Grade 7 students are not college-ready because they do not have skills for applying, accessing, or identifying their college needs. Students do not know the opportunities and resources available to help gain acceptance into college and feel they cannot apply for college due to financial, academic, career, or personal reasons. Districts fall short…

To gather information about student perspectives of the GEAR UP program, the AISD evaluation team conducted students focus groups with students at six GEAR UP campuses in the fall of 2018. This report presents summary of findings related to students' feedback in the following areas: (1) understanding of the GEAR UP program; (2) GEAR UP…

The middle grades years has a profound and lasting impact on student achievement, including opportunities for college and career access and readiness. It is important that students at this age understand college and college life. Such understanding can help middle grades students focus on career goals and postsecondary planning, and this awareness…

College and career aspirations are important to the development of students' short and long term educational and personal goals. Although students rely on information they receive and are influenced by experiences in which they engage in a variety of settings, for many, school is an important source of college and career information. How students…

Without proficiency in content reading skills, seventh grade students were at risk of not being able to achieve understanding of what they read in non-fiction texts, a skill that is absolutely necessary for college-bound students. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate whether an approach that involved specific and focused…

GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federally funded program aimed at encouraging disadvantaged middle and high school students to have high expectations, stay in school, and take college preparatory courses. The West Virginia Department of Education received funding to conduct the program in eight rural…

Project GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federally funded program focused on encouraging disadvantaged youth to have high expectations, stay in school, and take academically rigorous courses to prepare them for college. A 5-year GEAR UP grant in rural southern West Virginia funds academic and support…

Project GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federally funded program focused on encouraging disadvantaged youth to have high expectations, stay in school, and take academically rigorous courses to prepare them for college. A GEAR UP grant in rural north-central West Virginia funds academic and support…

A study examined rural students' academic aspirations and expectations, their perceptions of their parents' aspirations and expectations, and their parents' actual aspirations and expectations. Surveys were completed by 3,733 seventh grade-students in 54 schools in 17 West Virginia counties. Parent response rates were lower, with approximately two…

In 1999, the U.S. Department of Education funded 21 state and 164 college and middle school partnership grants for Project GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), which encourages disadvantaged youth to prepare for college. As part of its grant, Fairmont State College (West Virginia) surveyed parents and…

Parent and student surveys were conducted in nine primarily rural West Virginia counties to gather baseline information on incoming seventh-grade students' and parents' awareness of and aspirations for postsecondary education. The surveys are administered each year as part of Fairmont State College's GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness…

In 1999, Fairmont State College (FSC) received a U.S. Department of Education grant to implement Project GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) in nine primarily-rural counties of West Virginia. GEAR UP encourages disadvantaged youth to have high expectations, stay in school, and take academically rigorous…