Dr. Gwendolyn J. Cooke, educator, author, discusses local urban education

Gwendolyn J. Cooke, Ph.D., discusses urban education, as a part of Urban Connections education series, leading up to the start of the new school year.
Gwendolyn J. Cooke has worked in senior level positions*
in these urban districts: Kansas City, MO, Warrensville Heights,
OH, Cincinnati, OH and Savannah, GA and Baltimore, MD. In
MO Cooke also worked for the university system in Warrensburg
and Kansas City directing the Mentoring and Coaching Certification
Program for 23 school districts, and developing an evaluation system for 10
charter schools. As well, Cooke served as a consultant in assessment
for the MO Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
In Baltimore, MD Cooke held an administrative position at Morgan State
University for four years and a school district central office position for 8 years. She also was a secondary school principal for 9 years. For a decade, in Reston, VA, Cooke directed programs and services for urban and rural schools at the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Attaining the statue of “trainer of trainers,” Cooke is certified to train others in most of NASSP’s Professional Development programs for school leaders.
She is also a certified trainer of the Mentoring and Coaching Program for the National
Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP).
Charter School education became a visible option for Cooke to use her talents and
skills in January 2007 when she became Director of the Midwest Center for Charter Schools and Urban Education at the University of Central Missouri located in Warrensburg, MO. Charter
Schools provide the unique characteristics of smaller class sizes, highly focused parent involvement, and resources that support the nurturing of students’ skills and aptitudes for continuous academic achievement.
Cooke spent the 2007-2008 school year in the United Arab Emirates coaching and mentoring two school principals and consulting with the Ministry of Education. Her areas of expertise include curriculum and instruction, research and evaluation, leadership development, standards based school reform, school board development as well as policy development, review and implementation. Throughout her career, Cooke has served as an evaluator for the U.S. DOE Research and Evaluation Division for various programs.
Cooke is the author of Keys to Success for Urban School Principals (SAGE) and Look Up! Images in the Classroom (iUniverse). She also is the author of the monograph, Alternatives to Grade Retention (NASSP). Cooke’s third book is in Press and it has been selected for publication in The New York Times Book Review (November 2015) special edition. The title of Cooke’s book is A 90 Day Empowerment Journal for Young Women (ages 13 – 21).

Urban Connections host and producer, Donna Morrow Wolfe. Co-hosted and co-produced by Joseph Jackson and Shicagolyn Scroggins.

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