The UCLA Parent Curriculum Project (PCP) is a professional development program
for parents eager to ensure that all students have equal access to educational
opportunities. PCP aims to build the knowledge and leadership of parents,
to increase their involvement in schools and to create a neutral and supportive
environment in which parents can reflect on education, schooling and reform.
Parents develop leadership skills in communication and mediation to assist
other parents in connecting with counselors and teachers so that all parents
can help navigate their children through the school system. In 1997 25 parents
representing all the elementary, middle and high schools in Lynwood city participated
in PCP’s intensive 13 -week leadership development program for parents. The
program provided an environment for parents to construct their own understanding
of what quality education consists of. Today the Lynwood Parents call themselves
the Parent
U-Turn (PUT) and remain actively involved with UCLA to enable reform
through research, education and activism. This past summer, members of PUT
participated in the UCLA/IDEA 5-week seminar on educational access and equity.
Parents explored how they can play an active role in holding school officials
accountable for providing decent conditions and meaningful opportunities to
learn and how a bottom-up accountability strategy can lead to a new form of
parent involvement in California schools. Visit Teaching
to Change LA to learn more about the Parent
U-Turn.