a project in their school or district.
Where will the institute sessions be held?
Three sessions will be held at Northeast Tech in Kansas, OK on January 22-23 and February 11, 2020.
How much do the sessions cost?
The Academy is free to all participants; all expenses including meals, and materials will be provided.
How does someone get more information on the Oklahoma GEAR UP Parent Leadership Academy?
For more information, please contact your GEAR UP Education Coordinator, Debra Keil, dkeil@osrhe.edu.