Who is PEPP?
Who is PEPP?
The Penn State University-College of Education has committed itself, through the Penn State Educational Partnership Program (PEPP), a statewide school/university collaborative department in the Office of Multicultural Programs, to early intervention programming, academic empowerment of parents and pragmatic teacher preparation and renewal.
PEPP continually strives to be recognized, regionally by location and statewide, as a creative leader in the field of culturally diverse and creative educational intervention programming.
Since 1990 PEPP has developed and implemented educational programmatic activities for urban youth, first generation college attendees, and students who may exhibit college potential, but find themselves not being encouraged or motivated to attend or complete college. These programs have been designed to address universal issues identified in the Partnership strategic plan.
Action I: To enhance academic preparedness and motivational levels of urban public school students, with a special emphasis on first generation college attendees, low income, minority, underrepresented and/or students at-risk of not pursuing a higher education.
Justification: There is a growing concern over decreasing retention and graduation rates, as well as the lack of preparedness or under-preparation of entering undergraduate students statewide and nationally.
Action II: To increase self-esteem, social skill development and career awareness in order to enhance PEPP students’ ability to function successfully in an upwardly mobile society.
Justification: There are prevailing perceptions that the greater number of at risk student populations are academically, socially and technologically incompetent yielding low expectation levels, assumed absence of higher level thinking skills, and general perceptions of inability to perform or function as responsible individuals.
Action III: To heighten family awareness regarding the value of education and increase parental involvement in the educational decision-making progress.
Justification: The vast majority of the PEPP target population (average to above-average students) experience limited home-based or community educational support systems. Many students, particularly those in urban communities, are not encouraged to pursue post-secondary educational opportunities, while others view college as unattainable due to economic factors, institutional fears, apathy, and ignorance of school procedures and services.
Action IV: To offer in-service and pre-service teachers professional development workshops in critical content areas and innovative teaching methods to better serve underserved, culturally diverse student populations.
Justification: Teachers are a vital component in the success or lack of success experienced by all student populations. However, teachers must be trained, renewed, and empowered with academic skills and tools that ensure student academic success and effectively reduce the growing dropout rate.
