What is the GEAR UP program?

GEAR-UP is an acronym for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.

GEAR-UP is a major federal education initiative designed to increase the number of students prepared for college by improving instruction, and by increased and intensified after-school tutorials, mentorships and other enrichment programs. GEAR-UP is unusual in that it identifies a cohort of students in a school that contains a 7th-grade level and sticks with them through graduation. This extra support is provided in the form of professional development for all the teachers who will be teaching that cohort, as well as by enhanced articulation between the elementary or middle school and the receiving high school. Parent education, especially on college financial planning, is provided in the form of an annual informational meeting at each site. (At least 50% of students at the identified schools must be eligible for free or reduced fee lunch.)

GEAR-UP is in line for over $400 million in the 2001 education budget, making it one of the larger special funds to be added to the budget. It was specifically mentioned by President Clinton in his 2000 State of the Union Message because it is viewed as a particularly innovative program and enjoys bipartisan support. "Even high academic achievers from low-income families are 5 times as likely not to attend college than high achieving economically advantaged peers." The GEAR-UP grant is part of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998.

AVAILABLE FUNDING AND USE
GEAR-UP funds are calculated on the basis of a maximum of $800 per student in each cohort. There is a required 100% match in direct or in-kind support from the recipient. In year 1, there will be one cohort in each school partnership (7th grade). In year 2, there will be two cohorts (7th and 8th grades) and so on. At least 70 percent of the cohort should be presumed to be attending the same high school, so that the cohort remains fundamentally intact throughout the five years of the grant. During the first two years of the grant, a large portion of the $800 per student will be used to support professional development courses, instructional coaching, and school restructuring. During the remaining three years, a majority of the funding will be devoted to direct services to students for activities to be agreed upon at each site. These activities may include tutoring, test preparation, mentorships, special events such as annual trips (possibly college tours, inter-city trips) and academic enhancement through hands-on learning activities outside the school. A portion of the funds will also be set aside to establish college incentive funds for any student who meets established benchmarks.

WHAT COMMITMENT IS REQUIRED FROM YOUR SCHOOL?
In order to be included in the MERC GEAR-UP partnership schools must do the following:
1) Reach an agreement between elementary or middle and articulating high school to collaborate on this project; to do joint professional development activities and to prepare to receive and continue the support for the GEAR-UP cohort;
2) Agree to create, with the help of university consultants, common planning time for the GEAR-UP teachers, through release time during working hours in the workplace;
3) Agree to help brainstorm and shape the actual proposal by participating in the planning process;
4) Identify and align funds for a dollar-for-dollar match for all Gear-Up funds
5) Help to identify local partner(s) including at least one business partner and one or more social service or health agencies to provide additional support to the cohort students.
6) Provide letters of commitment from the local education agency, principal, superintendent and/or other officials (in Chicago the Local School Council), and baseline data about your school or district.

Gear-Up Goals
The four goals are linked with a first level of specific interventions. It is understood there is flexibility regarding the implementation of the interventions among sites as well as among schools within each site. Not all sites will implement the interventions at the same time and some sites or school may choose not to implement specific interventions. These interventions will later be linked with a second level of indicators that will provide a greater degree of specificity with regard to the implementation of each intervention at a particular site or school.

Goal I: Restructure schools to provide systemic structural reform that is sustainable and replicable. The restructuring will be designed to provide extensive professional development opportunities for teachers and improve student achievement so as to increase the percentage of students prepared to attend and complete post-secondary educational opportunities
Interventions
1. provide common planning time for teachers.
2 . provide additional planning time for teachers.
3 . establish teaching teams at each grade level.
4 . provide flexibility in instructional time within team blocks.
5 . eliminate tracking/ability grouping.
6 . establish looping--teachers and students moving together from one grade to the next.
7 . provide reassigned time for lead teachers/expert coaches.
8 . establish schools as cluster/PDS site for interns, pre-interns, and tutors.
9 . provide professional development (Goal II).
10 . improve student/family support (Goal III).

Goal II: Improve professional Development opportunities for teachers in order to transform the educational delivery system and improve academic achievement so as to increase the percentage of students prepared to attend and complete post-secondary educational opportunities
Interventions
1. establish after school graduate courses linked to the needs and concerns of individual sites.
1. integrate professional development into common additional planning time facilitated by lead teachers/site coordinators.
2. develop one on one mentoring by lead teachers, expert coaches, or site coordinators.
3. implement seminars for cooperating teachers on mentoring/developmental supervision.
4. provide teacher institutes that coincide with the summer enrichment activities.

Goal III: Improve student/family support to establish a family atmosphere, a more intimate learning community and broad-based community involvement so as to increase the percentage of students prepared to attend and complete post-secondary educational opportunities
Interventions
1. increase parent involvement in schools.
1. provide information to parents.
2. bring social service and community organizations onto school site.
3. establish 2-way information exchange between parents and teachers.
4. establish and promote parent education programs (ie., GED programs)
5. provide college readiness seminars for students and parents.
6. provide university enrichment programs for students (after school, weekends, summer).
7. establish student mentoring program.
8. provide tutoring for students.
9. provide scholarships to students who reach established benchmarks.
 
Goal IV: Determine the indicators for successful access and completion of post-secondary education, develop a "profile of success," and increase the number of students who approximate this profile so as to increase the percentage of students prepared to attend and complete post-secondary educational opportunitiess

Interventions
1. gather baseline data
1. provide gap analysis
2. develop "profile of success"
3. establish benchmarks

Center for Innovative and Transformative Education (CITE)
111 University Hall
Bowling Green, OH 43403
Phone:419-372-9491 Fax: 419-372-8264