Parents creating literacy games as part of our training and professional development series. Games and activities are practiced with children one-on-one and in small groups in the classrooms.
Promise Parent Mentorship Academy
The Promise Parent Mentorship Academy (PMA) is a two-generation program aimed at developing a critical mass of parents, caregivers, and community members as tutors with skills to support low-performing children at schools in the Fairmount section of Newark. At the same time, we are trying to develop parents as community advocates and help them find new career paths as paraprofessionals. PMA tutors are trained to provide one-on-one and small group literacy and math support to children who score in the bottom quartile on benchmark assessments in grades K-2. The program is expected to promote a welcoming environment and respect the confidentiality of children, volunteers, school staff, and program stakeholders.
PPLA was established in 2017 with a seed grant from the Chancellor’s Office at Rutgers Newark. Since then, the program has expanded to a second school supported by an AmeriCorps grant and funds from the Victoria Foundation
We are finding that PMA improves student achievement, school and classroom climate, school and community relationships, and the self-confidence of tutors. Explore an article on the program here.
Parents practicing a shared reading activity with each another during literacy support training. As role play, one parent acts as an educator who is providing support to a child who is practicing reading.