The partnership has planned and implemented programmatic efforts specifically designed to address the education-related issues that plague our schools and are described in the PEPP strategic plan.  These programs and activities are making a significant impact in the communities in which they reside:

• Tutoring/mentoring by Penn State students in an extended school-day format

• Summer experiential learning opportunities for middle-school students

• Residential summer programs for high-school students at Penn State (University Park and local campuses)

• Professional development programs and institutes for in-service teachers

• Multicultural education workshops for teachers

• Parent Empowerment Workshops on the value of education and how to prepare children for college (financially, academically, and socially)

• Integration of partnership concepts and activities into College of Education pre-service teacher preparation programs.

 

 

After-School Study Programs 

 

The PEPP Academy, an extended school-day program, was designed to provide academic assistance to targeted elementary and middle school (fourth through eighth grade) student populations.  Students are considered for enrollment based on teacher recom­mendation, self-referral, academic potential not realized in the traditional classroom setting, and/or potential to become first-generation college attendees.  Most of this target population could be characterized as average to above-average and “middle-of-the-road” students with some inclusion of higher achievers still considered to be at-risk due to low self-esteem, limited family value toward education or increased peer pressure toward anti-intellectualism. 

PEPP Academy assists students in the development and enhancement of academic skills, provides experiential/educational field trips and exposure to a variety of role models, and fosters a tutor/tutee mentoring relationship between Penn State undergraduates and elementary/middle school students. 

The general success of the PEPP Academy presented a pressing need to implement a programmatic continuum for Academy participants moving on to their high school years.  PEPP students have developed a momentum that must be “protected” from the societal conditions and/or economic circumstances that contribute to escalating high school dropout rates, indifference to education, and dwindling post-secondary participation. 

In order to ensure that PEPP Academy students continue to aspire toward higher educa­tion, the PEPP Institute, a high school-based educational intervention program, was de­signed and implemented.  The program provides students with academic independence, self-exploration, career awareness, enhanced personal growth, self-esteem, cultural diversity and educational guidance. 

Partnership activities began during Spring Semester 1989, including professional development workshops for classroom teachers (i.e. Writing Across the Curriculum, Science/Technology/Society, Middle School Science Teacher Institute), school visits by celebrity individuals (i.e. Guion Bluford, first Black NASA astronaut and PSU alumni, as well as famous author James Michner).  PEPP has also been involved with the Pennsylvania Literacy Corp via the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy where Penn State students were able to provide reading assistance to a variety of students in McKeesport and Reading partner schools. 

Since their implementation in 1989-90, PEPP Academy and PEPP Institute have enrolled, encouraged, and served almost 1700 student participants statewide.  These tutoring interactions and mentoring contacts have been executed by nearly 1200 Penn State students (PEPP Learning Assistants).  It should be noted here that PEPP strives to maintain a 5 to 1 student-to-tutor ratio.  However, University student academic requirements, varying class schedules, and promotion to upper class campus locations yield a high rate of turnover among PEPP Learning Assistants.  Thus, large numbers of college students are required for operation purposes.  Conversely, on average, PEPP participants remain enrolled for almost five years and, in increasingly more instances, as many as eight years of enrollment and participation. 

Students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and community leaders alike continue to sing the praises of PEPP.  They consistently express their appreciation to Penn State and the College of Education for the long-term commitment to excellence PEPP has been able to foster in its participants.  This fact is especially poignant when one considers that nationally, in 1989-90, most major universities and colleges sponsored some form of collaborative effort or partnering with “schools and students in need.”  In the year 2002, the problems in schools are increasingly more complex.  Most other institutions of higher education have long since disbanded similar outreach initiatives.  However, Penn State, the Land Grant University of Pennsylvania, continues to make a difference for the future of Pennsylvania and beyond.