Published in Times West Virginian

1A
March 11, 2005

Data shows GEAR-UP helpful
Program entering what could be its final year of funding

BY KELLY BARTH
TIMES WEST VIRGINIAN

FAIRMONT — GEAR-UP stands for “ Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.”

And the educators who’ve been working with the federally funded initiative have known for some time now that it helps the students it serves do just that.

Now they have some data to back them up as the program enters what could be its last year of funding. GEAR- UP started in 1999 and the Fairmont State GEAR-UP Partnership currently serves approximately 16,550 students in 29 middle schools and 18 high schools in nine counties.

The seventh- graders who started in the program then are now seniors. Those seniors took a 40- question survey recently to determine whether they are indeed ready to start college. The results of that survey were released Thursday during the Fairmont State Board of Governors meeting.

For comparison, the same survey was given to a random group of seniors at four non- GEAR-UP high schools. Not all schools are eligible to have GEAR- UP because the program was placed in schools where its focus is on disadvantaged youth.

Unlike other federal programs, which target specific students within a school, GEAR- UP partnerships must provide services to all students in a designated grade level in participating schools. The idea is to encourage the youth to raise their educational expectations, to stay in school and to take academically rigorous courses in preparation for college.

Amie Fazalare, GEAR- UP’s director, and Brinda Kuhn, who prepared the report on the survey results, said the data shows significant differences between GEAR- UP and non- GEAR-UP students in their preparation to enter and succeed in post- secondary education. Kuhn said GEAR-UP has made a strong impact on the low- income, at- risk students by instilling them with the belief that college is possible.

Services through GEAR-UP include tutoring, mentoring, professional staff development, curriculum enhancement, summer programs, college visits, counseling and parental involvement.

“ Most of these students are first generation college- bound.  The focus has been getting them to know that it’s not where they are from; it’s where they are going to that counts,” Kuhn said.

The survey shows that GEAR-UP students take better advantage of resources such as advanced placement (AP), honors and other collegepreparatory classes. They also generally have higher gradepoint averages than students in schools where GEAR-UP is not offered.

“ Overall, the findings indicate GEAR- UP participants have a higher level of esteem regarding their educational expectation,” Kuhn said.

Kuhn did point out a couple of potential flaws in the survey. The survey was given at random during homeroom and first periods. And no data was collected to show whether the students were honors students, learning disabled or somewhere in between on the educational spectrum. The survey results were self- reported by the students and no checks were made to verify answers by reviewing students’ transcripts.

Donald A. Moroose, associate dean of graduate studies at FSU, said, considering the purpose of the $22 million GEAR-UP grant funding, it should have been included to track the students’ progress once they are in college.

E- mail Kelly Barth at kbarth@timeswv.com.