GEAR UP

GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.

The purpose of the GEAR UP program is to foster increased knowledge, expectations, and preparation for postsecondary education among low-income students and their families.

GEAR UP is based on a model of providing services to an entire grade cohort, and grantees are required to offer services to all students in the target grade according to their needs. Individual student participation is voluntary.

GEAR UP services will be provided to all current 7th graders (cohort 2027) beginning in the 2021-2022 school year. Services for this cohort of students will continue for seven years, including their first year in college.

Grantees are required to provide the following activities and services:

• Provide financial aid information for post-secondary education (PSE)
• Encourage enrollment in rigorous and challenging coursework in order to reduce the need for remediation at the post-secondary level
• Implement activities to improve the number of participating students who obtain a secondary school diploma and who complete applications for enrollment in a program of post-secondary education
  • Activities may include mentoring; tutoring; supporting dual or concurrent enrollment programs that support participating students in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM); and academic, career and college-readiness counseling.
• Career awareness
• Financial and economic literacy education
• Exposure to college campuses through field trips
• Parent education about access to higher education
• Curriculum reform
• Teacher training
   

The GEAR UP model is a dynamic partnership between schools, districts, community organizations and postsecondary institutions.

The grant funds the following full-time positions: the GEAR UP program manager and three GEAR UP site coordinators. A GEAR UP site coordinator will be housed at each middle school campus for the 2022-2023 school year. The coordinators will follow cohort 2027 to the high school the following year and collaborate with campus administrators and staff to continue serving students.

The following regional partners will also provide services:

• UT Arlington
• Black Girls Drone Inc.
• The Princeton Review
• Texas Instruments

GEAR UP evaluations from across the country uncovered the following benefits:

• Attending a GEAR UP school is positively associated with parents' knowledge of opportunities and benefits of postsecondary education for their children.
• Attending a GEAR UP school is positively associated with students' knowledge concerning postsecondary education opportunities available to them.
• Attending a GEAR UP school is positively associated with parents' involvement in the school and their children's education.
• Attending a GEAR UP school as measured near the end of eighth grade was positively associated with parents' having higher academic expectations for their children. 
• Attending a GEAR UP school is positively associated with increased grades, school behavior, and attendance. 
• Attending a GEAR UP school was positively associated with taking above-grade-level math & science courses in high school.
• African American & Hispanic students attendance at a GEAR UP school was positively associated with the number of rigorous (or above grade level) courses taken during middle & high school. African American & Hispanic students from GEAR UP schools averaged 3.0 rigorous courses as compared to 1 for African American & Hispanic students from non-GEAR UP schools.