In partnership with local schools, Forward in the Fifth will assist sixty low income parents to become more involved in their children's schools in seven rural Appalachian Kentucky counties. Each parent will then organize other parents as education advocates.
The CyberParents project will provide home computers and Internet connections to parents who are committed to their children's education and have an ongoing relationship with Forward in the Fifth and the schools. These parents are eager to master technology and use it to improve their schools. The project will serve as a model for using technology for the improvement of education. In addition, the lessons learned will be applicable efforts to organize community members around other issues.
Anticipated outcomes include:
(1) Sixty low-income parents will become CyberParents.
(2) One hundred percent of the CyberParents will establish individual technology and communication plans and time lines along with technology learning goals.
(3) Eighty percent of the CyberParents (48 parents) will achieve their individual technology learning goals within the period of the grant.
(4) An advisory committee, including at least two CyberParents, will advise and continually refine the project to ensure that it is coordinated with other parent involvement initiatives and responsive to the larger community.
(5) The number of parents who participate in school governance will increase by 25% at schools where the CyberParents are active.
(6) The number of low-income parents who participate in parent-teacher conferences will increase by 25% at schools where the CyberParents are active.
