Kenai Peninsula Borough School District

GEAR UP Kenai Peninsula

The applicant for this GEAR UP grant is the Kenai Peninsula Borough
School District (KPBSD) and Project GRAD Kenai Peninsula (PG). The Kenai
Peninsula is a vast area south of Anchorage, Alaska with very remote
villages. The KPBSD covers more than 25,000 square miles. This grant
seeks to reform three schools: the Nanwalek School, the Tebughna School
and the Voznesenka School. Students in these schools face a myriad of
problems from an unstable home life to extremely high turnover among
teachers. Graduation rates are exceptionally low. Last year, one school
graduated three seniors of the 138 students in the K-12 school. Due to
high unemployment rates, alcoholism, and abuse students are often not
cared for by their biological parents and those students' caretakers are
not aware of the opportunities that await graduates.

Over the term of the grant, GEAR UP Kenai Peninsula seeks to strengthen
the knowledge base of the faculty and provide support to reduce teacher
turnover. Partnerships with local native corporations will facilitate
student travel to area colleges and universities. The local university
will provide faculty for Adult Basic Education classes so caretakers
will continue their education concurrently with students.

To accomplish this, KPBSD and PG propose to meet the following Goals and
Objectives:

Goal 1: Increase the academic performance and preparation for college.

Objectives: Increase enrollment in pre-Algebra, Algebra, and AP classes
by 50 percent and increase to 80percent the number of students in
college preparatory courses.

Goal 2: Increase graduation rates as well as the number of graduates
attending college.

Objectives: Increase the number of students participating in college
exploration activities by 80 percent and increase the number of students
participating in summer college programs by 50 percent.

Goal 3: Increase the knowledge base of students and caretakers about
higher education while increasing expectations of students and
caretakers about attending higher education.

Objectives: Increase the number of students taking college entrance
exams and increase the number of students and caretakers who are
familiar with the college application process and financing options.

Project Director: Heather Pancratz

Telephone Number: 907-235-5612

Email Address: <HPANCRATZ@KPBSD.K12.AK>

Wallace Community College Selma

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduates

Wallace Community College Selma (WCCS), a public two year community
college located in Selma, Alabama (AL is the two-letter postal
abbreviation and NOT acceptable for text.) (population 25,000), proposes
to continue the GEAR UP partnership program. The project will serve 200
eligible seventh grade cohort participants with the focus on under
represented students who have the potential to graduate from high
school, but need supportive services and tutorial assistance to complete
their education. WCCS requests funds for six years for the following
three goals:

  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
  Goal 1:             To develop an academic year Early Awareness
                      Program.

  Goal 2:             To operate a summer college and career exploration
                      camp.

  Goal 3:             To establish the leadership and mentoring program.
  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------

Through its proposed services, the project will increase the academic
performance and preparation for postsecondary education for GEAR UP
students, increase the rate of high school graduation and participation
in postsecondary education, and increase GEAR UP students' and their
families' knowledge of postsecondary education options, preparation and
financing. The project has developed fourteen objectives as well as
activities and services designed to achieve each objective. The main
focus of the project will include college and financial counseling,
mentoring, summer programs, tutoring, after school programs, campus
visits, and professional development and curriculum improvement for the
Perry County School System.

WCCS has had a successful GEAR UP Program since 1999, and has a
well-trained staff. The administrative structure allows the project to
have input on decisions and policies affecting the GEAR UP participants.

Project Director Betty Bentley

Telephone Number 334-876-9244

Email Address <bbentley@wcs.edu>

Hot Springs School District

Hot Springs GEAR UP Project

The Hot Springs School District (HSSD), Hot Springs Arkansas in
collaboration with National Park Community College, Hot Springs Juvenile
Services, Housing Authority, Police Department, Parks and Recreation,
and the Webb Community Center, proposes to provide a GEAR UP program of
support to an initial cohort of sixth and seventh grade students that
will act to increase their educational performance, attainment, and
postsecondary entry. The HSSD has a 78 percent free lunch rate (76
percent in grades six, seven); Hot Springs Junior High and High Schools
are in School Improvement; have a 61 percent graduation rate; and a 69
percent postsecondary remediation rate. HSSD has five major objectives
toward accomplishment of increased academic performance and
postsecondary entry summarized below: Increase state-mandated criterion
referenced mathematics and literacy test scores by 10 percent each year
of the six-year grant period.

1.  Provide 21st Century Scholar Certificates, financial aid
    availability, and postsecondary admissions information to 100
    percent of cohorts.

2.  A 10 percent annual increase in number of students completing
    Pre-Algebra by the end of grade eight and completing Algebra I by
    the end of grade nine.

3.  Provide appropriate support services including postsecondary
    counseling, mentoring, tutoring, after-school and summer school
    programs to 100 percent of cohorts (and their parents when
    applicable) toward academic progression as demonstrated by a 20
    percent increase in student attendance, a 20 percent decrease in
    disciplinary actions, and a 20 percent increase in parent
    involvement with educational planning annually.

4.  Provide opportunities for professional development.

Project Director: Barbara Smitherman

Telephone Number: 501-624-3372

Email Address: SMITHERMANB@HSSD.NET

Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas

Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas GEAR UP

Phillips Community College --University of Arkansas (PCC-UA) proposes to
collaborate with Barton, Brinkley, Dumas, Elaine, Helena-West Helena,
Lake Village, Lee County, and Stuttgart School Districts and community
partners in providing a GEAR UP program of support to an initial cohort
of sixth and seventh grade students that will act to increase their
educational performance, attainment, and postsecondary entry.

These schools have an average 90 percent free lunch rate, are in School
Improvement, and have a 75 percent graduation rate. Only 44 percent of
seniors enter postsecondary, with 77 percent of those requiring
remediation. PCC-UA has five major objectives toward accomplishment of
increased academic performance and postsecondary entry summarized below:

1.  Increase state-mandated criterion referenced mathematics and
    literacy test scores by 10 percent each year of the six-year grant
    period.

2.  Provide 21st Century Scholar Certificates, financial aid
    availability, and postsecondary admissions information to 100
    percent of cohorts.

3.  A 10 percent annual increase in number of students completing
    Pre-Algebra by the end of grade eight and completing Algebra I by
    the end of grade nine.

4.  Provide appropriate support services including postsecondary
    counseling, mentoring, tutoring, after-school and summer school
    programs to 100 percent of cohorts (and their parents when
    applicable) toward academic progression as demonstrated by a 20
    percent increase in student attendance, a 20 percent decrease in
    disciplinary actions, and a 20 percent increase in parent
    involvement with educational planning annually.

5.  Provide opportunities for professional development.

Point of Contact: Steven F. Murray

Telephone Number: 870-338-6474

Email Address: MURRAY@PCCUA.EDU

Santa Cruz County District

Aprendiendo Por Vida

Santa Cruz County is located on the Arizona-Mexico border. The County
covers 1,236 square miles, has a population of 36,350 and consists of
one town, Nogales, and several small communities. Over 12,000 students
attend the K-12 schools and 94 percent are Hispanic. Over 75 percent
qualify for free and reduced price lunch. Culture, family, jobs, and
peer pressures encourage girls to marry early and boys to enter the
workforce. Less then 52 percent of adults hold a high school degree;
less then 10 percent of graduating seniors attend college and of those,
less then 10 percent graduate.

Aprendiendo Por Vida establishes a comprehensive plan that focuses
direct services on 829 seventh graders, the Class of 2011. It also
trains staff and community members; reengineers our schools and involves
the youth so they become stakeholders. Based on the work of a county
taskforce, Aprendiendo Por Vida proposes three levels of interventions:

**Academic Interventions** to the youth through after school and summer
classes, tutoring, enrichment courses and programs, assistance by
Student Intervention Teams, and academic planning. Academic
interventions also address educational reforms by improving the quality
of instruction, mapping curriculum, and increasing the number of college
preparation courses.

**Character, Personal Responsibility, & Citizenship Development**
through increased counseling and counselor training, implementing
Character Counts, developing youth leadership and mentoring programs,
providing college awareness and visits, and financial planning and
scholarships.

**Family, Community, and Business Interventions** through neighborhood
coffees and parent meetings, community newsletters, adult literacy and
ESL, parent and volunteer training, career awareness (including job
shadowing and internships), college awareness, and financial assistance.

Aprendiendo Por Vida will adhere to a continuous improvement approach to
evaluation that is aligned with the intent of the National GEAR UP
program and its goals and objectives.

Point of Contact: Robert Canchola

Telephone Number: 520-375-7940

Email Address: STACRUZBOB@AOL.COM

Arizona Board of Regents -- The University of Arizona

The Tucson GEAR UP Project

Need: The University of Arizona and its partners seek to establish a
GEAR UP project serving the approximately 3,325 students who will begin
sixth grade in August 2005 at 13 middle schools in Sunnyside and Tucson
Unified School Districts, moving with this cohort through entry to 12th
grade in fall 2011. These middle schools, with an average 78 percent of
students eligible for free or reduced price lunch, feed into five high
schools whose average rate for sophomores passing AIMS-test math in 2004
was 20 percent.

Proposed Activities: The Tucson GEAR UP project will provide the
students and their parents and teachers with key college readiness
components, namely, academic preparation, college coaching, and family
engagement. These components will include many activities such as
academic workshops; tutoring; summer academies; field trips; and
curriculum support and professional development for school personnel.

The partners for the project are the University of Arizona (the
applicant); Sunnyside and Tucson Unified School Districts; Pima
Community College; KB Home; Principal Tutoring; the Society of Hispanic
Professional Engineers; and TMC Healthcare. The UA Institute for
Children, Youth and Families will evaluate the project.

Intended Outcome: The mission of the Tucson GEAR UP project is to
prepare the class of 2012 at the five major high schools serving
southern Tucson for enrollment and success in postsecondary education.

Point of Contact: Lori A. Tochihara

Telephone Number: 520-626-2300

Email Address: LORIT@ARIZONA.EDU

Marymount College

Los Angeles Unified School District, Project GRAD GEAR UP Partnership

Marymount College, and its GEAR UP partnership, submits a proposal
beginning with 3,872 sixth and seventh grade students in four middle
schools located in a Federal Empowerment Zone and State Enterprise Zone
in the northeastern San Fernando Valley. Over 80 percent of the students
are eligible for free and reduced price lunch. The cohorts will attend
Community Charter Middle School, Maclay Middle School, Pacoima Middle
School and San Fernando Middle School and then transfer to San Fernando
High School.

The goal of this proposal is to ensure that at least 50 percent of the
cohort students are prepared for, aware of, and pursue postsecondary
education. The objectives to meet this goal are:

-   To increase the academic performance and preparation for
    postsecondary education of GEAR UP students;

-   To increase the rate of high school graduation and participation in
    postsecondary education of GEAR UP students;

-   To raise educational expectations for GEAR UP students as well as
    student and family knowledge of postsecondary education options and
    financing; and

-   To provide early comprehensive intervention services and financial
    incentives in the form of college scholarships to low-income and
    historically disadvantaged students.

Components include curricular restructuring through proven,
research-based reading and math programs; ongoing professional
development for all teachers; structured bridging opportunities for
students; expanded parental involvement and leadership
capacity-building; heightened public awareness about college options and
financial aid; mentoring and job-shadowing; and a four-year college
scholarship open to all ninth graders at San Fernando High School who
complete eligibility requirements.

Project Contact: Ford Roosevelt

Telephone Number: 818-760-4695

Email Address: FROOSEVELT@PROJECTGRADLA.ORG

Foundation For California State University, San Bernardino

GEAR UP Inland Empire

California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) is the sole Hispanic
Serving Institution (HSI) in the Inland Empire encompassing all of
Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The University's mission is to
enhance the intellectual, cultural, and personal development of its
students. The University offers more than 50 traditional baccalaureate
and masters degree programs and a wide variety of education credential
and certificate programs to a diverse student body exceeding 16,000.
CSUSB has developed a strategic plan with a major focus on outreach to
increase college readiness and the college-going rate for all students
in the region, especially low-income first generation college students
through a variety of collaborative programs. GEAR UP Inland Empire -
Hispanic Serving Institute (GUIE-HSI) dovetails perfectly with the
University's overall goal to "prepare students to assume leadership
roles in the 21st century." The proposed program will serve the entire
cohort of 3,957 seventh grade students in Coachella Valley Unified,
Nuview Union, and Rialto Unified School Districts and will follow those
students through graduation from high school through enrollment in
college.

The main goal of GUIE-HSI is to develop a four-strand project consistent
with GEAR UP's expectations: a parental strand strong enough to motivate
parents to be involved in their child's academic career from middle
school throughout college; an academic strand strong enough to prepare
low-income students to pass college entrance exams and be ready for
college; a socio-emotional strand strong enough to keep students in
school; and a professional development strand that will provide
educators with the skills, attitudes and beliefs necessary to increase
the academic and college preparedness of ALL students, especially those
who are under-represented in college.

Project Director: Donna Schnorr

Telephone Number: 909-880-7313

Email Address: DSCHNORR@CSUSB.EDU

California State University -- East Bay Foundation

Project SOAR

Successful Options for Academic Readiness (SOAR) is a partnership
between California State University, East Bay; Oakland Unified School
District (OUSD); Peralta Community College District; the YMCA, the
Oakland Technology Exchange; the College Board; the City of Oakland, and
many local businesses and community organizations. The partnership was
formed in 1999 with GEAR-UP funding.

Need: OUSD serves one of our nation's most impoverished urban areas. The
eligible schools are designated low-performing Title I schools. From
1998-2005, SOAR has made inroads in addressing the readiness of
low-income youth for college, yet much work remains to be done. This
proposal builds on our current efforts and lessons learned, coordinating
with government and private initiatives to support underprivileged youth
in continuing their education to the post-secondary level.

Activities: Working with 15 eligible middle schools in the OUSD, SOAR
will address the needs of 3,510 middle school students by integrating
four program strands into a comprehensive initiative. The academic
strand offers tutor-driven academic support for students, as well as
Power Seminars on enhancing math, language arts and science skills. The
parent strand develops effective parenting competence and parental
support skills that guide students toward college attendance. The
partnership strand is an avenue for community support, and serves as a
catalyst for change, fostering a culture that encourages college
attendance. Finally, the systemic change strand builds capacity and
institutionalization through site and parent leaders, mentor-teachers,
counselors and volunteers.

Outcomes: Increased numbers of students who graduate from high school
prepared to attend Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) the key
indicator of the project's success. Rigorous evaluation methods will be
used to assess the outcomes and the results will be widely disseminated,
with the most important outcome a better quality of life through
educational opportunities.

Project Contact: Arthurlene Towner

Telephone Number: 510-885-3942

Email Address: ATOWNER@CSUHAYWARD.EDU

Los Angeles Unified School District -- John Marshall High School

Project Higher Learning

Since 1999, Project Higher Learning has provided full GEAR UP programs
to three middle schools and two high schools in Northeast Los Angeles.
Successful model programs have been developed; an experienced,
collaborative, and intensely committed staff has been engendered; and
vital partnerships created. This proposal seeks to carry on the work
begun in 1999, adding two more middle schools and two more high schools
to the project, thus creating a cohort totaling 3,500 students in
seventh grade and swelling to 4,400 in ninth grade. It aims to create a
college culture in a high minority, high poverty, and urban area in
Northeast Los Angeles where gangs and drugs compete with academic
aspirations and keep student achievement traditionally low. Only 50
percent of students in the cohort schools ever complete high school.

Components include a strong counseling program for student and parents,
intensive extended-learning programs for all cohort students,
professional development that targets literacy and math strategies and
study skills to ensure that students learn at or above grade level, two
project coaches to provide ongoing professional development and coaching
support so that new teaching methodologies are quickly adopted, college
and career education for students and parents, cross-age and peer
mentoring, early college testing, and a robust parent involvement
program. Experienced staff and partners will train new staff and
implement project services expeditiously.

Students who successfully complete the program will have completed
middle school at or above grade level, entered high school prepared for
the rigors of an academic college-bound curriculum, and graduated
prepared to enter and graduate from a college or university.

Milestones: Students who pass the California High School Exit Exam
(CAHSEE) will increase by 10 percent in the fourth year of the grant.
The number of demoted students will decrease by 10 percent annually
during the high school years. Students admitted to college increase by
12 percent.

Project Director: Anna Eleftheriou

Telephone Number: 323-663-7951

Email Address: ADE0721@LAUSD.K12.CA.US

The Regents of the University of California -- Merced

GEARing UP for College

The "GEARing UP for College" program is based on developing and
implementing a solution to address the low rates of students,
particularly English Language Learners, entering postsecondary
institutions. GEARing UP for College's primary purpose is to assist
students in the Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District with the
necessary preparation required to be competitive in postsecondary
educational institutions. The Cutler-Orosi School District is one of the
most disadvantaged in the Central Valley of California with high poverty
rates, a high number of English Language Learners, and low high school
graduation and transfer to college rates.

It is the intent of the University of California, Merced Center for
Educational Partnerships (UCM CEP) to undertake this urgent task in
collaboration with the Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District, to
shape a more prepared student population that can take charge of its
future. The GEARing UP for College program is a comprehensive
intervention support services model, designed to empower junior high
school and high school students to make choices and changes that will
enable them to pursue a postsecondary education. The program has
established 12 outcome objectives that will identify participants,
evaluate academic ability, enhance academic skills, develop career
awareness, encourage active parental participation, increase retention,
offer sufficient technical assistance for completing financial aid and
college admissions applications and ensure enrollment in a postsecondary
institution.

Eleven major activities support the performance objectives. Included is
a comprehensive plan of services and evaluation. Partnership commitment
offers substantial time and resources to the program. A staff of highly
qualified professionals will diligently work to assist eligible students
in meeting their educational and personal goals.

Project Contact: Jorge A Aguilar

Telephone Number: 559-241-7476

Email Address: JAGUILAR@UCMERCED.EDU

Palomar College

Palomar College GEAR UP Partnership Program

The Palomar College (PC) GEAR UP partnership program will serve almost
3,000 students in two school districts, and three middle schools, with
four cohorts. Located in the contiguous cities of San Marcos and Vista,
California, an area about 50 miles north of San Diego, and inland, this
rural yet growing region is rapidly transforming. With an influx of
industry and housing, the economic differences between families are
becoming quite profound. The PC GEAR UP program will focus on middle
schools that are in local "pockets of poverty."

The need in the three middle schools is based on substantial evidence of
poor academic performance (based on grades and standardized test
scores), lack of parent education and involvement, increasing diversity
of students with varying degrees of English language proficiency, high
drop out and absentee rates, and a lack of coordinated instructional and
student support services. The proposed partnership activities for the PC
GEAR UP program will be customized for each school and its site
personnel, each cohort (grade level), and each student and family. The
PC GEAR UP program intends for the investment to match the outcomes, so
that the time, money and efforts will lead to increased academic
performance, high school retention and graduation rates with improved
postsecondary preparation for all students.

This grant will continue to serve the San Marcos Middle School, in the
San Marcos Unified School District, with two new cohorts. Additionally,
the PC GEAR UP program and personnel will serve as a model for two
additional schools, Washington Middle School and Lincoln Middle School,
in the Vista Unified School District, with all students beginning in the
sixth and seventh grades (classes of 2011 and 2012).

Project Director: Calvin One Deer Gavin

Telephone Number: 760-744-0256

Email Address: ONEDEER@PALOMAR.EDU

The Regents of the University of California -- Santa Cruz

Building Bridges to College/NMC

Building Bridges to College will serve 1,974 students in Seaside and
North Monterey County School Districts located in a largely agricultural
area of high poverty and low academic performance. With income levels at
less than half the state average among the 65 percent Latino population,
the schools meet GEAR UP guidelines, 50-81 percent of students qualify
for federal free and reduced price lunch program at each school site.
Academic Performance Indicators (615-704) are evidence that the schools
are significantly below the statewide goal (800) and less than 17
percent of adults have completed a bachelor's degree.

This project will provide services in the following four key areas:

1)  Students will receive academic advising, academic support in college
    preparation courses through tutoring and coaching, acceleration
    through online courses; and help with college and financial aid
    awareness and applications.

2)  Families will receive ongoing parent information about college
    planning, counseling and support, a parent peer network and annual
    parent conference.

3)  Teacher professional development will be provided in mathematics and
    language arts across the curriculum with a focus on English
    learners, a curriculum for college awareness and online teaching
    support.

4)  Community mobilization through a community action network will
    address school and community structural issues to increase rates of
    persistence to high school graduation and provide ongoing
    sustainability of the program.

The annual impact will be to increase the passage of key mathematics and
English course each year in middle and high schools by 20 percent while
increasing college awareness and preparation. The long-term impact of
the project will be that 90 percent of high school graduates will enroll
in postsecondary education.

Project Director: Carrol Moran

Telephone Number: 831-460-3030

Email Address: CARROL@UCSC.EDU

The Regents of the University of California -- Santa Cruz

Creating Access to College / PV

The proposed Creating Access to College GEAR UP program in Pajaro
Valley, California, will serve 1,423 at-risk sixth and seventh grade
students in five middle schools in the Pajaro Valley Unified School
District. In the target area, per capita income for Hispanics, who make
up 65 percent of students attending target schools, is less than half
the state average, and only 17 percent of adults have completed a
bachelor's degree. The target schools serve many English learners,
ranging from 16 percent to 43 percent of students, and many poor
children, with free and reduced price meal eligibility ranging from 50
percent to 81 percent. Predictably, academic performance in the target
schools is low, and a college-going culture does not exist within the
schools or larger community. This project will enlist students,
families, and teachers in a network of activities to create
college-bound communities. These activities will include: 1) academic
and college advising to ensure that students will meet college admission
requirements; 2) academic coaching in math by undergraduates who will
support students in rigorous college mathematics preparation, those
undergraduates will also serve as role models; 3) help with college and
financial aid applications to ensure that all students are prepared for
college admissions tests and apply to college; 4) youth leadership
conferences to prepare student peer leaders who will heighten college
awareness among all students; 5) a middle school college awareness
curriculum to engage students, parents, and teachers in developing early
college awareness and expectation; 6) parent counseling and support, a
parent peer network, and an annual parent conference to provide multiple
pathways to help parents support their children in preparing for
college; 7) teacher professional development to help teachers support
all students in college preparation courses; and 8) professional
development for school personnel to create school-wide expectation for
student college attendance. The Community Action Council will ensure
that all efforts support the goal of student retention through high
school and increased college enrollment, and will plan for long-term
sustainability of this effort.

Project Director: Carrol Moran

Telephone Number: 831-460-3030

Email Address: CARROL@UCSC.EDU

Shasta College

Shasta College GEAR UP Partnership

Shasta College is seeking funding for a new GEAR UP Partnership Project
to serve a two-grade cohort of 1,475 students beginning in the sixth and
seventh grades at five eligible middle schools. The GEAR UP partner
schools are located in the more isolated and impoverished small towns
and unincorporated sections of southern Shasta and Tehama Counties in
California. Shasta College is the only public postsecondary institution
in the area. With few local choices in postsecondary education, it is
crucial for Shasta College to play a key role in providing early college
awareness information to youth and their families, and work with the
schools and communities to increase college awareness and to build a
college-going climate. The proposed Shasta College GEAR UP Partnership
Project is intended to provide critically needed early college
preparation and awareness activities. Project services will include
academic guidance, career goal setting, monitoring of progress, academic
support through tutoring, and specialized training for parents to
enhance academic skills and use of computer technology. Parenting skills
workshops and college awareness activities will also be provided to help
parents understand the importance of early and sustained conversations
with their children about college going. Professional development for
teachers will increase academic rigor and high expectations for
students. The Project has been developed to create a significant
increase in the number of students who are motivated to do well in
school, and to graduate from high school adequately prepared for
postsecondary education.

The Shasta College GEAR UP Project is committed to equal opportunity and
access in student participation and employment of staff regardless of
race, gender, national origin, ethnicity, age or disability. In
compliance with the Department of Education's General Education
Provisions Act (GEPA), the GEAR UP Project will encourage and ensure
equal access for all groups.

Project Director: Dr. Janis Walker Marsh

Telephone Number: 530-225-3929

Email Address: JMARSH@SHASTACOLLEGE.EDU

Los Angeles Unified School District

Project LASSO (Linking Academic Success with Student Outreach)

Project LASSO is a partnership among the Los Angeles Unified School
District, the Youth Policy Institute, the California State University,
Northridge, Los Angeles Valley College, KAPLAN Instructional Services
and others to serve cohort students at Sepulveda Middle School and
Monroe High School. At Sepulveda, 78.6 percent of students were enrolled
in the free and reduced price lunch program in 2003-04, as were 75.8
percent of students at Monroe. Sepulveda has a student body that is 89.9
percent Hispanic, while that at Monroe is 80 percent Hispanic. Both
schools have failed to meet their Adequate Yearly Progress measures and
are Program Improvement schools (Sepulveda- Year 4 and Monroe- Year 3).
Students test below grade level at high rates in ELA and mathematics-
indicators of a lack of preparation for college. They further reflect
this lack of preparation through scores on CSU Early Assessment tests,
graduation and transience rates and the need of families for college
preparation services.

Project activities will include tutoring (both in and out of school),
case management, professional development through AVID and KAPLAN,
curriculum improvement activities, summer programs sponsored by CSUN and
Valley College, mentoring, PSAT and SAT instruction, college preparation
and counseling services, and financial counseling for families.

Intended outcomes of Project LASSO include: improvement in California
Standards Test and CAHSEE percentile rank by average of five points each
student each year; increase cohort percent achieving 'C' or better in
Algebra I by the end of the ninth grade by 10 percent each year;
increase scores on PSAT and SAT average of 10 points each year; and
increase percent of students taking tests 10 percent each year. Each
year, 88 percent of cohort will be promoted to the next grade on time.
Four-year dropout rate will decrease by 10 percent. ADA rates at
Sepulveda and Monroe will improve by 1 percent each year. Assessment
will show that 75 percent of cohort members are assessed as ready for
freshman English classes. There will be a decline in those requiring
remedial services by 75 percent.

Project Director: Nikki Siercks

Telephone Number: 818-892-4311

Email Address: NIKSTER50@AOL.COM

RSCCD -- Santa Ana College

GEAR UP 2005

Santa Ana Unified School District serves over 62,000 students in an
urban community in Orange County, California approximately 30 miles
south of Los Angeles. Santa Ana is the first port of entry for Hispanic
immigrants entering the United States; children from Mexico and South
America now comprise the majority of Santa Ana Unified School District
enrollment: 92 percent are Latino and 61 percent have limited English
proficiency. GEAR UP 2005 will serve students attending two intermediate
schools and two comprehensive high schools in Santa Ana Unified School
District.

GEAR UP will be integrated into the key leadership model of the Santa
Ana Partnership, which includes three major partner organizations: Santa
Ana College (SAC), University of California, Irvine, and Santa Ana
Unified School District. With SAC serving as the fiscal agent, this
partnership will take responsibility for GEAR UP 2005 administration and
commit to the realization of long-term systemic change beyond the life
of the project. The core components of GEAR UP 2005 are:

-   Institutionalizing coordinated professional development in
    mathematics and language arts.

-   Providing supplemental instruction in the classroom and after school
    in mathematics and language arts.

-   Integrating college awareness, financial aid information and
    guidance into the regular school day.

-   Supporting access to college information for all secondary students.

-   Providing a summer residential program that offers rigorous math and
    English activities.

-   Providing mentors to encourage college preparation and enrollment.

-   Providing parents of GEAR UP students with opportunities to support
    their children's academic future.

The goal of GEAR UP 2005 is to empower 2,000 students (1,000 per cohort)
to improve their academic skills, motivation, and college preparation
necessary to succeed in postsecondary education.

Project Director: Lilia Tanakeyowma

Telephone Number: 714-564-6971

Email Address: TANAKEYOWMA_LILIA@SAC.EDU

California State University, Los AngelesAuxiliary Services, Inc.

GEAR UP

California State University, Los Angeles is both a Title III and Title V
public institution and is a leading urban comprehensive University with
a long-standing tradition of serving low-income ethnic minority groups.
The University's population is far richer in its diversity than the mix
at other universities. Of the entering freshmen class, 69 percent are
non-native speakers of English. Of the 21,000 students, 53 percent are
Hispanic, 22 percent are Asian, 16 percent are white and 9 percent are
African-American.

California State University, Los Angeles is uniquely suited to meet the
new challenges created by the demographic, sociological and economic
shifts occurring in our public schools. The University is a leader in
providing high quality teacher education programs to address the
critical shortage of professionally prepared teachers for California
schools in the 21st century.

The University is proposing to service four middle schools and two high
schools as part of its new GEAR UP grant. All four middle schools and
both high schools exceed the 50 percent criteria for funding based on
the free or reduced price lunch. Belvedere, Hollenbeck, Stevenson and
Griffith middle schools average over 90 percent free or reduced price
lunch and both Garfield and Roosevelt High Schools average 85 percent.
Both high schools have an average graduation rate of 48 percent and SAT
scores that are almost 200 points below the state average.

The GEAR UP Project will provide 3,600 students with comprehensive
services centered on academic and parental support services, which
provide an enhanced and integrated approach to their present academic
and personal development curriculum.

Academic and educational enrichment and support activities and services
will include: a) academic assessment; b) development of individual
educational and career plans; c) preparatory instruction in rigorous
academic courses; d) academic grade monitoring; e) academic, personal,
and career advising; f) preparation for college entrance examinations
(SAT and ACT); g) college enrollment assistance; h) information and
assistance in securing financial aid and scholarships; and i) referral
to educational, community, and social agencies to address academic year
needs.

Additional GEAR UP services will include: a) training and educating
parents to better assist their children in receiving an education that
prepares them for college; b) providing professional development
services for teachers that facilitate curriculum improvement, as well
as, the teachers' ability to work effectively with the GEAR UP students;
c) active partnering with the proposed middle schools, high schools,
other educational institutions, community organizations, and parents to
best deliver the GEAR UP services.

Project Contact: David Godoy

Telephone Number: 323-343-3103

Email Address: DAVIDG@CSLANET.CALSTATELA.EDU

Rio Hondo Community College District

GEAR UP: I'm Going to College!

Rio Hondo Community College, both a Minority and Hispanic-Serving
Institution located in Southeast Los Angeles County, and its partners
propose their strong commitment to this Gaining Early Awareness and
Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP). Key partners for the
project entitled GEAR UP: I'm Going to College! include: Madrid Middle
School, Mountain View High School, El Monte Parks and Recreation, Rio
Hondo Area Latino Education Council, and the California Association of
Bilingual Education. The need is vast at Madrid Middle School and
Mountain View High School. The schools enroll a high percentage of
students who are underrepresented in higher education today - Hispanics
alone make up almost 90 percent of the enrollment at Madrid. The school
has over 95 percent potential first-generation college students and 85
percent of its students are socioeconomic ally disadvantaged.

The GEAR UP: I'm Going to College! Program will use a cohort approach to
serve over 11,425 students during the six-year grant period and will
ensure efficiency and success. Described in the proposal are a
wide-range of comprehensive services and activities to be provided
during this period and beyond. They include, but are not limited to:
counseling, tutoring, personal success planning, academic instruction,
technology enhancement, professional development, postsecondary and
financial workshops, scholarships, parent education, and much more. Both
parent and community involvement will play a vital role in the program
to provide a total package of support for students. The target students
desperately need the opportunity to participate in this GEAR UP program
led by a partnership with a proven record of success in providing
necessary skills, as well as motivation, to enter and succeed in
postsecondary education. Rio Hondo Community College has had many
successful years overseeing federal grant programs and will bring this
success and experience to the GEAR UP: I'm Going to College! Students
and parents at Madrid Middle School and Mountain View High School.

Project Contact: Henry Gee

Telephone Number: 562-692-0921

Email Address: HGEE@RIOHONDO.EDU

Los Angeles Unified School District

Project STEPS

Project STEPS (System-Wide Training for Educational Postsecondary
Success) will serve a cohort of 1,600 students, predominantly of
Hispanic descent, whose vast majority comes from low-income households.
The project will begin with the entire seventh grade classes at Walter
Reed and Sun Valley Middle Schools, both on the eastern edge of the San
Fernando Valley in Los Angeles Unified School District. STEPS will
progress annually with the cohort and follow the students as they
transition and move through North Hollywood and Francis Polytechnic High
Schools. All four of these schools are large, overcrowded campuses
operating on three tracks, year-round schedules. Activities include, but
not limited to; tutoring, mentoring, parent education, parent and child
programs, intersession learning academies, test preparation, teacher
training, college classes, and counselor training. These activities are
all designed to: 1) increase academic performance and preparation for
students' postsecondary education; 2) increase the rate of high school
graduation and college admissions; and 3) increase the students' and
their families' knowledge of postsecondary options and financial aid.

Project STEPS is a committed partnership of educational and
community-based organizations, all dedicated to fulfilling the dreams
and potentials of students usually underrepresented in colleges. Los
Angeles Unified School District will partner with California State
University Northridge, Los Angeles Valley College, UCLA Outreach, Parent
Institute for Quality Education and Families in Schools. Each will share
resources, expertise and experience to ensure that students have the
opportunity to be the first in their families to attend college.

The project officials will carefully collect and analyze data to monitor
growth in students' academic achievement. This analysis will include
monitoring of grades, attendance, test scores and participation in
Project STEPS activities. Students and parents will also examine
affective changes through analysis of attitudinal surveys that will be
completed annually.

Project Contact: Sue Shannon

Telephone Number: 818-755-5311

Email Address: SUE.SHANNON@LAUSD.NET

El Monte Union High School District

Rio Hondo Education Consortium GEAR UP Project

The Rio Hondo Education Consortium GEAR UP Project will serve a cohort
of 943 middle school students that will be followed for six years
through the eleventh grade. Need for this project is dictated by a
consistent lack of resources and persistently low performance on
standardized test scores for a predominantly low-income, Latino
population in eastern Los Angeles County. The GEAR UP project will
provide students with comprehensive services that stem from a cohesive
school-wide faculty approach to improving academic rigor for all
students. This approach will be faculty-driven and developed through a
faculty drafted Professional Development Action Plan. In this way
program implementations will have a greater opportunity to become
systemic changes within the school culture as opposed to an
outside-developed program imposed on a school. Services will focus on:
a) faculty professional development; b) student tutoring in both
language arts and mathematics; c) student advisement on college
requirements, application and financing; d) parent education that
supports programming to students; and e) building community support
around developing further resources to sustain and continue the efforts
started under this GEAR UP proposal.

The success of the project will rest upon a systemic approach to
programming, primarily focusing on faculty development at all target
school sites in an effort to develop a college going culture for all
students. The quality of the delivery of services by an experienced
project staff with14 years of GEAR UP program delivery and the dedicated
commitment of Whittier College, partnering schools and community support
will help to achieve a systemic culture of college going, increased
academic proficiency and greater college access.

Project Director: Robert Arellanes

Telephone Number: 562-881-6457

Email Address: RIOHONDOEC@AOL.COM

Los Angeles Unified School District

District 8 GEAR UP

The District 8 -- GEAR UP project will address three main problems in
Carson, California, which is part of the Los Angeles Unified School
District: 1.) academic underachievement, 2.) high drop-out rates, and
3.) low rates of enrollment in and completion of postsecondary
education. Our project will serve students beginning in sixth grade at
Carnegie, Curtiss, Caroldale, and White Middle Schools and at Carson
High School. Average sixth grade enrollment for the past four years has
been 1,869 students.

The underlying philosophy of the District 8 -- GEAR UP project is the
knowledge that all students in our target schools are capable of high
levels of academic achievement, high school completion, and enrollment
in and completion of post-secondary education. A major barrier to
student achievement in our target schools is poverty, and with poverty
comes lack of access to the educational and cultural resources that are
available to more privileged students. As such, this project will
implement a range of research-based interventions that have been shown
to improve student achievement and increase rates of postsecondary
enrollment and completion. Those interventions include the following:
teacher and staff professional development, lesson study strategies,
inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning, academic reading
techniques, enhanced mathematics instruction, study skills training,
tutoring, mentoring, field trips to educational and cultural sites, and
family involvement components.

Objectives and performance measures are aligned with GPRA indicators and
GEAR UP program measures. The evaluation plan includes an on-line
database, which will provide immediate, useful feedback to project
stakeholders on student achievement.

Partners include University of California, Los Angeles, University of
Southern California, Harbor Community College, California State
University -- Dominguez Hills, and others.

Project Director: Carol Takemoto

Telephone number: 310-354-3471

Email Address: CAROL.TAKEMOTO@LAUSD.EDU

Bellflower Unified School District

GEAR UP

The GEAR UP project for Bellflower Middle and High School in Bellflower,
California will build on the successful implementation of a GEAR UP
grant awarded in 1999. Project activities over the last six years
resulted in significant gains in student achievement, but too many
students are still achieving significantly below proficient levels in
academic subjects. Too many students accept D grades as passing and do
not recognize their potential to achieve to high levels, nor the
life-long benefits of striving to do their best. The number of students
meeting college entrance requirements upon graduation is below 15
percent, far lower than the expectations students and parents express in
surveys in the middle school and early high school years. Family
tradition and cultural barriers prevent many from knowing the
requirements and steps of a college path.

The first goal of the new GEAR UP project is to address the gaps in
student achievement using a continuous reform model focused on aligning
instructional practices and curricula within the K-12 system and with
institutions of higher education. As a result more students will arrive
at middle school prepared to take rigorous coursework preparing them for
a college-preparatory path in high school and there will be an increase
in the number of students eligible for admission to four-year colleges
or universities upon graduation. Strategies involve professional
development, curricular improvement, and a broad range of student
support services to master standards, resulting in increases in
achievement measures on state and local assessments. The project has a
second major goal of expanding and enhancing a college-going culture
with new strategies to connect with the parents of all cohort students
to increase awareness of the importance of a college education and of
the financial resources available to make that dream a reality.

Project Director: Jeanette Johnson

Telephone Number: 562-866-9011

Email: JJOHNSON@BUSD.K12.CA.US

Sweetwater Union High School District

GEAR UP for Sweetwater

The Sweetwater Union High School District is California's largest
secondary school system and is located in southern San Diego County near
the international border with Mexico. Approximately 86 percent of
Sweetwater students are of minority backgrounds and 27 percent are
English Language Learners. After a decade of reform and collaboration
with highly respected universities to improve instructional practice,
this project---GEAR UP for Sweetwater---provides new opportunities to
strengthen cohort students' academic progress.

This GEAR UP partnership proposal teams Sweetwater with eight higher
educational institutions and community-based organizations to strengthen
instructional practices and improve the college preparation of nearly
4,000 students. The project utilizes a cohort approach that begins with
seventh graders at seven middle schools that each meets or exceeds GEAR
UP minimum requirements of 50 percent of students receiving free or
reduced price meals. The goal is to build capacity for the improvement
of teaching and learning at cohort schools, therefore bridging the
achievement gap for students who reside in mostly disadvantaged
communities on the district's west side.

+----------------------------------------+-----------------------------+
| GEAR UP for Sweetwater Objectives      |                             |
| At-A-Glance                            |                             |
+----------------------------------------+-----------------------------+
| Objective 1: Increased UC and CSU      | Objective 6: Higher         |
| eligibility                            | four-year university        |
|                                        | enrollment without needing  |
| Objective 2: Increased middle school   | remediation                 |
| promotion                              |                             |
|                                        | Objective 7: Higher         |
| Objective 3: Instructional dialogues   | community college           |
| in core areas                          | enrollment                  |
|                                        |                             |
| Objective 4: Academic enrichment       | Objective 8: Admissions and |
| activities Objective 5: ELL and        | financial aid counseling    |
| Special Ed. populations improve in     | assistance for students and |
| writing and math, respectively         | parents                     |
+----------------------------------------+-----------------------------+

The project director will coordinate partners' services, which fall into
three areas: academic student support; outreach to families about
students' educational and financial options; and professional
development of the teaching and counseling force. By the time this GEAR
UP cohort graduates in 2011, they will increase their collective average
to 42 percent in UC and CSU eligibility and will enroll at higher rates
as first-time freshmen at four-year universities without needing
remediation.

Project Contact: Edward M. Brand

Telephone Number: 619-691-5555

Email Address: EDWARD.BRAND@SUHSD.K12.CA.US

Weld County School District 6

GREELEY GEAR UP

Using research-based strategies, the proposed Greeley GEAR UP (GGU)
program in Colorado offers early interventions targeting low-income
students least likely to attend and complete postsecondary education.
GGU is a community partnership, including Weld County School District 6
(LEA), the Greeley Dream Team, Aims Community College (IHE),
Greeley/Weld Chamber of Commerce, and Greeley Tribune. During its six
years, GGU plans to work with 520 students in two cohorts (one sixth and
one seventh grade).

GGU has four outcome objectives: (1) 80 percent of GGU students served
each year will continue to the next academic term; (2) 80 percent of GGU
students served each year will achieve grade level or better proficiency
in reading, writing and mathematics (using Achievement Level Test and
Colorado Schools Achievement Program scores); (3) 50 percent of GGU
seventh-grade cohort students will enroll in postsecondary education
after high school graduation; and (4) 90 percent of GGU students and
families will receive information about postsecondary requirements,
practices, and financial support options.

To reach its four outcome objectives, GGU will (a) initiate a student
tracking system to monitor academic progress; (b) implement multiple
academic support programs and specialized courses; (c) offer staff
development workshops to targeted school faculty and staff; (d) provide
counseling, advising, tutoring and mentoring to GGU students; (e)
develop a college campus Summer Program to support further academic
achievement, as well as encourage postsecondary access; (f) provide
family postsecondary information workshops and campus visits; (g)
implement family involvement activities; and (h) provide career
education programs and activities.

Project Director: Anthony Pariso

Telephone Number: 970-348-6012

Email Address: APARISO@GRELLEYSCHOOLS.ORG

University of Connecticut

Center for Academic Programs -- GEAR UP Program

GEAR UP (GU) is part of the Center for Academic Programs (CAP) at the
University of Connecticut (UCONN). CAP increases access to higher
education for high-potential students who come from underrepresented
ethnic or economic backgrounds and/or are first-generation college
students. CAP prepares students for successful entry into, retention in,
and graduation from a postsecondary institution through its four
constituent programs: Educational Talent Search, GU, Upward Bound and
the on-campus Student Support Services.

GU is a partnership between UCONN, New Haven Public Schools, Gateway
Community College, and Quinnipiac University, which provide a holistic
and sequential picture of student development. It provides students'
with a heightened awareness of college as a viable option for their
economic self-sufficiency. GEAR UP's curriculum focuses on three
domains: academic advising, college and financial aid awareness, and
career awareness. During the first year of the grant cycle the program
will work with all students in seventh and eighth grade at East Rock,
Edgewood, and Truman Middle Schools and ninth graders at the target high
schools. This first cohort represents a total of 680 students. The
following years we will continue with the cohort approach recruiting a
new class of seventh graders and serving students promoted to grades
eighth, ninth, and tenth. The partnership will work with the schools and
the district to promote increased student academic achievement through
workshops in the areas of math, science, reading, and technology and
exposure to career and job fields.

Lastly, in order to assist students with their transition from middle
school to high school it is important for parents and guardians to
understand the educational process and the importance of higher
education. The program will conduct parent workshops in collaboration
with the schools that focus on academic advising, college awareness,
financial aid, and career awareness.

Point of Contact: Ada Rivera

Telephone Number: 203-285-2429

Email Address: ARIVERA@GWCC.COMMNET.EDU

School District of Hillsborough County

Hillsborough GEAR UP

\\This program will occur in the School District of Hillsborough County
(SDHC), Tampa, Florida. Economically, the two target schools, Pierce
Middle School and James K-8, serve students who come from households
with limited income. James K-8 is located in east Tampa where 91.1
percent (N=728) of the total student population qualifies for free and
reduced price lunch, and 95.5 percent (N=695) qualifying for free meal
status. At Pierce Middle School 78 percent of the students qualify for
free or reduced price lunch.

Education data highlights special issues facing these two schools.
Seventy percent of Pierce students scored at the lowest levels of "1" or
"2," with 46 percent percent at level 1. Six out of ten students fail to
meet minimal standards in math and seven out of ten fail to meet minimal
standards in reading. These scores place student performance well below
Hillsborough County averages.

Hillsborough GEAR UP program will utilize the following proposed
activities and strategies: (1) Vertical Team Programming, (2) Algebra I
Initiative, (3) Foreign Language Academy, (4) Parent Workshops, (5)
Guest Lectures, (6) College Fair, (7) Career Fair, (8)GEAR UP Summer
Institute, (9) Afternoon and Saturday Sessions, and (10) College Campus
Tours. Four delivery models will be used: (1) Family Financial Literacy
Curriculum, (2) Parent workshops, (3) Student Workshops, and (4) Family
Financial Forecast Sessions. Academic scholarships will be offered to
GEAR UP students through a partnership between SDHC and the Hillsborough
Education Foundation.

Some of the intended outcomes are: (1) students will meet pupil
progression plan in mathematics that will lead to a college preparation
diploma; (2) program students will be bi-literate; (3) program will
provide opportunities for parental involvement; (4) community partners
will facilitate program objectives; (5) students will have opportunity
to obtain scholarships when completing the program, and (6) Students
will graduate in a timely manner, prepared for higher education.

Project Director: Barbara Anderson

Telephone Number: 813-272-4880

Email Address: barbara.anderson@sdhc.k12.fl.us

Florida International University

GEAR UP South Dade Empowerment Zone

The GEAR UP South Dade Empowerment Zone program is a partnership among
19 organizations that are committed to developing the human potential of
students in the South Dade Federal Empowerment Zone. This empowerment
zone contains one of the highest concentrations of economically
disadvantaged, traditionally underrepresented students and families in
the county or state. With the primary purpose of raising proficiency
levels, GEAR UP intends to raise graduation rates and the number of
minority students entering postsecondary educational institutions by
offering a multitude of services such as tutoring, after school and
summer academies, mentoring, parental involvement activities, technology
integration efforts, and teacher professional development.

The long-range goal of the partnership is to provide reform and
development to this area to enhance the living and working conditions of
the area's residents. The objective of this application is to begin this
process of revitalization through academic preparation and enrichment of
the students living in this zone. The vision is to create motivation,
enthusiasm and a sense of accomplishment in all the students of this
zone. This strong partnership offers a golden opportunity to involve all
the stakeholders in the educational process of these students so that
they are able to graduate high school and enroll in college in large
numbers, and pursue professional careers that will fulfill their dreams
for a full and satisfying life. The teachers and schools addressed by
this program will develop a rigorous approach to professional
development to gain mastery over the subject material of their
respective fields and a profound understanding of the most effective
teaching practices. It is envisioned that the successful completion of
this project will serve as the catalyst to create reform in the
educational system of the area so as to afford future groups of cohorts
with the same opportunities presented by this program.

Project Director: Gustavo Roig

Telephone Number: 305-348-3700

Email Address: gustave.roig@fiu.edu

Valdosta City Schools

GEARUP VCS

The Valdosta City Schools GEAR UP program is designed to increase the
number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in
postsecondary education. Students in the target schools are
impoverished. Newbern Middle School is a Title I school and 100 percent
of students at the middle school are eligible for free and reduced price
lunches. They are not performing well on standardized testing; 47
percent of eighth grade students at the middle school failed the
mathematics portion of the Criterion Reference Competency Test; and 39
percent of 11th grade students at Valdosta High School failed the
science portion of the Georgia High School Graduation Test.

The services that this program will provide to meet these needs are:

-   After school tutorials in reading and mathematics;

-   During the school day reading clinics;

-   Standardized test preparation;

-   College and financial aid counseling;

-   Passport to Manhood Boys to Men;

-   Technology -- accelerated mathematics and reader;

-   Career preparation, assessment and readiness;

-   Summer Program Enrichment;

-   Cultural enrichment and college tours;

-   Parental Involvement Workshops and Family Reading Night; and

-   Professional Development.

The provision of these services will enable increased numbers of
students promoted for grade to grade; graduate from high school and
enter into programs of postsecondary study. The objective of the GEAR UP
program will be fulfilled.

Project Director: Sam Allen

Telephone Number: 229-333-8500

Email Address: SMALLEN@GOCATS.ORG

Kennesaw State University

Through funds provided by the GEAR UP Grant, the Marietta Partnership
will "significantly increase the number of low-income students who are
prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education." To meet this
goal, the Partnership will use three objectives as benchmarks throughout
the six years the proposed programs are in place:

> \(1\) Increase the academic performance and preparation for
> postsecondary education for GEAR UP students.
>
> \(2\) Increase the rate of high school graduation and participation in
> postsecondary education for GEAR UP students.
>
> \(3\) Increase GEAR UP students' and their families' knowledge of
> postsecondary education options, preparation, and financing.

To meet these objectives, Marietta City Schools (K-12 partner), Kennesaw
State University, Chattahoochee Technical College, and business
representatives from the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce (the county in
which all partners reside), and Marietta Middle and High School business
partners will collaboratively plan, implement, and evaluate educational
experiences. Programs like Saturday Academic Experiences and One-on-One
Tutorials will provide avenues for students to increase skills,
understanding, and application of skills to subject-area processes.
Counselor training programs in postsecondary options, avenues to
postsecondary education, and understanding of career pathways will allow
counselors to increase their knowledge of ways to guide parents and
students toward post secondary education. Teacher training in advisement
procedures (to assist counselors when students plan yearly courses) and
in best practices (to develop knowledge and strategies of instruction)
will also occur, and to assist parents and students through the process
of preparation for, admission to, and information on how to pay for
college, workshops and training will be provided, and workshops and
college campus field trips are planned for parents and students.

Project Director: Carol Harrell

Telephone Number: 770-423-6492

Email Address: CHARRELL@KENNESAW.EDU

Thomas University

GEARUP-Grant for low-income students

The Thomas University GEAR UP program is designed to increase the number
of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in
postsecondary education. Students in the target schools are
impoverished. Seventy-one percent of students at the middle school are
eligible for free and reduced price lunches. The students are not
performing well on standardized testing. Twenty-seven: 27 percent of
students at the middle school failed the mathematics portion of the
Criterion Reference Competency Test; and the average high school
students' score on the SAT was 920. Lastly, only 37 percent of students
participating in a survey responded that their parents were involved in
their education.

Some of the services that this program will provide to students, parents
and teachers are as follows:

-   After school tutorials in reading and mathematics;

-   During the school day reading clinics;

-   Standardized Test Prep;

-   College and Financial Aid Counseling;

-   Passport to Manhood Boys to Men;

-   Technology -- Accelerated math and reading;

-   Career Preparation, assessment and readiness;

-   Summer Program Enrichment;

-   Cultural Enrichment and college tours;

-   Parental Involvement Workshops and Family Reading Night; and

-   Professional Development.

The provision of these services will enable increased numbers of
students promoted for grade to grade; graduate from high school and
enter into programs of postsecondary study. The objective of the GEAR UP
program will be fulfilled.

Project Director: Melanie Martin

Telephone Number: 229-226-1621

Email Address: mmartin@thomasu.edu

University of Hawai'i

University of Hawai'i at Manoa GEAR UP Partnerships

This project builds upon the successes achieved by the current
University of Hawai'i at Manoa GEAR UP partnership grant (2000-2006).
The project will provide 675 sixth and seventh graders at Kalakaua
Middle School access to rigorous academic preparation, financial
information, and financial assistance to enter and succeed in
postsecondary education. In addition to tutoring, mentoring,
professional development, and parental involvement activities, the
project features a unique and innovative language education program
specifically adapted to meet the needs of the large language minority
and immigrant student population. The proposed project enhances the
language education program by fully integrating computer-based
technology into the curriculum. Another special feature of the project
is the use of Individual Development Accounts (or IDAs), special savings
accounts designed to provide low-income students and families an
opportunity to accumulate assets, facilitate and mobilize savings, and
promote college access.

There are five project goals: 1) students will be prepared to access
postsecondary education opportunities; 2) parents will value higher
education, access resources, and support their children in pursuit of
postsecondary education; 3) teachers and staff will be prepared and
committed to mitigate the negative effects of poverty on students and
their access to higher education; 4) a system will be established to
acknowledge academic achievement and to award financial assistance to
GEAR UP students; and 5) community partners will contribute to an
enrichment of educational opportunities and support funding for
postsecondary education. The relationships established and outcomes
achieved to date by the University of Hawai'i at Manoa GEAR UP project
provide strong evidence than an enhanced and expanded program will be
successfully implemented.

Project Director: Roderick Labrador

Telephone Number: 808-956-9112

Email Address: LABRADOR@HAWAII@EDU

Northeastern Illinois University

Chicago GEAR UP Alliance

The Chicago GEAR UP Alliance will extend a comprehensive set of services
to 10,295 disadvantaged middle and high school students that will
transform, over six years, the way in which schools prepare students for
high school, for ultimate success in college, and for becoming life-long
learners. To accomplish this, the project addresses critical needs that
research suggests place students at risk of educational failure,
including low student achievement.

This project engages all stakeholders in a high performance learning
community that provides educators with focused, collaborative
professional development to improve the school curriculum; creates a
coordinated system for early intervention through tutoring, mentoring
and enrichment activities; implements an inclusive and comprehensive
approach for informing students and parents about college, career
options, financial aid and required rigorous courses; provides
experiences about what college is like; and emphasizes that all children
are capable of success.

The Chicago GEAR UP Alliance is grounded upon the successes of the
Chicago Education Alliance in bringing together influential decision
makers from state and local education, community, and business levels,
including: Northeastern Illinois University, Roosevelt University,
DePaul University, University of Chicago, Loyola University,
National-Louis University, Truman College, the Chicago Board of
Education, Children's Memorial Hospital, the Consortium for Chicago
School Research, New Concepts Tutor/Mentor Connection, North Lawndale
Learning Community, and Youth Guidance. The partnership outcomes will be
sustained; resulting in system-wide change with increasing numbers of
students realizing that learning is a fascinating adventure. Students
will identify their talents, explore careers and set goals to achieve
their dreams, and every student will become academically and financially
ready for college.

Project Director: Wendy M. Stack

Telephone Number: 312-733-7330

Email Address: W-STACK@NEIU.EDU

Calumet College of St. Joseph

Calumet College of St. Joseph GEAR UP

Clark Middle School and High School students in Hammond, Indiana, come
to school from a background of socioeconomic problems that prevents them
from breaking patterns of low educational achievement. An analysis of
the community shows three interrelated needs: (1) students lack academic
preparation for college and have poor academic performance; (2) students
come from backgrounds that are unfamiliar with---and sometimes
unsupportive of---higher education; and (3) students lack financial
resources for postsecondary education.

To address these three issues, Calumet College of St. Joseph proposes a
partnership with the School City of Hammond, the City of Hammond Mayor's
Office, and a grass-roots community organization, the Hammond Hispanic
Community Committee (HHCC) to present a coordinated program of
activities and support based upon sound research and best practices.
Program activities will provide tutoring and mentoring at CCSJ daily
during the school year, an academic activity at the college weekly, a
field trip and a visit to colleges monthly, and monthly parent workshops
on issues related to postsecondary education, including finances. GEAR
UP will also offer occasional family activities. The GEAR UP summer
component will offer six weeks of one- to two-week "camps" in which
students will thoroughly investigate an academic topic. Finally, GEAR UP
will sponsor two in-service days for Clark faculty and staff annually
(one each semester) to address issues of concern in urban, minority
schools. The result of the program will be to:

-   Increase the academic performance and preparation for postsecondary
    education for GEAR UP participants (in response to Need 1 above);

-   Increase GEAR UP students' and their families' knowledge of
    postsecondary education options, preparation, and financing (Needs 2
    and 3 above); and, therefore,

-   Increase the rate of high school graduation and participation in
    postsecondary education for GEAR UP students (the overall GEAR UP
    goal).

Point of Contact: Alexandra Victor

Telephone Number: 219-473-4310

Email Address: AVICTOR@CCSJ.EDU

University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc.

Pathways to success

The Pathways to Success GEAR UP Project has produced a renaissance in
the Topeka School District (USD 501), the famous home of Brown v. Board
of Education. As reported in the Topeka Capital Journal (April 4, 2005),
USD 501 has experienced record improvements in student achievement
scores.

A new Pathway to Success program is proposed to capitalize on this
momentum. The proposed program will include: (a) a district-wide
professional development program, led by school-based Instructional
Coaches, to increase the quality of instruction received by every
student; (b) an integrated, comprehensive reading program that provides
(i) individual instruction from a reading specialist in every school,
(ii) enhanced reading strategy instruction in reading and language arts
classes, and (iii) General Education reading strategies instruction to
ensure that every teacher is a reading teacher; (c) leadership teams to
ensure that GEARUP reading and mathematics courses are rigorous and
accessible, (d) learning strategies and writing strategies to help
students become more effective and efficient learners, (e) a
comprehensive, district-wide positive behavior support program, (f) a
research-based model for strategic tutoring available to all students,
(g) a proven model for telementoring, with the capacity to efficiently
provide highly effective, safe, mentoring to thousands of students, and
(h) a Family School Coordinator to communicate with families about their
students' successes and challenges, absences, and many available
post-secondary options.

A particular strength of this project is a management plan that creates
a true partnership, where Pathways share database decision-making to
Success staff and leaders at the district and school levels. All
partners will collaborate to ensure that all components of the program
are implemented efficiently, on time, and within budget.

Project Director: James Knight

Telephone Number: 785-864-4780

Email Address: jknight@ku.edu

Neosho County Community College

College-Bound Class Project (CBC Project)

The College-Bound Class (CBC) GEAR UP project seeks to address the
critical educational needs of three rural school districts in Southeast
Kansas. The CBC project will serve a cohort of 211 students beginning in
seventh grade and continuing through their high school graduation and
entry into postsecondary education. The children to be served come from
the region of the stated ranked worst for economic distress. In the
counties to be served 17.2 percent of the families are below poverty,
compared to 11.5 percent in the state and 9.2 percent in the United
States. The area to be served has the highest concentration of welfare
participation in the state. The unemployment rates are higher than state
averages. As the population of the region continues to decline, the
number of individuals served by welfare grows each year. For the past
five years a steady increase in the number of children eligible for free
and reduced price meals has climbed to a rate that now exceeds 52
percent, compared to the state average of 39 percent.

The educational attainment of the region is low. Over 87 percent of
adults living in the service area have not completed a baccalaureate
degree and 18 percent have not graduated from high school, (the state
average is 14 percent). The dropout rate in all three school districts
is higher than the state average and the student-to-counselor ratio is
384 to 1. In addition, students are scoring well below the state average
in core subjects and counselors cite lack of one-on-one support and
tutoring as a major reason for low academic achievement.

The CBC Project proposes numerous academic support strategies to improve
the educational attainment of the cohort and to ensure successful
completion of high school and continuation into postsecondary education.
The project staff will include three full-time employees who come from
backgrounds similar to the cohort and have the ability to achieve the
anticipated outcome of 100 percent enrollment in postsecondary
education.

The host organization commits \$43,050 annually to the success of the
project. District and community partners add an additional \$42,782
annually in matching resources. The amount of matching resources
committed to the project by the partners reflects the severity of the
need for the services provided by the College-Bound Class GEAR UP
project.

Project Director: Brenda Krumm

Telephone Number: 620-431-2272

Email Address: BKRUMM@NEOSHO.EDU

University of Kansas Center for Research

University of Kansas Washington Cluster Gear Up Project

It is not excessive to say that the vast majority of the students
attending school in the Kansas City, Kansas School District 500 can only
be described as "at-risk for educational failure." These students must
cope daily with all of the failings and trappings, such as unqualified
teachers, so common in many urban school districts. Indeed, students in
this district achieve at much lower levels than their peers across the
state. An aggressive comprehensive approach, using well developed and
researched strategies, is necessary to increase achievement levels of
these students, so that they will be prepared to take advantage of
postsecondary education opportunities.

The University of Kansas Washington Cluster GEAR UP Program is designed
to meet these challenges and will build upon existing community
partnerships to provide educational services, career exploration, and
other enrichment opportunities to the seventh graders at Arrowhead and
Eisenhower Middle Schools in District 500. This program will tier
guidance for these students and their parents through the college
admissions process from start to finish. Programming will progress from
answering the question of "What is college" to teaching these students
how to develop goals, to what high school courses to take, and to
developing personal statements for their college applications. In
addition, the GEAR UP program will offer teachers research-based
strategies and teaching routines that will allow students to learn in a
strategic learning environment.

Finally, the GEAR UP program will offer students and their teachers
summer programming that will prepare them and give them a head start on
the upcoming school year. The cohort of seventh graders who participate
in the GEAR UP program will receive services until they graduate from
Washington High School in 2011. The majority of these services will be
implemented during the academic day to ensure there are no barriers for
students to participate in GEAR UP. Thus, this program creates a solid
foundation for students to not only prepare for postsecondary education,
but to excel and graduate.

Project Director: Ngondi Kamatuka

Telephone Number: 785-864-3401

Email Address: kamatuka@ku.edu

Berea College

Berea College GEAR UP Partnership

The proposed GEAR UP Partnership brings together two institutions of
higher education, Berea College and Eastern Kentucky University; six
high-poverty school districts; two regional community organizations.
Forward in the Fifth and Kentucky Higher Education Assistance
Association; and several local community partners. Each partner brings
skills, resources and experiences to the partnership that are relevant
to the scope of the project and each partner is financially committed to
the project.

The Partnership will serve 16 high-poverty schools in the contiguous
Appalachian counties of Estill, Jackson, Lee, Madison, and Rockcastle.
The cohort consists of all sixth and seventh grade students in the five
county service region and all students, K-7, who attend the Berea
Community School, a small school where all students, Entry -- 12th
grade, are located in one school building.

Working closely with the partners, the baseline data for our region has
been analyzed, and gaps or weaknesses in services, infrastructure, or
opportunities in three problem areas have been identified. : Low-income
children are at risk of educational failure; parents do not have high
expectations for children, nor have the skills to help them prepare for
college; and teachers in the schools do not have a functional
understanding of effective pedagogy and a deep understanding of concepts
they are expected to teach.

Using up-to-date research and knowledge of effective practices a
comprehensive array of services to address these gaps has been
developed. The services include: direct services to students, parent
engagement activities, and whole school improvement. The impact of these
services is measurable and will result in systemic change in the culture
of our school systems.

As a result of the GEAR UP Partnership, significantly more low-income
students from our Appalachian service region will be prepared for
success in post-secondary education.

Project Director: Dreama Gentry

Telephone Number: 859-985-3853

Email Address: DREAMA_GENTRY@BEREA.EDU

Fulton County School System

GEAR UP & SOAR

The Fulton County Board of Education in Hickman, Kentucky is requesting
grant funds on behalf of the West Kentucky Educational Cooperative
(WKEC) to implement GEAR UP AND SOAR within nine school districts, all
of which meet the eligibility criteria of 50 percent free and reduced
price lunch eligibility at the participating school with a seventh
grade. In all of the districts, academic expectations among students,
parents and teachers are low, resulting in low college going rates and
academic achievement. The GEAR UP AND SOAR program will focus on
identifying and eliminating barriers to student success through
comprehensive academic enhancement, capacity building in school
leadership to sustain success, and broad parent and community
engagement. Project services will be provided in two tracks: Building
Pathways to College for Students and Parents and Building School and
Community Capacity for a College Going Culture.

In partnership with these school districts, four higher education
partners and 17 community organizations, business partners, state and
governmental agencies, and non-profits will be committing over
\$7,000,000 in matching resources to provide services to students and
families. The West Kentucky Educational Cooperative, an educational
service agency whose mission it is to help its member districts maximize
resources to facilitate student achievement, will manage the project.
The WKEC has operated a successful GEAR UP project since 1999 and has
developed this proposal to include new partners and focus on broader
issues of capacity building and sustainability. Students will feel
success and use this positive frame of reference to visualize their
future, plan their goals and be nurtured to have high hopes of
completing college. Students will GEAR UP AND SOAR!

Project Director: Jennifer Van Waes

Telephone Number: 270-762-2086

Email Address: JVANWAES@WKEC.COOP.K12.KY.US

Clinton County Board Of Education

Southcentral Kentucky GEAR UP

The South-central Kentucky GEAR UP Partnership will serve students who
reside in Clinton, McCreary, and Wayne Counties in Appalachian Kentucky.
The need for a GEAR UP project in these counties is severe. Poverty
rates in the three counties range from 41 percent to 32 percent. Each of
the four middle schools to be served has a free and reduced price lunch
rate of 75 percent or higher. Only slightly over 55 percent of adults
have a high school diploma. Currently, less than 75 percent of the
students are graduating, with roughly one third of those attempting
postsecondary education. School district achievement test scores, ACT
scores, and other indicators of academic proficiency lag far behind
state and national averages. Overall awareness of postsecondary
opportunities is limited.

The South-central Kentucky GEAR UP project will serve approximately 575
seventh grade students in Year 1. By Year 6, the project will be serving
over 3,100 students in grades 7-12. The project will provide services
and activities in five major areas: (1) Academic Rigor and Instructional
Improvement; (2) Mentoring and Counseling; (3) Postsecondary Awareness
for Students and Parents; (4) After-School and Summer Programs; and (5)
Financial Assistance. Innovative project services include a Support
Chain Peer Mentoring program; Campus tours; College Savings Accounts;
Individual Graduation Plans; Academic Enrichment; Enhanced College
Preparation Courses; Summer College Experiences; and Evening Meetings
for Parents, just to name a few.

The project has five main goals: (1) To increase the academic
performance and preparation for postsecondary education; (2) To increase
the rate of high school graduation and participation in postsecondary
education; (3) To increase students' and families' awareness and
knowledge of postsecondary education options, preparation, and
financing; (4) To increase student support for postsecondary preparation
through after-school and summer programs; and (5) To increase low-income
students' access to postsecondary education through a program of
financial assistance.

Point of Contact: Paula Little

Telephone Number: 606-387-5437

E-mail Address: PLITTLE@CLINTON.K12.KY.US

Monroe City Schools

Monroe City Schools GEAR UP Project

Monroe City Schools (MCS), in collaboration with The University of
Louisiana- Monroe, The City of Monroe Police Department and Parks and
Recreation, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, YMCA, Teen Crisis Center, and
Tri-District Boys and Girls Club, proposes to provide expanded
opportunities to an initial cohort of sixth and seventh graders at
Martin Luther King, Jr., and seventh graders at Carroll and Robert E.
Lee Junior High Schools toward increased attendance and progression
toward graduation and postsecondary entry. Successive cohorts will be
included each year. These schools have 1022 students enrolled, a 91.26
percent minority enrollment, a 78 percent free and reduced price lunch
rate, are in either School Improvement or Academic Warning Status, and
have 8 percent of students not regularly attending. Only 37 percent of
seniors enter postsecondary---with 45 percent of those requiring
remediation. MCS has five major objectives toward accomplishment of
increased academic performance and postsecondary entry summarized below:

1.  To increase state-mandated criterion referenced mathematics and
    literacy test scores by 10 percent each year of the six-year grant
    period.

2.  Provide 21st Century Scholar Certificates, financial aid
    availability, and postsecondary admissions information to 100
    percent of cohorts.

3.  A 10 percent annual increase in number of students completing
    Pre-Algebra by the end of grade eight and completing Algebra I by
    the end of grade nine.

4.  Provide postsecondary counseling, mentoring, tutoring, after-school
    and summer school programs to 100 percent of cohorts toward a 10
    percent annual decrease in dropout rates and a 20 percent decrease
    in disciplinary actions annually.

5.  Provide opportunities for professional development.

Point of Contact: James A. Dupree

Telephone Number: 318-325-0601

Email Address: DR.DUPREE@MCSCHOOLS.NET

Mount Wachusett Community College

Fitchburg GEAR UP

Mount Wachusett Community College will administer the Fitchburg GEAR UP!
Project in partnership with the Fitchburg (Massachusetts) Public School
District, the University of Massachusetts, the Boys and Girls Club of
Fitchburg, the Cleghorn Neighborhood Action Center, the Twin Cities
Latino Coalition, the Worcester County Juvenile Probation Office, the
Spanish American Center, and the Massachusetts Educational Financing
Agency. The project will serve 978 students in grades six and seven in
four target schools: Academy Middle (grades six-eight), B.F. Brown Arts
Vision (grades six-eight), Memorial Intermediate (grades six-eight) and
Fitchburg High School. The city has one of the highest crime rates in
Massachusetts, and the District is overwhelmingly low income and first
generation, with a large percentage of students from primarily Latino
backgrounds who are second language learners. Standardized test scores
at each school are well below the state and national averages and this
is magnified among the Latino student population. The goals of the
project are:

Goal 1: To increase the academic performance of GEAR UP students.

Goal 2: To increase the rate of high school graduation and participation
in postsecondary education for GEAR UP students.

Goal 3: To increase students and their families' knowledge of
postsecondary education and financial aid options.

Goal 4: To implement sustainable teaching and learning improvements
through annual professional development and curriculum reform activities
for teachers.

The project will provide all cohort students with intensive, bilingual
academic support services including: targeted initiatives in math and
for second language learners; college admissions and financing
information and application assistance; after-school and vacation
programs, including a special initiative focusing on math, science, and
engineering; and family based interventions designed to increase student
academic success. The Fitchburg Public School District will embark upon
instructional and curricular reforms that will make improvements in
teaching diverse learners, and reforming the middle school and high
school math curricula. Anticipated project outcomes are: increased
postsecondary matriculation of students, a math curriculum aligned to
national standards, and developing all teachers to become certified by
2011. The Partnership will maintain the capacity to continue providing
services to all students beyond the period of federal support.

Project Director: Pati Gregson

Telephone Number: 978-630-9339

Email Address: P_GREGSON@MWCC.MASS.EDU

University of Massachusetts Lowell

GEAR UP Opportunity Lowell!

The Bartlett, Butler, Rogers, Robinson and Sullivan schools have elected
to work with a seventh grade cohort. This cohort of 724 students will be
followed through to high school graduation. The GEAR UP (GU) Partnership
will offer an array of services to students and their families, ensuring
equitable access to resources. Emphasis will be on partnership programs
that foster parent education and involvement; prepare students for
postsecondary education with the assistance of tutoring, mentoring,
enrichment, and college and career awareness programs; enhance pedagogy
to address the needs of diverse students; provide professional
development; conduct capacity-building evaluations; and build
sustainability in GEAR UP programs and activities.

The program will strengthen links among the schools, businesses,
community organizations, and university departments to ensure that
initiatives can be sustained when funding ends, using volunteer support
and the assumption of some program costs by partnering institutions.

One of the Partnership's key strategies for increasing students'
expectations is to remove the element of self-selection from activities
that guide students toward preparing for college. Workshops introduce
students to the idea of college as both valuable and accessible, and
guide them through information about SATs, financial aid, course
selection, and the application process.

GEAR UP proposes a set of programs to improve math performance. Students
will have opportunities to learn from both peers and partners to
strengthen their math literacy. GU will: 1) stimulate students' interest
in mathematics, expanding their understanding of their own
problem-solving process and increasing their ability to reason about
math; 2) implement programs responsive to the students' immigrant
experiences; and 3) assist in alignment of mathematics courses across
middle school, high school and college to strengthen performance in
mathematics.

Project Director: Linda Silka

Telephone Number: 978-934-4675

Email Address: LINDA_SILKA@UML.EDU

University of Maine at Farmington

UMF GEAR UP

The University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) GEAR UP Project, building on
the success of our partnership with School Administrative District (SAD)
21 between 1999 and 2005, will expand its partnership to include SAD 21,
SAD 43 and Jay School District. These districts share many similar
traits. Situated in an economically challenged part of rural Maine, they
include schools with very limited resources. Students lack aspirations,
motivation and role models. Parental participation in the education
process is very limited and few financial and college counseling
opportunities are offered. Postsecondary education is perceived by many
to be unattainable. Isolation and budget reductions also deprive the
schools of opportunities for sufficient professional development.

To alleviate these problems, the UMF GEAR UP Project proposes to deliver
services to students, parents and teachers through collaborative efforts
with partners from businesses and community-based organizations. The
program will employ methods that have already proven to be effective and
successful: students will be offered tutoring and mentoring; a week-long
series of lectures, classes and activities on UMF's campus; after-school
and summer programs, field trips and college visits, career planning and
job-shadowing, along with 21st Century Scholar Certificate ceremonies.
Parents will be provided with college and financial aid counseling,
field trips and college visits. For teachers, the program will deliver
college-school bridging courses, professor-teacher workshops, as well as
courses, seminars and training programs to help them improve student
academic performance through more vigorous and challenging courses. It
is hoped that the success of the first GEAR UP project will be
replicated and benefit more people in Maine.

By the time they graduate, 85 percent of the students will be
academically prepared for college. All families will have received
financial counseling and will be cognizant of the steps needed to plan
for college and have started saving for postsecondary education. Schools
will also gain through collaboration with the university in capacity
building and curriculum development.

Project Director: Weiya Liang

Telephone Number: 207-562-7552

Email Address: WEIYA.LIANG@MAINE.EDU

Western Michigan University

MERC GEAR UP Learning Centers II

The Midwest Educational Reform Consortium (MERC) is a collaborative
partnership involving universities, school districts, community-based
organizations, business, foundations, and state and local agencies from
three mid-western states. The mission of MERC is to improve academic
achievement for all students, with the ultimate goal of increasing the
number of students who matriculate and complete post-secondary
education. To accomplish this goal, MERC provides a comprehensive and
systematic program of restructuring public schools, providing extensive
professional development, establishing support structures for students
and families, and engaging communities. MERC is housed in the Merze Tate
Center for Research on School Reform at Western Michigan University and
involves the Center for Innovative and Transformative (CITE) and
Partnerships for Community Action (PCA) at Bowling Green State
University (Ohio), and the Small Schools Workshop (SSW) at the Center
for Innovative Schools in Chicago, in partnership with school districts
and community agencies in Bangor, Battle Creek, and Kalamazoo, Michigan
and Toledo, Ohio.

Drawing from experience in several highly successful and nationally
recognized school reform projects (Boykin, 2000; Bryk, Easton, et al.,
1993; 1995; Kretovics, Farber & Armaline, 1991a; 1991b; 2004; Shen, Lu,
and Kretovics, 2004; Kirschner, 2004; Fischer, Hamer, Zimmerman,
Sidorkin, Samel, Long, and McArhtur, 2004), MERC proposes a GEAR UP
Learning Center initiative, based upon accelerated learning and
culturally responsive teaching, that integrates elements of these
successful projects with the needs of schools, students, families, and
community and social service agencies in the selected communities. This
proposal offers a comprehensive and multi-dimensional approach to
transforming low-achieving, high-poverty schools into high-achieving and
self-sustaining centers of learning. The GEAR UP Learning Centers are
not prescriptive, cookie-cutter approaches to school reform. Instead,
MERC has developed a performance-based process that is broadly adaptive
to the unique needs of individual schools and their communities. Through
accelerating student learning, establishing culturally responsive
teaching practices, providing direct support to students and their
families, and engaging the community the GEAR UP Learning Centers
prepare students socially and academically for postsecondary education.

Project Director: Joseph R. Kretovics

Telephone Number: 269-387-6867

Email Address: KRETOVICS@WMICH.EDU

St. Olaf College

St. Olaf College GEAR UP

Since 1999, St. Olaf College GEAR UP has served a cohort of 300 inner
city, low-income students from St. Paul Humboldt Junior and Senior High
Schools. Ninety-eight percent of GEAR UP's senior cohort has applied and
been accepted to at least one college this year, a tremendous
accomplishment for a school that historically sends less than 40 percent
of its graduates to postsecondary education. As a result, the St. Paul
School's Superintendent's Office has encouraged St. Olaf to expand the
GEAR UP model to a second, high-need senior high, and two additional
inner-city feeder schools. St. Olaf GEAR UP proposes to serve 850
seventh grade students and follow them through high school graduation
and into college. These students experience all of the difficulties
associated with urban poverty: the worst drop out and college
participation rates, the lowest family incomes, the highest crime rates,
and the poorest social services.

The St. Olaf College GEAR UP Partners will use the expertise developed
over the past six years to expand the GEAR UP model to new students,
school personnel, family and community members. Students in this cohort
experience the effects of poverty, racism, urban isolation, low academic
expectations and achievement, with limited chances for high school
graduation and college matriculation. The program offers specialized
tutoring, academic advising, career and educational guidance, mentoring,
and parent and guardian programming to achieve its goals.

St. Olaf College, a regional leader in college preparatory outreach, and
its Partners commit a match of \$3,315,000 in cash and in-kind
resources. St. Olaf commits a cash contribution of \$245,500 for the
operation of the program. Its Partners commit hundreds of hours of
after-school programming, mentoring, tutoring, summer academic
enrichment camps, first-rate facilities, and thousands of dollars of
cash and in-kind service. By participating in the St. Olaf GEAR UP
program, participants will dramatically increase the likelihood that
they will succeed in school, excel scholastically, and successfully
matriculate to college.

Project Director: Julia Seper

Telephone Number: 507-646-8441

Email Address: SEPER@STOLAF.EDU

Gasconade County Reorganized School District R2

Preparation, Readiness, Empowerment and Parents Program (PREP)

The Gasconade County School District (GCSD) is located in the south
central region of Missouri, a region of unusual economic diversity with
pockets of tremendous poverty. A cursory listing of almost any key
indicator evidences the region's need for this project: graduation rates
test scores, educational attainment, enrollment in college preparatory
courses, etc. The potential to impact the quality of life is also
evident in statistics such as the pockets of poverty surrounding the
community, literacy rate, and unemployment.

PREP (Preparation, Readiness, Empowerment and Parents) is a cooperative
partnership effort between the GCSD, Washington University in St. Louis,
Webster University, Central Methodist University, University of Missouri
in St. Louis, Mineral Area College, Peterson's Publishing,
Franklin-Gasconade County Housing Agency, to empower low-income students
to aspire, plan, and prepare for college. This project addresses these
needs by orchestrating two major types of interventions: school reform
and individual support services. PREP will help bridge the gap between
the problems and barriers to learning that students experience and the
support services provided to low-income students

It is believed that Gasconade students in the identified schools,
Owensville Middle and High School, will help build their capacity for
future success and will break the cycle of poverty that exist in the
district. The program will serve 334 students in grades 7-12.

PREP uses school reform efforts to promote challenging English,
mathematics and science courses to lay the groundwork for college
preparedness. It also provides academic assistance and student support
in the form of remediation and college preparation courses, tutoring,
mentoring, as well as student and family informational workshops, as
well as provides college experiences and awareness for students and
direct support for families on applying financial aid to make college a
reality for the underserved youth low-income students. Parent outreach
efforts, as well as case management and referrals will be offered to
reach at-risk students in the community. Project outcomes include
increasing student motivation and parental involvement, improving
student achievement, and increasing student ability to meet college
entrance requirements.

Point of Contact: Bob Levy

Telephone Number: 573-437-2174

Email Address: BLEVY@OWENSVILLE.K12.MO.US

Southeast Missouri State University

Bootheel Partnership GEAR UP

Southeast Missouri State University is requesting \$1,800,000 over six
years to support our Bootheel Partnership Gaining Early Awareness and
Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (BHP GEAR UP) with the: Hayti R-II
and Caruthersville 18 school districts; Pemiscot Initiative Network
(PIN); and, the Boys & Girls Club of the Boot Heel in an effort to serve
375 students. The purpose of this program will be to increase the number
of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in
postsecondary education. All partners will have a significant role in
the implementation of services and identification of alternate funding
sources in the event federal funding should end. The partners have
contributed in-kind and/or cash contributions of over 50 percent of the
total project cost.

BHP GEAR UP will include a variety of developmental activities for
students, parents and teachers to increase students' likelihood to
pursue and be successful in postsecondary education. Services will begin
with a cohort of sixth and seventh grade students attending Hayti and
Caruthersville middle schools and will continue until students graduate
from high school. Specific activities include summer academies, career
development programs, parent programs, individual tutoring, academic
skills development, mentoring, completing postsecondary education and
financial aid applications, early postsecondary education credit
programs and job shadowing activities. Activities will be designed to
increase students and parents' 1) awareness of postsecondary education
and financial aid options and 2) confidence that postsecondary education
is a realistic, attainable goal. All programs will be evaluated
regularly.

On-going professional development designed to close the achievement gap
via enhanced teacher expectations and strategies, content knowledge, and
learning across the curriculum will be implemented through our
collaboration with the Southeast Missouri State University Regional
Professional Development Center. Professional development programs will
be evaluated regularly.

Project Director: Vida A. Mays

Telephone Number: 573-290-5111

E-mail Address: VMAYS@SEMO.EDU

Curators of the University of Missouri on behalf of the University of
Missouri -- St. Louis

St. Louis In Gear for Success

St. Louis In Gear for Success (SLINGS) is a regional GEAR UP program led
by the University of Missouri -St. Louis and St. Louis Community College
that will impact eight high need school districts. Over the next six
years, SLINGS will follow more than 6,000 eligible seventh grade
students from 21 middle schools in St. Louis Public School District
(SLPS), plus nine middle schools in seven urban-like "ring" districts
that border this inner city district. Approximately one quarter of the
St. Louis region's 2.6 million citizens (18th largest metro-area in the
nation) live in the districts that the SLINGS program will serve. All of
the districts lag behind the state and the nation in academic
achievement, graduation, and college attendance rates. One district lost
state accreditation a year ago, and two districts, including SLPS (the
largest) are only provisionally accredited. All have significant
minority populations ranging from 78 to100 percent.

The community-wide SLINGS partnership represents the region's largest
collaborative effort ever (over 40 entities in all) to marshal resources
from higher education, school districts, state agencies, businesses, and
community and faith- based organizations with a singular focus on
college readiness for low--income students. SLINGS partners have
combined their resources to offer a "menu" of GEAR UP activities to
support students in reaching the goal of postsecondary education.
Activities are organized as "Students In Gear," "Families In Gear," and
"Educators In Gear," and include school leader and teacher professional
development for data-driven instruction and strategies for improved
student learning; educational and cultural field trips to expand
students and families' horizons; career exploration; family education on
supporting academic achievement and goals for postsecondary education;
and rigorous academic preparation for students with emphasis on literacy
skills across content areas. Outcomes include a strengthened peer and
family support system for high academic achievement; enhanced teaching
and school leadership for improving student learning; improved
attendance; higher state test scores, graduation rates, and numbers of
students who attend postsecondary education -- all on a scale that can
be sustained.

Point of Contact: Patricia Simmons

Telephone Number: 314-516-5794

Email Address: PSIMMONS@UMSL.EDU

Coahoma Community College

Mississippi Delta GEARUP Partnership Project

By focusing on meeting the needs of a group of families, the Mississippi
Delta GEAR UP Partnership develops a core community. This grant will
support the use of technology in the education of more than 600 families
by providing the use of the schools' computer labs to the parents when
their children are involved in after school tutoring and mentoring. The
learning services provided through the computer labs will ensure the
target group's participation. After-school sessions, summer sessions and
access to computers at their children's schools foster the development
of family interaction and involvement in their children's school lives.
While the students are involved in tutoring and mentoring, the parents
will be involved in Adult Education and Computer Literacy activities
provided by the Coahoma Community College Adult Education Department.
Family night activities, including Internet usage, will be used as the
means to positively affect family, community and student interaction.
The eight school districts that will be served by this project are
located in the poorest region of the poorest state in the nation and
many families lack computer skills and access to computers. This region
of the state of Mississippi is often and fondly referred to as the
"Mississippi Delta." Known for its flat lands, the Mississippi Delta is
also home to a legacy of generational poverty, illiteracy, high
unemployment, school dropouts and teen pregnancy. Too often this area of
the state's poverty level is so pervasive and overwhelming, many youth
leave after high school and never return, or resort to an endless cycle
of crime. These school districts, combined, serve 8,516 students from
the rural townships of Clarksdale, Drew, Indianola, Mound Bayou, Shaw,
Shelby, and Webb, Mississippi.

The Mississippi Delta GEAR UP Partnership proposes to serve 625 students
representative of each of the above communities, who are extremely
disadvantaged, low income and will possibly be the first generation in
their family to attend college. The partnership's mission is to increase
the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed
in college. Coahoma Community College, an accredited, public two-year
college, will serve as the Institution of Higher Education (IHE) and the
fiscal agent. Based upon the results of a needs assessment conducted in
the involved school districts, it was determined that services that will
be provided to the 625 (seventh grade cohort) students in these
Mississippi Delta school districts will include: 1) tutoring and
mentoring in after-school programs, 2) summer enrichment and
transitional programs, 3) outreach and family involvement, 4)
professional development and curriculum improvement, and 5) 21st Century
Scholar Certificates and scholarship identification.

Point of Contact: Jacqueline R. Parker

Telephone Number: 662-621-4154

Email Address: JPARKER@COAHOMACC.EDU

Salish Kootenai College

GEAR UP

Salish Kootenai College GEAR UP, in partnership with Two Eagle River
School and the Ronan-Pablo School District #30, serves students on the
Flathead Indian Reservation, a beautiful location though also one of
great poverty. Over 50 percent of the students in the cohort are Native
American. Few students in the area have adult models with any higher
education.

The GEAR UP program objectives are: to increase the academic performance
and preparation for postsecondary education of students; to increase the
rate of high school graduation and participation in postsecondary
education; and to increase GEAR UP students' and their families'
knowledge of postsecondary education options, preparation, and
financing. Many performance data points are followed to ensure the
program is on track to significantly increase the number of low-income
students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary
education. Strategies used to accomplish these objectives include
academic support provided by tutoring, summer programs, and college
counseling; college information dissemination provided by 21st Century
Scholar Certificates, mentoring, and college and financial counseling;
and college preparation course work provided by professional development
and curriculum improvements as well as college counseling for students
and parents.

The personnel who will implement the program have extensive backgrounds
working with students and their families as well as working with those
who come from backgrounds of poverty and first-generation college
attendance. Each of the staff members has worked extensively with the
public and particularly with youth.

Additionally, many community organizations are also partners in this
program. The lead agency of Salish Kootenai College (SKC) provides all
of the resources of the local college, while the two school partners
provide classroom space and program integration into the schools.
Kellogg Leadership for Community Change Mentoring Program provides
mentoring services for the most at-risk students in the Ronan cohort.
Big Brothers Big Sisters allows the cohort members to become mentors for
elementary students when they are in high school. The Boys and Girls
Club, which is located next to the Ronan Schools, provides after school
tutoring and access to equipment and activities. Adult Basic Education
is providing free testing services for students intending to go to SKC,
so all of the students will test out of remedial college courses while
still in high school in order to be ready for college level work. Talent
Search is guaranteeing that the students who are seniors in 2012 will
continue to receive college information and programming even after the
end of this program grant. The SKC Nursing program is also including an
HIV prevention component in the summer camps, which work in conjunction
with the area Upward Bound program.

Each of these activities combines to make a powerful impact on students,
their families, and the entire community. It is the hope that one day
soon, the knowledge that "I am going to college" is something that every
child in the area knows at an early age.

Project Director: Heather Licht

Telephone Number: 406-275-4988

Email Address: HEATHER_LICHT@SKC.EDU

Southwestern Community College

Gearing Up for Something Exciting

The proposed Southwestern Community College GEAR UP Partnership will
serve low-income students in grades six through twelve over a six-year
period -- using the "add-a-cohort" approach. The total number of
students this project is proposing to serve over the course of the
project period is 4,612. The ultimate goal of the project is to
significantly increase the number of low-income students in the target
area who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.

Through a carefully designed network of services which include the GEAR
UP program, Applicant, Partner Organizations, and other community-based
resources, Southwestern Community College will provide an integrated and
comprehensive continuum of services within the following framework and
including these objectives and performance measures:

  -------------------------------- --------------------------------------
  []{.mark}                        

  Objectives:                      Performance Measures:

  Increase academic performance    A high percentage of GEAR UP students
  and preparation for              will complete an academically
  postsecondary education for GEAR challenging curricula including
  UP students.                     passing per-algebra by the end of
                                   seventh grade, and algebra I by the
                                   end of ninth grade.

  Increase the rate of high school GEAR UP students will have high rates
  graduation and participation in  of attendance in school, attain
  postsecondary education for GEAR satisfactory achievement on
  UP students                      standardized tests, and be promoted to
                                   the next grade level on time.

  Increase GEAR UP students' and   GEAR UP students and their families
  their Families' knowledge of     report having knowledge of available
  postsecondary education options, financial aid and necessary
  preparation and financing        preparation for college.
  -------------------------------- --------------------------------------

The needs of these southern Appalachian counties are great, caused by
extreme poverty, lack of basic skills, and cultural and geographic
isolation. With a successful previous GEAR UP project "under its belt,"
Southwestern Community College is committed to providing substantial
support to promote the success of the program (personnel, facilities,
technology, equipment, and supplies). Excellent project personnel, a
solid management plan, and evaluation procedures are all in place to
make sure the proposed project is a smashing success.

Project Director: Laura Pennington

Telephone Number: 828-586-4091

Email Address: lpennington@southwest.cc.nc.us

Appalachian State University

Appalachian State University GEAR UP Partnership

Appalachian State University will address barriers to higher education
for students who live in the mountain communities of western North
Carolina by forging educational partnerships with the school systems in
Alleghany, Avery and Burke County Schools and Hickory Public Schools.

The need for this Project is great. The region is economically
distressed and the startling lack of educational attainment will only
exacerbate this condition. The gaps in academic achievement, crisis in
high school retention, low percentage of students taking the SAT and
failure to enroll in college despite stated intentions will only
increase in light of rapidly changing demographics unless significant
resources are mobilized and focused to address teacher preparation and
school reform.

The Appalachian GEAR UP Project (GU) will provide regional leadership
for sustained educational reform by maximizing institutional, local, and
individual resources to augment skills and build capacity for change.
Specific services to be provided by GU include: professional development
for public schools with a commitment to fund positions beyond the term
of the grant; direct student services in order to improve mathematics
and reading levels; assistance for parents and students in becoming
familiar with college options, financial aid, and transition concerns;
and active dissemination of successful educational practices.

Over 3,060 students, nearly 600 teachers and administrators, and 12
schools will be directly served by this grant. The outcomes of GU are to
increase college readiness and enrollment in postsecondary education of
students enrolled in middle and high school cohorts. In obtaining these
outcomes, GU will adhere to the watchwords of academic rigor, scrupulous
accountability, financial stewardship and educational innovation.

Project Director: Charles Bowling

Telephone Number: 828-262-2846

Email Address: BOWLINGCD@APPSTATE.EDU

Johnston County Schools

Sail II: Students Achieving through Independent Learning

Johnston County, North Carolina, is a county in transition. Tobacco is
no longer king and textiles have been outsourced overseas. There is a
need to help students attending the Johnston County Public Schools
appreciate these changes and better prepare for postsecondary careers.
At the two middle schools participating in this proposal, Benson and
North Johnston, the percentages of low-income students are 56.3 percent
and 51.2 percent, respectively. For many reasons, these students are
often ill prepared to pursue postsecondary education, which is so
critically important to being successful in the 21st century. Our
proposal for GEAR UP funding, SAIL II (Students Achieving through
Independent Learning) will help reach these students and their parents
early with accurate information about academic and financial demands and
expectations of college. SAIL II is modeled in part upon a successful
SAIL I program, currently being conducted in the school district with
funding through the 21st Century Learning Centers program.

Activities described in SAIL II will include tutoring and mentoring for
students, professional development and curriculum improvement for staff,
college and financial counseling for parent/guardians, along with
college visitations, summer programs, and opportunities for dual
enrollment. For tutoring activities, SAIL II will employ the HOSTS
Learning program, recognized in the No Child Left Behind legislation as
an example of a proven and scientifically research-based approach that
"dramatically increase student achievement." For mentoring, SAIL II will
model the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, and for professional
development, SAIL II will model Rudy Payne's "A Framework for
Understanding Poverty."

The intended outcomes are consistent with the GEAR UP program
solicitation, chiefly: to increase the rate of high school graduation
and participation in postsecondary education for more than 300 students
in the GEAR UP cohort.

Project Director: Chris Godwin

Telephone Number: 919-934-4361

Email Address: chrisgodwin@johnston.k12.nc.us

Passaic Public Schools

College Knowledge Passaic

Through an ambitious and systematic school and collaborative partnership
effort, College Knowledge Passaic seeks to achieve three major
objectives: (1) increase the academic performance and preparation for
postsecondary education for GEAR UP students through the provision of
academically challenging curricula and related support services; (2)
increase GEAR UP students and their families' knowledge of postsecondary
education options, preparation and financing; and (3) increase the rate
of high school graduation and participation in postsecondary education
for GEAR UP students. Thirty key performance measures have been
developed around these three major objectives. Performance measures and
objectives will be analyzed so that continuous improvement can be made.
College Knowledge Passaic embraces current research around how to
significantly boost the numbers of students who go on to higher
education.

College Knowledge Passaic is a high priority project for the Passaic
Public Schools and thus the district has taken strong measures to
provide support for the project. With the professional development
centerpiece of this project, the district aims to have a cadre of
teachers trained to employ engaging teaching strategies; data
integration and assessment; and mathematics, science and language arts
content that will abide. College Knowledge Passaic has formed a
high-powered partnership with institutions of higher education and
community based organizations to provide our students and families with
exposure to the enormous promise of higher education.

The evaluation, to be conducted by The Academy for Educational
Development (AED), an accomplished Washington, D.C. based non-profit
organization, will truly facilitate data driven decision making and
allow teachers, guidance counselors, parents and school leaders to look
at how students are doing using real time data and to tailor
interventions to meet specific needs. If the project can demonstrate an
impact, we are optimistic that other sources of funds can be put into
place to continue interventions.

Project Director: Lawrence Everett

Telephone Number: 973-470-5520

Email Address: LEVERETT@PASSAIC-CITY.K12.NJ.US

Clovis Community College, New Mexico

Clovis GEAR UP

Clovis Community College, a Hispanic-Serving Institution, proposes a
GEAR UP project to serve a cohort of 645 seventh graders beginning in
fall 2005 and continuing until high school graduation in spring 2011.
These students attend Gattis, Marshall, and Yucca Junior High Schools in
Clovis, New Mexico, matriculating to Clovis High School. The Clovis
Municipal School District is 43 percent Hispanic and 56 percent
minority. Economic and educational hardships are widespread: 64.4
percent of students receive free or reduced price lunch; per capita
income is \$15,561; 21 percent of the population falls below the poverty
line; over 10 percent of 16-19 year olds are not in school, and only
15.3 percent of adults (4.2 percent of Hispanics) have completed a
college degree. The city is one-third Hispanic, and nearly a quarter of
children five years or older are growing up in homes where a language
other than English is spoken.

Neither the junior high schools nor the high school met the No Child
Left Behind standard for \"adequate yearly progress" in the 2003-2004
testing cycle. Student achievement is low, as reflected in proportions
of students testing "proficient" in mathematics and reading. Local data
and broader research identify lack of funding for academic assistance,
lack of family support, and inadequate information about college and
financial aid as impediments to high school graduation and college
attendance.

To improve academic achievement, high school graduation, and college
enrollment, students will participate in services designed to meet
identified needs, including tutoring, after-school academic success
programs, intensive summer programs, college and financial aid workshops
and individual counseling, mentoring, 21st Century Scholar events, and
GEAR UP scholarships. Faculty development will address teachers\' needs
for training in curriculum alignment and effective instructional
techniques. Professional development opportunities will target the
current and next year\'s GEAR UP participants\' teachers but will be
available to all, so that after six years of programming, durable
systemic improvements in junior high and high school instruction will
benefit students far into the future. Outcomes will include increases in
standardized test scores, success in demanding courses, promotion and
graduation rates, and enrollment in college. Costs are calculated at
\$800 per student as permitted by program regulations.

Project Director: David Caffey

Telephone Number: 505-769-4010

Email Address: DAVID.CAFFEY@CLOVIS.EDU

Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell

Gear Up for Success

The Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell (ENMU-R) GEAR UP Project will
provide supportive services to a cohort of 1,720 sixth and seventh grade
students in Chaves County (Dexter, Hagerman, Lake Arthur, and Roswell
School Districts) to encourage young people to prepare for and enter
higher education. Parent involvement and teacher professional
development are key components, as is involvement of 22 non-school
partners who wish to see these students succeed. \$1,376,000 is
requested for year one of the grant, more than matched by partners
committed to long term investment to sustain the GEAR UP project. ENMU-R
is a Hispanic Serving Institution. Public schools are majority-minority.

The need is high. Chaves County has low levels of educational
attainment, below-average household income, and high poverty rates. More
than 70 percent of all students qualify for free or reduced price lunch,
with individual district rates ranging upward from 67.5 percent to 85.1
percent, compared to a national average of 40.1 percent. In a poor
state, Chaves County is very poor. While the 2004 national average ACT
score was 20.9, none of the county's high schools reached this mark.
Surveys show student motivation and engagement is low, fueled by limited
resources for academic support services and a growing problem with
drugs. Few parents are involved in school activities, and most know
little about college options.

Project design draws on current research in the field and effective
practices of other GEAR UP partnerships and postsecondary transition
programs. The project\'s objectives and services will have a significant
impact on targeted students, parents, and teachers by increasing: 1)
preparedness for high school graduation and college enrollment; 2)
motivation, retention, and engagement; 3) student academic achievement;
4) parent and family involvement in school activities; 5) professional
development opportunities for teachers; and 6) long-term partnership
investment in programs that support disadvantaged students. Services to
be provided will include GEAR UP Scholarships; after school and summer
academic programs; tutoring, mentoring, advising, and career
exploration; educational and cultural field trips; professional
development for teachers; and parent involvement activities.

Project Director: Judy Armstrong

Telephone Number: 505-247-7111

Email Address: judy.armstrong@roswell.enmu.edu

New Mexico Highlands University

GEAR UP

The Northern New Mexico Engaging Latino Communities for Education
(ENLACE) Collaborative is comprised of one Hispanic Serving Institution
(HSI) University, two HSI community colleges, three public school
districts, the Math and Science Academy, a local community foundation, a
community-based organization, and a nationally recognized education
technical assistance center. The Collaborative will build on the
successes of the Northern New Mexico ENLACE Project to extend a
comprehensive set of services to cohorts of underserved, rural, minority
students that will ultimately transform the ways in which schools
prepare students for high school graduation, success in college, and
fulfilling careers. The project addresses critical needs that research
suggests place low income, rural students at risk of educational failure
including low student achievement, lack of college awareness and
planning, lack of crucial support networks, and a shortage of highly
qualified teachers. The Collaborative will ensure that no GEAR UP
student, teacher, or parent gets left behind by providing services that
include rigorous, college preparation classes (AVID); college awareness
and planning; tutoring and mentoring; mathematics, science, and literacy
enrichment for students; high quality professional development for
teachers; technology training; and parent education and leadership
workshops.

The Collaborative proposes a coordinated management and evaluation
accountability system ensuring that objectives and performance measures
are clearly linked to data collection and intended outcomes so that the
program objectives will be achieved in a timely manner and within
budget. The project outcomes will include increased student academic
achievement, college readiness and awareness, on-time promotion and
graduation, improved parent involvement, and higher quality teaching.

Project Director: Paul Martinez

Telephone Number: 505-747-7238

Email Address: pmartinez@cesdp.nmhu.edu

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

GEAR UP Partnership of Western Clark County, Nevada

The state of Nevada ranks near the bottom on many key indicators of
higher education access and completion. It ranks 49th in terms of chance
of enrolling in college by age 19 and 47th in terms of percentage of
persons aged 25-65 with a bachelor's degree or higher. These figures
leave no doubt that Nevada students are among the most disadvantaged in
the United States. At Nevada's southern tip is Clark County. It is home
to 71 percent of the state's population, to three of the state's largest
cities, and to vast pockets of poverty. Clark County is also home to
more than 250,000 public-school students who year-after-year are
academically outperformed by their peers statewide and nationwide.

To address and improve this situation, the GEAR UP Partnership of
Western Clark County, Nevada, will utilize an add-a-cohort model to
provide long-term, comprehensive, educational-outreach services to the
students, teachers, and parents at three of Clark County's most at-risk
middle schools (Harold J. Brinley, Frank F. Garside, and Robert O.
Gibson). The Partnership will change the low-expectation and achievement
culture that prevails in these schools by providing a broad and
strategic array of services, including college-admissions and
financial-aid information; tutoring, counseling, and mentoring;
after-school and summertime academic-enrichment activities; college
visits; and professional-development for target-school teachers. The
primary provider of these services will be the Partnership's hosting
partner and fiscal agent: UNLV's Center for Academic Enrichment and
Outreach (CAEO). Since 1978, the federally funded projects at CAEO have
helped thousands of students achieve academic success by servicing their
educational needs from 6th grade through college graduation. CAEO's
experienced personnel, vast physical resources, and strong links with
the community will enable the Partnership "to significantly increase the
number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in
postsecondary education."

Point of Contact: William W. Sullivan

Telephone Number: 702-895-4777

Email Address: DOCBILL@CCMAIL.NEVADA.EDU

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

GEAR UP Partnership of Northeastern Clark County, Nevada

The state of Nevada ranks near the bottom on many key indicators of
higher-education access and completion. It ranks 49th in terms of chance
of enrolling in college by age 19 and 47th in terms of percentage of
persons aged 25-65 with a bachelor's degree or higher. These figures
leave no doubt that Nevada students are among the most disadvantaged in
the United States At Nevada's southern tip is Clark County. It is home
to 71 percent of the state's population, three of the state's largest
cities, and to vast pockets of poverty. Clark County is also home to
more than 250,000 public-school students who year-after-year are
academically outperformed by their peers statewide and nationwide.

To address and improve this situation, the GEAR UP Partnership of
Northeastern Clark County, Nevada, will utilize an add-a-cohort model to
provide long-term, comprehensive, educational-outreach services to the
students, teachers, and parents at three of Clark County's most at-risk
middle schools (Mario and Joanne Monaco, Marvin Sedway, and Ed Von
Tobel). The Partnership will change the low-expectation and achievement
culture that prevails in these schools by providing a broad and
strategic array of services, including college-admissions and
financial-aid information; tutoring, counseling, and mentoring;
after-school and summertime academic-enrichment activities; college
visits; and professional-development for target-school teachers. The
primary provider of these services will be the Partnership's hosting
partner and fiscal agent: UNLV's Center for Academic Enrichment and
Outreach (CAEO). Since 1978, the federally funded projects at CAEO have
helped thousands of students achieve academic success by servicing their
educational needs from 6th grade through college graduation. CAEO's
experienced personnel, vast physical resources, and strong links with
the community will enable the Partnership "to significantly increase the
number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in
postsecondary education."

Point of Contact: William W. Sullivan

Telephone Number: 702-895-4777

Email Address: DOCBILL@CCMAIL.NEVADA.EDU

Research Foundation CUNY on behalf of Lehman College

Bronx Institute GEAR UP Network

The Bronx Institute and Lehman College CUNY is the lead organization and
the Research Foundation City University of New York on behalf of Lehman
College is the fiscal agent for the Bronx Institute Gaining Early
Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs Network (BI GEAR UP
Network). The BI GEAR UP Network will match the requested U.S.
Department of Education funds dollar for dollar. The BI GEAR UP Network
will be joined by the following partners: a local educational agency
(the New York City Department of Education), a community based
organization (ASPIRA of New York), three colleges (Fordham University,
Harvard University, Yale University-EXPLO), three not-for-profit
organizations (The After School Corporation, Experiment for
International Living, The Urban Assembly), and two corporations (The
College Board, Thomson-Peterson Learning). BI GEAR UP (1999-2005) was
one of only six programs distinguished by the Washington Center for Best
Practices. Our new six-year initiative serves 3,399 low-income Hispanic
and African-American students from thirteen Bronx middle schools
starting with grade seven by addressing the following issues: 1. Low
academic performance (e.g., 2 percent of students passing English and 4
percent passing math) 2. Low graduation rates and college attendance
rates (80 percent Hispanic dropout rate and 72 percent African-American)
are a problem for minority students. 3. Professional development and
technology needs. In response, the BI GEAR UP Network has set the
following objectives: 1. increase achievement and preparation for
college; 2. increase students' and families' postsecondary education
knowledge; 3 enhance teachers' skills; and 4. engage community
stakeholders in supporting long-term sustainability when funding ends.
Program activities include tutoring, technology, project-based learning,
college awareness workshops, and college residential summer programs to
prepare students to attend and graduate from college. Metis Associates
will serve as the outside evaluator and document the accomplishment of
project strategies and objectives.

Project Director: Herminio Martinez

Telephone Number: 718-960-5765

Email Address: HERMINIO.MARTINEZ@LEHMAN.CUNY.EDU

St. John's University of New York

St. John's University GEAR UP

St. John's University, in partnership with Region 4, Oliver Wendell
Holmes Intermediate School, Long Island City High School in Queens
County, New York, HANAC, Inc., Variety Boys and Girls Club, and the
Center for Science Teaching and Learning, will provide services over six
years for a cohort of 350 students who will be entering grade seven at
Holmes Intermediate School in September 2005. Project services will
encourage participants "to have high expectations, stay in school and
study hard, and go to college." Students will be provided with after
school and Saturday tutoring, homework help, mentoring, counseling,
computer literacy instruction, and test preparation assistance; with
workshops on college awareness, career-college linkages, self-esteem
building, study skills and time management, critical thinking skills,
and financing a college education; and with college and career fairs,
college visitations, summer programs, and a variety of cultural and
recreational activities.

Services for parents will help them understand that college is
important, that it is a viable option for their children, and that there
is financial aid available. The project also will provide staff
development for the partnership middle and high school teachers and
counselors to enhance their knowledge and skills in reaching and
teaching middle school children, special needs children, and children
with limited English proficiency, and to learn to implement
standards-based teaching and learning and assessments in all content
areas; using technology in the classroom; and aligning teaching with
students' learning styles.

Proposed outcomes include: at least 90 percent of scholars demonstrating
improved academic achievement by the end of eighth grade; 60 percent
satisfactorily completing programs of study enabling them to enroll in
college-prep tracks in high school; at least 70 percent of participants
enrolled in college-track programs during 9th, 10th and 11th grades, and
at least 70 percent of project scholars enrolling in a two-year or
four-year undergraduate program of study following high school
graduation.

Project Director: Yvette Morgan

Telephone Number: 718-990-2532

Email Address: MORGANY@STJOHNS.EDU

Research Foundation of SUNY on Behalf of SUNY Cobleskill

SUNY Cobleskill GEAR UP

The SUNY Cobleskill GEAR UP project will serve 480 students at 11
contiguous school districts in five impoverished rural New York State
counties. All districts report that the rate of eligibility for the
federal free or reduced price lunch program is at least 50 percent.

This project will provide six core services to the cohort, which
include: one-on-one and small group tutoring, mentoring, academic
counseling for students and parents, and career, college, and cultural
exploration activities.

This project will provide academic enrichment by purchasing LEGO Robolab
kits and laptop computers, and will provide bi-monthly professional
development workshops for the mathematics, science, and technology
teachers incorporating Robolab into their curricula. Summer robotics
camps will be held for each of the first five years, as well as summer
school tutoring programs.

Further academic enrichment will come from The College Board, which will
introduce its CollegeED curriculum, as well as Pre-AP professional
development, PSSS, PSAT/NMSQT, and the SAT for all students.

Partners have been well chosen and include: The College Board, the
Commission for Independent Colleges and Universities, the State
University of New York, the Association of Proprietary Colleges, three
hospitals, one pharmaceutical manufacturer, and the Schoharie County
Youth Bureau.

This project is requesting \$384,000 per year for six years and is
matching it 100 percent with in-kind resources. This project will begin
providing services to students on Wednesday, September 7, 2005.

Project Director: Paul M. Turner

Telephone Number: 518-255-5361

Email Address: LIBERTY@COBLESKILL.EDU

The Research Foundation of SUNY at Binghamton

GEAR UP Project for Binghamton

Number range CHAPTERThis proposal seeks continued funding for a GEAR UP
Partnership Project which will pair Binghamton University (the fiscal
agent), the City of Binghamton (New York) School District, and
additional partners to provide services to the over 900 students in two
cohorts of middle school students, the sixth and seventh grades (fall
2005) at the District's two middle schools. The Partnership will follow
these two cohorts to the District's single high school and provide a
range of services designed to increase academic achievement and college
awareness among low-income, at-risk students and their families.

The need is great; the Binghamton City School District (BCSD),
classified as one of the most needy school districts in New York, serves
6,250 students from K-12. Almost two-thirds (63.7 percent) are eligible
for the free and reduced price lunch program; 32.4 percent are
underrepresented minority students; 5.4 percent are limited English
proficient (over 25 different languages spoken in the district); and
13.9 percent are classified for special education.

Activities will include mentoring and tutoring by college students; an
intensive counseling program to get students and their families to focus
on college early; visits to colleges; outreach to get parents or
guardians actively involved in their child's education; summer and after
school programs; services specifically designed for students with
limited English proficiency; and a continuous review of all activities
to help make them more efficient and effective.

The purpose of the partnership is to significantly increase the number
of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in college
through increased academic achievement, and awareness and knowledge
about postsecondary education, preparation and financing.

Project Director: Paul Parker

Telephone Number: 607-777-6136

Email Address: PPARKER@BINGHAMTON.EDU

Dowling College

GEAR UP

The GEAR UP partnership between Dowling College, Wyandanch School
District, Urban League of Long Island, Inc., and the Mentoring
Partnership of Long Island was created to help resolve the educational
gap that exists for students residing in Wyandanch, New York. Activities
of this project will include school day, after-school, and Saturday
academic enhancement programs; summer academic engagement; postsecondary
education information for parents and students; mentoring for students;
and, professional development for teachers. The project will strive to
achieve the following objectives:

Objective \# 1 -- To increase by 10 percent the number of students, in
all subgroups, making AYP in mathematics and English, as measured in New
York State assessments.

Objective \# 2 -- To increase by 10 percent the number of students, in
all subgroups, who successfully complete the NYS Math A Regents by the
end of 9th grade.

Objective \# 3 -- To increase by 5 percent, each project year, the
on-time promotion rate of the cohort.

Objective \# 4 -- To increase by 10 percent the percentage of students
accepted into postsecondary education institutions.

Objective \# 5 -- To increase by 10 percent, each project year, student
postsecondary education expectations.

Objective \# 6 -- To increase by 10 percent, each project year, the
percentage of parents and guardians who attend postsecondary information
sessions.

The long-term systemic effect most sought after by the Wyandanch School
District is that its students meet the minimum performance outcomes and
performance index as established by the New York State Department of
Education.

Project Director: Rhoda Miller

Telephone Number: 631-244-3336

Email Address: MILLERR@DOWLING.EDU

Lorain City Schools

Lorain GEAR UP Coalition

The Lorain GEAR UP Coalition will marshal community-wide services and
resources to raise the overall academic performance of an entire cohort
of 660 incoming seventh graders and increase their likelihood of
enrolling in college. More than 65 percent of these students qualify for
free and reduced price lunch, and many combat social problems typical of
an inner city. As a result, students in the Lorain City School District
struggle to meet Ohio academic standards and high school graduation
requirements. Students who do graduate face the daunting challenge of
navigating through college application and financial aid processes that
are foreign to both them and their families. The District and its
partners will address this situation by:

-   Providing sufficient tutors and summer programs to enable the entire
    cohort to practice academic skills;

-   Offering a more rigorous curriculum by introducing pre-algebra and
    algebra in all three of the District's middle schools, by
    introducing Advanced Placement (AP) classes in all high schools, and
    by developing a standards-based reading curriculum for middle school
    students;

-   Reducing social barriers to academic success by adapting
    state-of-the-art classroom management techniques in high schools,
    introducing school-based social workers and social services in all
    target schools, and recruiting 100 adult mentors to work with cohort
    members;

-   Offering dozens of opportunities for students and parents to
    increase their awareness of college benefits by conducting
    community-wide outreach, coordinating campus visits, and engaging
    guest speakers;

-   Assisting students and their parents to prepare for college entrance
    examinations, to complete college applications and to access
    financial aid opportunities through workshops and consultations; and

-   Reaching all middle school math teachers with intensive, ongoing
    professional development related to effective mathematics
    instruction, classroom management and AP class instruction.

After six years, Lorain's GEAR UP students will demonstrate: increased
performance over baseline standardized test scores; a graduation rate of
at least 90 percent and a college enrollment rate of at least 50
percent.

Point of Contact: Traci McCaudy

Telephone Number: 440-233-2247

Email Address: TMCCAU@LORAINSCHOOLS.ORG

Tahlequah Public Schools

Tahlequah GEAR UP Project

LEA and Fiscal Agent: This GEAR UP application is for funds to serve
students in the Tahlequah (Oklahoma) Middle and High Schools. Tahlequah
School District will serve as lead and fiscal agent. Tahlequah is in
Cherokee County, northeastern Oklahoma, 60 miles southeast of Tulsa.

Student Population: A majority of the students served will be Native
American (Cherokee). Of the students who will be served, 48 percent will
be Cherokee, 46 percent will be rural Caucasian and 2 percent will be
African American and 4 percent will be Hispanic. The free and reduced
price lunch participation is 63 percent.

Cohort Plan: The project will serve two cohort groups beginning in
grades six and seven continuing services through graduation. Based on
this year\'s enrollment, the project will serve 442 students.

Partners: Higher education partners for the project will be Northeastern
State University, Indian Capital Technology Center, Connors State
College, and Quality Education Services for Today and Tomorrow.
(QUESTT), Other collaborating agencies will include the Boys and Girls
Club, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, and the Cherokee
Nation.

Objectives: The project\'s goals are:

-   Goal 1: Increased academic performance and preparation for college.

-   Goal 2: Increased rate of high school graduation and college
    enrollment.

-   Goal 3: Increased knowledge of college admission and financial aid.

-   Goal 4: Improved behaviors related to school success.

Project Design: The project design has ten components: scholarships,
counseling, mentoring, tutoring, parental involvement, after-school
summer academics, professional development, student leadership, and
curriculum improvement.

Project Director: Deborah Coley

Telephone Number: 918-458-4100

Email Address: coley@tahlequah.k12.ok.us

Jay Independent School District

Jay GEAR UP Project

LEA and Fiscal Agent: This GEAR UP application is for funds to serve
students in the Jay (Oklahoma) Middle and High Schools. Jay will serve
as lead and fiscal agent. Jay is in Delaware County, northeastern
Oklahoma, 80 miles east of Tulsa.

Student Population: A majority of the students served will be Native
American (Cherokee). Of the students who will be served, 58 percent will
be Cherokee, 41 percent will be rural Caucasian and .2 percent will be
African American and 1.2 percent will be Hispanic. The free and reduced
price lunch participation is 68 percent.

Cohort Plan: The project will serve two cohort groups beginning in
grades six and seven and continuing services through graduation. Based
on this year\'s enrollment, the project will serve 273 students each
year for six years and152 the seventh year. Seventh year services will
be provided without federal funds.

Partners: Partners for the project will be Northeastern State
University, Tahlequah; Quality Educational Services for Today and
Tomorrow, Inc. (non-profit); the Boys and Girls Club, and the Oklahoma
State Regents for Higher Education.

Objectives: The project\'s goals are: Goal 1: Increased academic
performance and preparation for college.

Goal 2: Increased rate of high school graduation and college enrollment.
Goal 3: Increased knowledge of college admission and financial aide.
Goal 4: Improved behaviors related to school success.

.

Project Design: The project design has ten components: scholarships,
counseling, mentoring, tutoring, parental involvement, after-school
summer academics, professional development, student leadership, and
curriculum improvement.

Project Director: Cindy Weaver

Telephone Number: 918-253-4552

Email Address: CIWEAVER@JAY.K12.OK.US

East Central University

Team GEAR UP

East Central University, located in the city of Ada, Oklahoma and in a
President\'s Empowerment Initiative Round II Enterprise Community,
creates a partnership between nine rural school districts located in
Pontotoc, Coal, and Johnston counties to form TEAM GEAR UP. In addition,
the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE), the Pontotoc
Technology Center, the Chickasaw Nation, and local businesses and
community organizations, will partner with the project. The proposed
project is a single cohort design beginning with a seventh grade cohort
group. Services will be provided to the cohort group through the
entirety of their middle and high school years, as well as a bridge
program entering into post-secondary education. Steps will be taken to
ensure equitable access to and participation in this federally assisted
program for all individuals with special needs and those from
traditionally under- represented groups as required in Section 427 of
the General Education Provision Act (GEPA).

The mission of TEAM GEAR UP is to prepare students to achieve their
aspirations of higher education. This mission statement also defines the
purpose of the project \"to equip students with the academic skills,
encouragement, information and resources necessary to enter and succeed
in postsecondary education.\"

TEAM GEAR UP will provide a broad array of academic services, tutoring,
mentoring, counseling, and enrichment programs to students, as well as
parental involvement and professional development activities for school
district personnel. The project will network with existing resources in
the community and coordinate efforts to prevent duplication of services
to the cohort group. Expected outcomes include: increased parental
involvement; lower cohort student absentee rate; improved grade point
averages; and an increased number of students taking the ACT, applying
for financial aid, and attending postsecondary education.

Project Director: Vincent Johnson

Telephone Number: 580-310-5773

Email Address: vjohnson@mailclerk.ecok.edu

Seminole State College

Dream Catcher GEAR UP

Our proposed Dream Catcher GEAR UP Project is designed to meet the
specific needs of low-income, underserved, and underrepresented students
in nine school districts in a rural and isolated area of central
Oklahoma officially designated as the Seminole Nation (Seminole and
Okfuskee counties). At least 75 percent of students are eligible for
free and reduced price lunches and Okfuskee County is the county with
the highest and worst rate of idle teens (16.9 percent). The project is
meant to address severe gaps in services and resources at these schools:
inadequate school staffing, low funding per student, and insufficient
faculty development, poor academic performance on the Oklahoma Core
Curriculum Test (all schools failed in four out of seven areas), and low
college participation - only 44.5 percent of high school graduates go to
college (51 percent state, 63 percent nationally).

We are proposing a suite of services to improve academic performance and
preparation for college and increase students and their families\'
knowledge of college options, preparation, and financing beginning with
a cohort of fifth graders (285) and a cohort of sixth graders (255)
totaling 540 students to be tracked through graduation beyond the grant
period. Components of Dream Catcher will include: (1) PALS (Play and
Active Learning Sessions) Program to provide tutoring, mentoring,
cultural field trips, 21st Century Scholar Certificate award event,
summer camp, and college and career advisement for students and parents;
(2) Fish! For Schools, an active learning program that is designed to
create more effective learning environments in the classroom and engage
students and their parents; and (3) communities of learning, infusion of
learning technologies, and curriculum redesign across the grades in
science and mathematics as part of faculty professional development.

Total federal funds requested for Dream Catcher GEAR UP is \$2,592,000
or \$800 per student for each of the six years of the grant.

Project Director: Kathy Hoover

Telephone Number: 405-382-9706

Email Address: HOOVER_K@SSC.CC.OK.US

Tulsa County Independent School District No. 1

Tulsa Gear Up Project

Five Title I middle schools (and eventually four high schools) serving
students from highly impoverished parts of the city have been chosen for
a Tulsa GEAR UP project. Harmful socio-economic pressures and negative
peer pressures are causing a serious decline in academic performance and
attendance at the schools. It is the goal of Tulsa Public Schools (TPS)
to break this cycle of poor choices and failure, rekindle the student's
desire to learn, keep them in school, give them the support and guidance
they need to study hard and take the right courses, and raise their
aspirations to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.

To effectively deal with this problem, TPS and its partners must reach
beyond the classroom environment, address the total student personally,
academically, and physically as an individual, address his or her family
as a vital extension of the student, and address teaching methods and
curriculum as well. The GEAR UP project team has carefully selected a
group of partners that can provide a powerful set of tools in mentoring,
tutoring, college and career awareness, career building, and
professional and curriculum development. These tools will be part of a
tightly focused, highly intensive project that reaches deep into the
students, teachers and curriculum.

The project\'s impact objectives include: (1) improving skills and
scores in reading and mathematics; (2) improving student study skills
and habits; (3) raising student aspirations to attend college; (4)
increasing assistance to students in making plans for postsecondary
education; (5) increasing assistance to students in exploring
postsecondary financial aid; (6) increasing students who report that
they like school and have positive self-concepts; (7) increasing school­
reported parent involvement in parent-teacher conferences; (8) improving
mentors, tutors, and school staff skills through professional
development.

Project Director: Roberta Ellis

Telephone Number: 918-746-6523

Email Address: ellisro@tulsaschools.org

School District No. 1, Multnomah County

Roosevelt Cluster GEAR UP Partnership

Lead members of the proposed Roosevelt Cluster GEAR UP Partnership are
Portland Public Schools (Oregon's only large urban school district),
Portland State University (Oregon's largest and only urban institution
of higher education), and three nonprofit community-based organizations:
the Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement, Portland Schools Alliance,
and the Step Up Program of Open Meadow Alternative Schools.

The target population is 332 seventh graders enrolled at George and
Portsmouth middle schools in North Portland. These schools feed students
into the Roosevelt High School Campus, which has restructured into three
small autonomous schools built around challenging, standards-based, and
high-interest themes. Students at these schools are among the districts
most economically disadvantaged, with the percentage eligible for the
federal free and reduced price meals program 78.6 percent at George
Middle School, 63.5 percent at Portsmouth Middle School, and 64.6
percent at the Roosevelt High School Campus.

Over six years, the project envisions the following early intervention
strategies as providing the "golden thread" that will guide the seventh
grade cohort along a trajectory of successful transitions across grade
levels, into Roosevelt, through high school graduation, and on to
postsecondary education: (1) rigorous, relevant academics and
activities, to expose students to postsecondary opportunities and expand
their educational goals and aspirations; (2) parent and family
engagement in supporting their children's academic progress and
preparation for postsecondary education; (3) partnerships with the local
community, businesses and employers, and existing college outreach and
preparation programs; (4) professional development for teachers,
counselors, and other school staff; and (5) alignment of middle school
and high school local improvement plans and programs. Outcomes will
include improved knowledge of how to prepare and pay for college among
students and families, and improved rates of achievement, attendance,
graduation, and postsecondary enrollment.

Project Director: Kathryn Fong Stephens

Telephone Number: 503-916-5260

Email Address: KSTEPHE1@PPS.K12.OR.US

School District of Lancaster

Lancaster GEAR UP

The Lancaster GEAR UP Project is a collaborative effort between the
School District of Lancaster, Millersville University, Pennsylvania
Higher Education Assistance Agency and the Pennsylvania Migrant
Education Program. The collective goal is to increase student
preparation for, and success in, college by implementing a comprehensive
college awareness and preparedness program. The project will target a
cohort of 800 sixth and seventh grade students from Hand and Reynolds
Middle Schools, and follow them as they progress through high school.

The School District of Lancaster is a diverse, urban district serving
over 11,200 students, of whom: 51 percent are Latino, 24 percent African
American, 22 percent Caucasian and 3 percent Asian; 71 percent of
students receive free and reduced price lunch. Only 39 percent of
students achieved reading and math standards on the 2004 state
assessment; at 7.1 percent, the drop-out rate is one of the highest in
the state; less than 30 percent of 2004 graduates went on to attend
four-year colleges and universities. Hand and Reynolds are the
highest-need middle schools, with 80 percent of students on free and
reduced price lunch and less than 60 percent of students achieving
standards on the 2004 state assessment. Few of our low-income students
believe they can or will attend college; they have not had access to the
information and experiences necessary to see college as a viable option
and begin planning for it.

To address the gaps and weaknesses in our current system and increase
college readiness and participation among our high-need population, our
GEAR UP Project will focus on the following core strategies: 1)
increasing the quality and rigor of instruction through middle and high
school curriculum alignment and ongoing professional development for
teachers; 2) implement a strong system of academic and non-academic
supports for students, including tutoring and mentoring; 3) expand
college awareness and preparedness opportunities, particularly at the
middle level; and 4) engage parents in college preparation and planning.

Project Director: Denise Bell Feltenberger

Telephone Number: 717-291-6257

Email Address: DBELL@LANCASTER.K12.PA.US

Universidad del Turabo

TABS-STEMA

Universidad del Turabo of the Ana G. Mendez University System submits
the: Turabo Alliance for Better Schools in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics Advancement, Exploring My Universe!
(TABS-STEMA) to increase the number of seventh grade social and
economically disadvantaged Hispanic students (623), who successfully
complete high school and enter into post secondary education.

At the target schools, 75 percent of students qualify for the free and
reduced price lunch program. The six participating schools (four junior
high and two high schools) are low academic standard performing, and are
in need for the development of an improvement plan. The proposed project
will replicate effective teaching and learning practices developed in
the Turabo Alliance for Better Schools GEAR-UP Program (1999-2005).
Assistance to the participants will be provided through: in school
services, Saturday academic enrichment program, summer institute
program, family life enrichment services and a teachers' professional
development component. Rigorous academic coursework in science, math,
laboratory experiences, study skills, reading and language in English
and Spanish, and art will be offered. This program will also provide
individual and group counseling, tutoring, mentoring, computer literacy
skills, cultural and social enrichment activities and dissemination of
educational and financial aid to students and parents. Universidad del
Turabo will contribute \$ 20,000 in a scholarship fund for talented
seniors GEAR-UP in the sixth year.

Partners in this Alliance are Universidad del Turabo (leading
institution), Technological Initiatives of the Eastern Central Region of
Puerto Rico (INTECO), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
and Kennedy Space Center, the Municipality of Caguas, and Pfizer
Pharmaceutical.

Providing a multidimensional program to all 623 participants, TABS-STEMA
expects the following major outcomes: 90 percent will graduate from
middle school by 2008; 90 percent will graduate from high school by
2011; 85 percent will have increased by 25 percent their Puerto Rico
Competency Test scores and will meet or exceed state academic standards;
70 percent will enter college and the 30 percent will enter STEM
careers.

Project Director: Elsie Colon

Telephone Number: 787-743-7979

Email Address: UT_ECOLON@SUAGM.EDU

Catholic Pontifical University of Puerto Rico

Gear Up: Steps of Hope, Opening Paths to Knowledge

Pontifical Catholic University's GEAR UP Program is designed to provide
services to a cohort of approximately 590 eligible seventh grade junior
high school students for a period of six years. It will provide an early
intervention program based on cooperative learning and discovery
learning practices. Students will gain academic skills and the
motivation necessary to complete a secondary education and enter and
succeed in a postsecondary program. It will provide staff development
and training for teachers to enable them to foster improved academic
growth. The program will offer parent orientations and workshops to
develop parental leadership and family involvement in the academic
progress of their children and to empower them with information
regarding the opportunities for attending college.

The participants will come from four target schools in the inner city of
Ponce, Puerto Rico. Of the total population in these schools, 89 percent
is eligible for project services. The GEAR UP Program at Pontifical
Catholic University of Puerto Rico is a partnership program and will be
an integral part of the University and the Ponce community. The
partnership includes the: Puerto Rico Department of Education, Business
Partners (WPUC Radio, Banco Popular, Outside Group, Inc.) and Pontifical
Catholic University of Puerto Rico.

PCUPR's GEAR UP Program will have two components: a) in the academic
year students will receive tutorial classes, mentoring, supplemental
instruction, basic skills instruction, college preparatory classes,
(computer literacy, languages, science, and mathematics, pre-calculus,
statistics, college writing,), participation in social and cultural
activities, academic, career, vocational, and interpersonal counseling,
and a Saturday academic year program; b) a residential summer program on
campus, will enable participants to experience college- life. Of the
participating students, 85 percent will graduate, apply and register in
a postsecondary institution.

Project Director: Jose Soto

Telephone Number: 787-841-2000

Email Address: JSOTO@EMAIL.PUCPR.EDU

Claflin University

Claflin University Gear Up

The goal of the Claflin University GEAR UP Program is to ensure that
disadvantaged, at-risk middle school and secondary students who are
enrolled at target schools in Orangeburg, South Carolina, are prepared
for, pursue, and succeed in secondary education. The program places
emphasis on the academic achievement, early comprehensive intervention,
parental involvement, high expectations and professional development.

The proposed project will utilize a partnership approach with a whole
grade cohort design beginning in the sixth grade at the two middle
schools in Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five. The proposed
activities are comprehensive services including mentoring, tutoring,
counseling, financial aid information, parental involvement and
empowerment training and other activities such as after-school and
extended say activities, Saturday academy, a five week summer enrichment
institute, and college visits.

The intended objectives of this project are to:

-   Increase participant academic performance for participation in
    postsecondary education.

-   Increase the secondary completion and postsecondary enrollment and
    successful completion rate of target school students.

-   Increase educational expectations and knowledge of postsecondary
    education options, preparation and financing for participants and
    their families.

Project Director: Gwendolyn Phillips

Telephone Number: 803-268-1137

Email Address: gphillips@claflin.edu

The Citadel

The Citadel GEAR UP Program

Since June 1999, The Citadel GEAR UP Program has addressed the mission
of the South Carolina GEAR UP program by preparing low-income youths to
enter, persist in, and successfully complete college by collaborating
with its partners and providing academic opportunities that would
enhance and improve academic skills in the school and increasing
parental involvement in the educational process of their children.

The Citadel is requesting funding through a partnership grant that would
offer a three component (student, teachers, and parents) set of
services, activities, and training which will prepare low-income youths
in a poor, rural setting to enter, persist in, and successfully complete
college by: providing teacher training for rigorous and relevant
academics, especially in reading and math; establishing a Parent
University to help parents understand the academic and financial
commitment of college attendance; and providing GEAR UP students with
college academic preparation in reading and mathematics.

The student goals of The Citadel GEAR UP partnership grant include:
improving attendance, standardized test scores, promotion rates, an
increased number of students completing academically challenging college
preparatory classes, and a decrease in discipline referrals and
suspensions. GEAR UP parent goals include increased parent involvement
in their children's educational process and the completion of their
child's high school graduation and college attendance plan. Teacher
goals are to increase the variety of innovative instructional
strategies, increase in the number of highly qualified middle level
teachers, and an increase in the academic rigor of college preparation
classes and improve the quality of teachers and students interested in
learning through teaming.

Project Director: Wendell Rodgers

Telephone Number: 843-953-5098

Email Address: rodgersw@citadel.edu

Lancaster County School District

Lancaster County GEAR-UP

The project is based on six years of rigorous assessment and meticulous
planning conducted by a Community Coalition comprised of over 30 public,
private, and civic and faith based organizations. Several science-based
strategies have been selected to increase the rigor of secondary
instruction and participation in postsecondary education especially
among low-income students.

Interventions include:

-   Springboard, an integrated system of professional staff development,
    vertical teaming, rigorous instructional modules, and assessment
    driven classrooms linking grades seven through 12.

-   Rigorous professional development component that increases existing
    staff training by over 200 percent each year.

-   A local private foundation donated \$600,000 to provide scholarships
    to GEAR UP participants.

-   Extensive campus-based college awareness activities including a
    science -- math camp, College Fairs, parent workshops, accelerated
    enrollment for juniors and seniors, and field trips to regional
    campuses.

-   A comprehensive community awareness campaign that includes home
    visitation, information sessions, and media component comprised of
    16 public service announcement and eight half-hour broadcasts
    written and produced in partnership with youth at the target
    schools.

Project Director: Paul McKenzie

Telephone Number: 803-416-8862

Email Address: pmckenzi@lcsd.k12.sc.us

East Tennessee State University

Gearing Up the Washington County, Tennessee School System

This project focuses on a sixth and seventh grade cohort from four
target schools in a rural county located in the mountains of central
Appalachia -- Washington County, Tennessee. The four schools are feeder
schools for David Crocket High School. The problem driving the project
is David Crockett's very low graduation rate of 50.6 percent. This is
the 19th worst rate of 302 schools in Tennessee, exceeded only by urban
schools in Memphis and Nashville. The partners for this project are the
Washington County School System, East Tennessee State University,
Northeast State Technical Community College, the Johnson City-Washington
County Chamber of Commerce, Washington County Economic Development
Board, Boys to Men, Girlfriends, and five churches.

Based on in-depth interviews and focus group meetings with students,
parents, school counselors and administrators representing the target
middle schools and the high school, we conclude that a "culture of no
achievement" permeates David Crockett and leads directly to very low
graduation and college attendances rates.

We propose to "inoculate" the sixth and seventh grade cohort at the
target schools by providing every student with personal case management
and academic support. The "parental cohort" will be addressed through
programs designed to maximize parental involvement. All students will
have opportunities for after school activities, mentoring, tutoring,
college tours, and job fairs. A school based, "College Center" serving
students, parents, school personnel, and community partners will serve
as a point of contact for admissions officers, tutors, and service
learning students, interns, and GEAR UP Staff.

Project Director: Judith Hammond

Telephone Number: 423-439-6062

Email Address: HAMMOND@MAIL.ETSU.EDU

San Antonio Independent School District

SAISD GEAR UP Project

Many high school students in the San Antonio Independent School District
(SAISD) become disengaged from school due to lack of academic success
and, or low educational aspirations. As a multitude of studies have
demonstrated, the teachers and even the families of low-income, minority
students have low expectations of students' academic potential and
professional success.

The SAISD GEAR UP Partnership Project is committed to increase college
enrollment rates for over 3,938 low-income students by implementing a
sixth grade cohort model and launching a comprehensive college and
career prep model for participating students, parents, and families.
Through existing collaborations with national, state and local entities,
SAISD can facilitate a higher level of academic performance among
secondary students by preparing them for a more rigorous high school
course of study. SAISD's GEAR UP Project will provide 95 percent of the
economically disadvantaged students with the encouragement, desire,
preparation, knowledge and skills needed for college success.
Twenty-nine targeted campuses will be served where 61 percent of the
targeted student population is identified as at-risk.

The primary goal of the project, as identified by the SAISD GEAR UP
Project Partnership, is to increase the number of economically
disadvantaged students who apply, attend college and succeed in college.
This goal will be accomplished through implementation of focused and
intentional strategies that include rigorous academic instruction,
mentoring, tutoring, career development, counseling, relevant learning,
and other sustained support services. The SAISD GEAR UP Project proposes
to dovetail on SAISD existing programs, simultaneously and sequentially,
to ensure that students and families participating in the project will
be successful through high school graduation and beyond.

Project Director: Debbie Morgan

Telephone Number: 210-226-0088

Email Address: dmorgan@saisd.net

Stephen F. Austin State University

East Texas Gear up

The East Texas Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate
Programs (GEAR UP) project is an effort to assist ten rural school
districts in achieving the structural, cultural, and instructional
changes that lead to increased student participation in academically
challenging secondary courses that open the doors to postsecondary
education. Over 50 percent of the students in each of the middle and
high schools in these districts are from low socioeconomic groups.

Conceived as a systemic change effort, this project provides over a
six-year period direct service to a cohort of 1,542 students as they
move from grades 7-12; targeted professional development to faculty and
staff; community and business involvement; and parental engagement. This
project establishes a system-wide mindset of high academic expectations
for all students wherein increased numbers of secondary students will
participate and succeed in advanced level courses in order to prepare
them for success in postsecondary education. The project is designed to
address the urgent need to increase the college-going and success rates
of students in the project schools primarily by increasing secondary
students' participation and success in rigorous academic courses.

A vital component in improving the educational attainment of secondary
students will be to enlist the support of parents as advocates for
increasing each student's readiness for postsecondary education. Using
the foundation of success from the current GEAR UP Project, this project
will address evolving needs of schools in the region. Specifically, the
project will address an expected dramatic increase in the number of
Hispanics by focusing on the unique needs of minority students and the
project will help districts to address higher expectations of student
achievement on state standardized achievement and college readiness
tests. Guided by a project advisory committee and school districts, the
Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce, and the Top Ladies of
Distinction, will use the experience gained and coordination established
through the current project to enable the project team to effectively
provide resources and services to best meet the specific situation of
each school district in the changing cultural environment.

Project Director: Betty Alford

Telephone Number: 936-468-2908

Email Address: Balford@Sfasu.edu

Sul Ross State University

Project ReACH Sul Ross State University (SRSU) proposes Project ReACH
("Realizing and Achieving Collegiate Heights"), a GEAR UP project to
serve 665 seventh graders from fall 2005 through a summer college bridge
program following high school graduation in 2011. These students come
from 14 partner school districts in nine Texas counties bordering Mexico
where per capita incomes average 58 percent of the national average, 39
percent of adults do not have high school diplomas, and only 14 percent
of adults hold bachelor's degrees or more.

Among the districts to be served, 82 percent of students are Hispanic,
72 percent are eligible for free and reduced priced lunches, and 18
percent have limited English proficiency. Only 58 percent of all
students met Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills standardized test
criteria in 2004, dropout rates between seventh and 12th grades average
25 percent, and high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment
rates are as low as 70 percent and 33 percent respectively. Weaknesses
and gaps in existing services that contribute to low levels of
achievement include insufficient use of instructional techniques to
address diverse learning styles, inadequate information about college
and financial aid, an isolated, rural culture, lack of family support,
and inadequate partner school funding to develop programs and services
that support student success.

To close these gaps, Project ReACH will begin with Individual Education
Plans to identify students' unique needs and specify services to meet
those needs. Tutoring, after-school programs of academic success skills
and field trips to historical and cultural sites, annual weeklong summer
programs of intensive instruction, college and financial aid workshops
and individual counseling sessions, Mentoring, and 21st Century Scholar
events are designed to meet their needs. SRSU will offer scholarships to
top graduates with unmet need enrolling in 2011. A broad-based faculty
development program of workshops and supporting self-study will address
effective instructional techniques such as interactive learning and
reinforcing basic skills across the curriculum. Outcomes will include 2
percent annual increases in standardized test scores, GPAs of 2.5 or
more among 80 percent of participants, 90 percent promotion and high
school graduation rates, and, in 2011, college enrollment rates equaling
national averages.

Project Director: Gregory Schwab

Telephone Number: 432-837-8039

Email Address: gschwab@sulross.edu

The University of Texas At El Paso

UTEP GEAR-UP Partnership

Priorities for this project have been identified as: 1) low academic
readiness and achievement; 2) poor performance in the core subject areas
of mathematics, science and language arts; 3) high incidence of risk
factors, discipline and low attendance that eventually contribute to low
graduation rates; and 4) a low college going rate, plus high rate of
remediation once graduates enter postsecondary institutions.

The activities will address the weaknesses and gaps in services provided
to the targeted students, parents and teachers. The program will provide
a strong tutoring and mentoring component by UTEP students, academic
readiness testing, positive coping and life skills, quality transition
events, and exposure to postsecondary degree environments. In addition,
the program will concentrate on providing parents and teachers with the
awareness of success factors for the GEAR UP cohort, utilize different
mediums to impress upon parents the significance of their support for
the future of their children and provide them with the knowledge of the
benefits and accessibility postsecondary education and financial aid
availability. Staff development will address technology-based
curriculums for mathematics and science, preparing students for academic
readiness in high school and beyond and strategies that fortify teacher
skills in increasing student's ability to relate academics to every day
experiences.

The expected outcomes are academic readiness for high school graduation,
high achievement on entrance exams, and entry into college. Parents will
gain awareness of support for pursuing postsecondary education and
teachers will receive support for up to date research proven effective
strategies.

Project Director: Juliette Caire

Telephone Number: 915-747-5367

Email Address: JCAIRE@UTEP.EDU

Spring Branch Independent School District

Project UP (University Preparation)

Spring Branch Independent School District, (SBISD) located west of
downtown Houston, Texas, serves a diverse student population residing
within one of the highest and the lowest per-capita income areas in the
city. Just as Interstate 10 traverses the district creating a concrete
barrier between the two, low-income and minority status has created an
invisible barrier and stark imbalance in the levels of SBISD student
participation and success in postsecondary education. The three schools
targeted for grant participation, all of which are eligible for school
wide Title I assistance, form a feeder pattern in the most economically
depressed quadrant of SBISD, qualifying the district to meet the
criteria for a reduced match contribution waiver.

The proposed program, Project UP (University Preparation), serves a
cohort of 560 seventh grade students at two of the district's most needy
middle schools, Spring Oaks Middle School (SOMS), and Spring Woods
Middle School (SWMS), and follows the students as they matriculate
through Spring Woods High School (SWHS). Project planners have
identified three overarching program priorities to raise the academic
expectations and educational success of the student cohort while
maximizing their opportunities to attain college entrance: 1) student
support and scaffolding; 2) college and career support programming, and;
3) professional development support and structure.

By implementing a myriad of supplemental, life changing educational and
enrichment opportunities, Project UP addresses the roadblocks impeding
these students from enrolling and succeeding in undergraduate programs.
This six-year GEAR UP program supports the defined cohort through high
school graduation. Further extending the options available to these
students are eight strong partners including a degree granting, open
enrollment, four-year university and a community college that is the
second largest in the United States.

SBISD knows that the future of our community, our stated and our nation
rests in the success of our students' learning at the very highest
levels. Project UP provides early assistance to underrepresented
students to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to prepare them
for college and maximize their potentials.

Project Director: Barber Barber

Telephone Number: 713-464-1511

Email Address: BABERC@SPRINGBRANCHISD.COM

Houston Independent School District

College For All

Through the collaborative efforts of the Houston Independent School
District (HISD), Project GRAD Houston (PGH), the University of Houston
Downtown (UHD), and Communities In Schools (CIS) more than 2,000
students have attended college-using scholarships provided through
partnerships with local businesses, foundations, and the U.S. Department
of Education over the past decade. This partnership has learned how to
prepare high poverty PreK-12 children for college. Funding will enable
the partnership to implement a strong research based model in 11 HISD
middle schools and five HISD high schools.

Severity of Need: 93 percent of College For All (CFA) students receive
free and reduced price meals at school because their families' incomes
are at or below the federal poverty level; 38 percent live in single
parent homes. In the five CFA communities, 49 percent of the adults lack
a high school education. These socioeconomic factors have been shown to
be strong predictors of academic failure; the academic performance of
students in the CFA schools bears this out. High proportions of the
2003-2004 sixth grade students in the CFA schools performed below grade
level in reading (66 percent), math (60 percent), and science (70
percent) as measured on the Stanford 10 Achievement Test. More
alarmingly, 20 percent of these students had scores that were three or
more years below grade level. Such failure rates demonstrate the need to
implement and sustain proven strategies that lead to academic success
starting no later than sixth grade and following students through high
school.

CFA's GEAR UP Solution: CFA proposes the following six activities: 1)
professional development for teachers; 2) curriculum enhancements; 3)
tutoring; 4) mentoring; 5) parental involvement; and 6) preparing
students and families for the high school-to-college transition. The
activities will follow two consecutive sixth grade cohorts as they move
from sixth to 12th grade. Funding from PGH will allow the activities to
be sustained at each grade level. The implementation of these strategies
will enable CFA students to excel academically and to graduate from high
school prepared to attend college.

Project Director: James LaVois

Telephone Number: 713-892-6800

Email Address: JLAVOIS@HOUSTONISD.ORG

Texas A&M International University

Creating a Vision II

Texas A & M International University (TAMIU), Laredo Independent School
District (LISD), and United Independent School District (UISD), located
in Laredo, Texas are partnering with the Laredo Chamber of Commerce and
various financial institutions for this "Creating a Vision II" grant
application.

The target area has urgent and compelling needs. Laredo schools deal
with a complex set of challenges; chief among them is educating students
who come from low-income, Spanish language dominant homes and whose
parents have limited education. This proposal targets a cohort of
seventh graders enrolled in three typical Laredo middle schools: Antonio
Gonzalez Middle School, George Washington Middle School, and Dr Joaquin
Gonzalez Cigarroa Middle School.

The program has two major goals: 1) to strengthen existing academic
strategies and implement new programs to raise academic standards,
provide academic support for students, improve teacher training, and
increase student knowledge of higher education opportunities and
admissions; and 2) develop a parental education program that teaches
parents English language and parenting skills so that they can provide a
nurturing academic environment for their children and make them aware of
the higher education opportunities for their children. The project
incorporates several academic and parental education strategies:
vertical teaming for staff development, tutoring and mentoring programs,
curriculum reform, summer enrichment programs, preparation for SAT, ACT
and THEA (spell out what this means) exams, parenting conferences that
include a diverse range of topics on college information, financial aid
opportunities, parental counseling, and understanding state and national
exam results and their implications. The ripple effects of implementing
this program will benefit all students, not just the cohort. As a result
of this initiative, an increasing number of Hispanic students from the
Laredo area will graduate from high school, enroll and succeed college.

Project Director: Julio Madrigal

Telephone Number: 956-326-2720

Email Address: jfmadrigal@tamiu.edu

The University of Texas Pan American

University of Texas Pan American GEAR UP Project

The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) GEAR UP Project will target
8,950 students, their parents and teachers in 28 middle schools and 19
high schools in an area of South Texas known as the Rio Grande Valley
that includes four of the poorest counties in the entire United States.
Of the one million residents, over 90 percent are Hispanic, 80 percent
speak a language other than English in the home and more than 25 percent
are foreign born, primarily from Mexico. Thirty-eight percent live in
extreme poverty, less than 53 percent of adults have high school
diplomas, and only 10 percent are college graduates.

In this partnership grant, UTPA GEAR UP, local LEAs, and partners will
promote rigorous coursework based on college-entrance requirements; work
with whole grade levels of students to raise expectations for all
students; and continuously inform students and parents about college
options and financial aid, including providing students with 21st
Century Scholar Certificates. UTPA GEAR UP will build on its past
successes to: (1) increase the academic performance and preparation for
postsecondary education for GEAR UP students; (2) increase the rate of
high school graduation and participation in postsecondary education for
GEAR UP students; and (3) increase GEAR UP student and family knowledge
of postsecondary education options, preparation, and financing.

The UTPA GEAR UP Project has developed objectives and services to
address the identified gaps and needs, which will be delivered through
five major components: (1) Academic Preparation; (2) Academic
Preparation Support Services; (3) Family and Community Outreach; (4)
Professional Development; and (5) Higher Education Collaborative.

Services will be provided through over 30 partnerships that have been
developed some of which include 28 middle schools in 13 LEA's and
Corporate Partners such as: Texas Instruments, Ford, SureScore,
Hewlett-Packard, Kaplan, Princeton Review, and AVID, totaling over \$18
million in in-kind contributions.

Project Director: Cynthia Valdez

Telephone Number: 956-292-7501

Email Address: CVALDEZI@PANAM.EDU

Region One Education Service Center

Region One ESC GEAR UP: Bridges to the Future Partnership

Region One Education Service Center, a local education agency chartered
by the state of Texas, in partnership with 21 school districts located
on the South Texas-Mexico border, the University of Texas-Pan American,
Texas A & M University-College Station, and the Charles A. Dana Center
at the University of Texas at Austin, proposes to restructure school
services to provide a knowledge pipeline to postsecondary success for
8,250 traditionally underrepresented youth. In the targeted schools, 96
percent of the students are Hispanic, 84 percent are economically
disadvantaged, 25 percent are English language learners, and 48 percent
are identified as at risk. The primary goal of the partnership is to
increase the number of these targeted students who enter and succeed in
college.

Identified cohort student needs addressed by the Partnership include low
scores in mathematics and science, and English language arts courses,
low high school graduation rates, and low college enrollment rates among
cohort school populations. The Partnership proposes to address these
needs through a whole grade, single cohort approach beginning in grade
seven and following the cohort through grade 12. Partnership services
provided are substantiated by validated research, and are intended to
result in a systemic examination, alignment, and implementation of
policies, programs, and practices that enable students to succeed in
college. Services provided are classified into four major components --
academic support, mentoring and tutoring, counseling and outreach, and
support services -- designed to provide a sustainable, cohesive network
of support to students, parents, and educators. The average annual cost
per student is \$772 to serve 8,250 students in 28 middle schools
articulating to 21 high schools.

Project Director: Tina Atkins

Telephone Number: 956-984-6220

Email Address: tatkins@esconett.org

University of Texas At Tyler

Tyler GEAR UP

The Tyler GEAR UP project is a comprehensive, systemic program of
services that will serve approximately 900 students and their parents in
the first project year with services continuing over the next five
years. Beginning with the 2005-06 school year, all students enrolled in
sixth or seventh grade in Boulter, Stewart, and Dogan, middle school in
the Tyler Independent School District will participate in activities
that lead to enrollment in postsecondary education. These students will
continue to be served if they attend John Tyler High School.

All faculties in these schools will be engaged in intensive staff
development activities to develop a culture of high expectations of
success accompanied by a rigorous curriculum. The project will consist
of five components: 1) professional development, 2) academic support 3)
parent and family involvement, 4) educational partnerships, and 5) data
driven decision-making. The five components will work synergistically to
create a culture of success in which students from demographic groups
(low socioeconomic, minority) that are traditionally underrepresented in
postsecondary education have the skills and expectations to graduate
from college.

The project is based on a model of distributed leadership that
encourages and facilitates campus-level ownership of all activities and
processes. Administration, faculty, staff, parents, and students all
play key roles in the development, revision, and implementation of the
project.

Project Director: Peggy Gill

Telephone Number: 903-565-5675

Email Address: pgill@uttyler.edu

Newport News Public School

Newport News GEAR UP

The Newport News GEAR UP project will address specific structural gaps,
needs, and inequities in opportunity that operates to divert low-income
students from the pipeline to higher education.

Involving two middle schools will make it possible to mobilize teachers
as key players in transforming schools into places where students
succeed, and prepare for success. Both schools serve similar students:
85-86 percent eligible for the federal lunch program and the vast
majority, 93-94 percent, African-American. The GEAR UP project will
facilitate comprehensive, faculty-driven, whole-school reform by pairing
the middle schools that has demonstrated evidence-based best practices
at closing the racial and economic achievement gap with the other middle
school still struggling with this challenge. Including two age cohorts
(the 2005-06 sixth and seventh grade classes) will double GEAR UP's
influence, increasing the critical mass of its college-focused culture
and goals. Other key components include a mandatory academic support
class; an extended school day; tutoring; intensive mathematics and
language emphasis; special standard English programs; family university
and family night school; nourishing a supportive peer group that shares
GEAR UP students' college aspirations; and enlisting parents' support of
students' goals and plans.

Learning from previous GEAR UP and college preparatory initiatives, this
project will continue intensive intervention through high school with a
four-year GEAR UP elective culminating in a senior seminar that will
maintain daily immersion in academic support and a college-focused peer
group. Complementing it will be personalized assistance with the college
planning, search, and application process. Finally, to accelerate
attainment of higher education goals, through a 2+2+2 articulation
agreement with Thomas Nelson Community College and Old Dominion
University, a University High School will be opened at a GEAR UP high
school. Students may earn from three to 60 college credits while still
in high school, with guaranteed credit toward a baccalaureate degree.

Project Director: Vanessa L. Whitaker

Telephone Number: 757-591-4644

Email Address: VANESSA.WHITAKER@NN.K12.VA.US

Yakima School District No. 7

GEAR UP for Yakima

GEAR UP for Yakima is a partnership that includes the Yakima School
District (YSD), Yakima Valley Community College (YVCC), and community
partners working together to increase the numbers of local students who
are prepared to succeed in postsecondary education. The targeted schools
in the YSD have high poverty levels, parents with limited education, a
high number of limited English speaking students, and a high number of
Hispanic students. Overall, the district has a low graduation rate and
the highest dropout rate in the state. The majority of students do not
meet state standardized testing requirements needed for graduation.

The Yakima community has experienced phenomenal demographic changes over
the past 30 years. At YVCC, Hispanic students have increased from less
than 5 percent of the total student population to over 40 percent today.
This increase has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education
through designation of YVCC as a "Hispanic Serving Institution."

GEAR UP for Yakima will provide tutoring, mentoring, summer institutes,
college visits, career and college fairs, advanced placement, family
college planning events, and interventions for high absences to a cohort
of 2,052 sixth and seventh grade students and follow these students
through high school graduation.

The objectives for the project are to: 1) improve basic core academic
skills with emphasis on graduation, PSAT, SAT and ACT test scores; 2)
establish student activities with the goal to support progress towards
graduation and postsecondary opportunities; 3) establish activities for
the purpose of educating parents and families about postsecondary
options, preparation and financing; and 4) enhance school effectiveness
by improving staff development and curriculum development.

The partnership between the YSD and YVCC continues to build on a
successful history of over 70 years collaboration through grants,
curriculum development, personnel exchange and high school students
taking college courses.

Point of Contact: Benjamin A. Soria

Telephone Number: 509-573-7001

Email Address: SORIA.BEN@YSD.WEDNET.EDU

Central Washington University

Okanogan Valley Central Washington University GEAR UP Program

The Okanogan Valley Central Washington University GEAR UP Project will
serve 1,478 sixth through 12th grade students over six years in
Oroville, Bridgeport, Brewster, Lake Chelan, Omak, Tonasket, and Manson
school districts, an existing consortium of districts in isolated
agricultural communities on the east slope of the Cascade Mountains in
north central Washington State. The Project begins with a year one
cohort of 995 sixth and seventh graders, adds another sixth grade class
in year two, and then follows the high school graduation classes of
2010, 2011 and 2012 (1,478 students) to graduation. The program stays in
each middle and high school building for four years (middle school --
years one through four; high school -- years three through six),
sufficient time to build a sustainable culture of college-awareness and
preparation in each building by project end. Cohorts include high
numbers of Hispanic, migrant and Colville Indian students. District
poverty rates range from 52 percent to 85 percent, reflecting resident
families' dependency on seasonal agricultural employment.

Proposed services include: tutors trained to work in class and in
extended day hours; yearly age-appropriate college planning activities
and learning portfolios; companion materials for parents in English and
Spanish designed to engage parents in their children's high school
program and college planning; GED, ESL, ABE and computer classes for
parents; college outreach activities and campus visits for students and
parents; mentoring for students and high school tutors from Central
Washington University Bridges college students who provide help with
mathematics, writing and language arts, technology and enrichment
activities; access to new 'college in the high school' programs for
capable students through training subsidies for teachers to CWU's
Cornerstone Project to become certified to provide college-credit
bearing classes in districts; support, including bilingual tutors, for
migrant students coordinated with Secondary Education for Migrant Youth
(SEMY); student teacher placements in partner school districts to help
recruit well-trained new teachers to these districts; annual symposia
for district teachers, counselors and administrators, CWU faculty and
partners on best practices to serve students of color and high poverty
to close the achievement gap and to prepare them to enter and complete
postsecondary education.

Project Director: Julie Guggino

Telephone Number: 509-963-2640

Email Address: GUGGINOJ@CWU.EDU

University of Washington

Two Valleys One Vision GEAR UP Program

The Two Valleys One Vision GEAR UP Program has brought together four
higher education institutions, 12 public school districts, one tribal
school, and eight community partners to provide a range of comprehensive
early intervention services. This project will serve small rural schools
located in the Yakima and Skagit Valleys of Washington State. The Yakama
Nation Indian Reservation is also within the Yakima Valley. These
schools have a large number of immigrant, Hispanic migrant farm worker
and Native American students. The characteristics of these students
include many being limited English speaking students, all have high
poverty rates (average 77 percent), overall low graduation rates, high
mobility rates, overall low academic achievement on state testing
standards and limited opportunities for entering postsecondary
education.

The Two Valleys One Vision GEAR UP will offer a range of comprehensive
services starting with a sixth and seventh grade cohort of 2,723
students and serve them through high school graduation. The services
will include: 1) professional development, 2) before and after school
tutoring, 3) Saturday and summer programs, 4) mentoring, 5) planning, 6)
family financial planning, and 7) 21st Century Scholar Certificates. All
services will be culturally appropriate, researched-based and proven
effective practices.

The Two Valleys One Vision GEAR UP services will help 2,723 students
each year of the grant to achieve the following measurable outcomes: 1)
increase by 10 percent the number of seventh and 10th grade students
passing the state standard WASL Test in math and reading; 2) increase by
10 percent each year the number of students passing advanced math
courses; 3) increase by 20 percent the number of students who take the
SAT and ACT tests; 4) increase by 20 percent the number of students
enrolling in postsecondary education; 5) increase the number of students
that graduate high school by 20 percent; and 6) increase by 50 percent
the number of parents aware of college requirements for their children.

Project Director: Loueta Johnson

Telephone Number: 509-865-8677

Email Address: johnsonl@u.washington.edu

Eastern Washington University

Helping Rural Students Succeed

Onward: Preparing Rural Students for Success is a partnership between
Eastern Washington University and eight rural school districts in
northeastern Washington: Columbia, Curlew, Cusick, Mary Walker,
Northport, Republic, Selkirk, and Wellpinit. A cohort of fifth through
seventh grade students will be supported throughout this project.
Partner schools are in communities that face high rates of poverty and
unemployment, poor student achievement on state standardized tests, and
low graduation rates. Few attend or graduate from college.

Onward is designed to overcome the barriers that keep too many of our
low-income students from college:

-   Inadequate academic preparation;

-   Lack of timely information to family and students;

-   Lack of experience and familiarity with the college process and
    culture; and

-   Prohibitive college costs.

Onward brings together a powerful alliance that includes partner schools
and tribal entities, model school programs, and nonprofits dedicated to
overcoming obstacles through sustained, focused, and concerted action.

This project seeks to increase academic achievement through intensive
teaching and tutoring, curriculum revision, and teacher professional
development to help teachers best reach students. This project also
seeks to change school and community culture regarding academic
achievement and college attendance so that all students feel supported
and ready to graduate from high school and choose postsecondary
education. Finally, this project seeks to work with families to
understand the process of preparing for, getting into, and affording
college.

Project Director: Valerie Appleton

Telephone Number: 509-359-2328

Email Address: VAPPLETON@MAIL.EWU.EDU

University of Wisconsin -- Eau Claire

University of Wisconsin -- Eau Claire and UW-Stout GEAR UP Grant

The University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and the University of
Wisconsin-Stout propose a GEAR UP Partnership Grant designed to serve
513 students (75 percent of whom are Native American); at four northern
Wisconsin schools serving low-income disadvantaged students. Eight
partners have collaborated to develop this proposal focusing on
strengthening schools and providing opportunities for low-income
students. Partners include: the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
(UW-Eau Claire), the University of Wisconsin-Stout, the Winter Public
School District, the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal School, the Menominee
Indian Public School District and the Menominee Tribal School, (the
Menominee Schools reside in an Enterprise Community) the UW-Eau Claire
Human Development Center, and the Wisconsin Department of Public
Instruction.

To give more low-income students the skills, encouragement, and
preparation needed to persist, graduate and pursue postsecondary
education; a total of \$410,400 federal dollars (\$800.00 per student)
is requested for the first year of the grant with \$410,400 matching
partnership dollars and in-kind support (six year projected total =
\$2,462,400.) These resources fund student services that include
assessment, tutoring and mentoring, increased academic achievement,
pre-college camps, college preparatory course enrollment in middle and
high school, increased graduation rates, teacher professional
development, college, career and financial aid information and increased
family involvement in education.

Nine objectives form an ambitious but attainable program design. Because
students can begin to disengage from their education at the third grade
level, this proposal begins with students from third through seventh
grade. This GEAR UP Partnership Grant will be overseen by a Partnership
Council with members from the two colleges, the four schools, a Parent
Group, and business and community organizations. The fiscal agent will
be UW-Eau Claire.

Project Director: Margaret Hebbring

Telephone Number: 715-836-5826

Email Address: HEBBRIMA@UWEC.EDU

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

UW-Milwaukee GEAR UP

The purpose of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM) GEAR UP
Program is to increase the number of low-income students attending
targeted Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) who complete high school and
graduate from college. The proposed program will follow a cohort of
1,671 sixth and seventh grade students enrolled in seven high poverty
middle schools. It is anticipated that significant numbers of these
students will attend one of seven target high schools. There is a
pressing need for UWM GEAR UP. Students enrolled in the target schools
reside in the central city of Milwaukee, which is a high poverty area of
the city with low educational attainment rates. Over 80 percent of the
target school students are eligible for free and reduced price lunch.
The proposed target high schools graduate 58 percent of their students
in comparison to the 91 percent state graduation rate. The target high
schools' dropout rate at 11.75 percent is significantly higher than the
6 percent state dropout rate. Target school students perform
significantly lower on the ACT college entrance examination than other
MPS and Wisconsin students. GEAR UP will address these problems through
a comprehensive pre-college academic support program. GEAR UP services
include: mentoring and tutoring, campus visits, Saturday and summer
camps, and parent activities. UWM GEAR UP students will improve their
reading and mathematics scores, and enroll in pre-algebra and algebra.
GEAR UP students and their parents will be knowledgeable about
postsecondary options. The professional development program will ensure
that teachers have increased knowledge in the academic content areas,
enhanced technology and classroom management skills. UWM GEAR UP is a
collaborative partnership with the Milwaukee Area Technical College, the
Milwaukee Private Industry Council, MPS, UWS Multicultural Center for
Educational Excellence, Strive Media Institute, the Student
Accessibility Center, UWM School of Education Faculty, Urban
Underground, and the UW-Credit Union.

Project Director: Pamela E. Clark

Telephone Number: 414-229-2401

Email Address: PCLARK@UWM.EDU

Fairmont State

Fairmont State GEAR UP

West Virginia is at-risk and faces great obstacles in promoting its
youth to aspire to higher education: high poverty and low college-going
rates. Research shows the direct correlation that exists between poverty
and lack of college attainment. It also shows that children are less
likely to attend college if their parents have not attended college.
West Virginia has all of the components to be eligible for a GEAR UP
grant: poverty, an uneducated adult population, at-risk youth, low
educational goals, low expectations, low participation in college
preparatory courses, and ultimately, low college-going rates. This is a
cycle that is not broken easily.

Over 6,600 students, in 14 counties (nearly one third of the state), in
56 middle and high schools will receive GEAR UP services. An
enthusiastic group of partners are submitting this dynamic plan to
address the needs of our at-risk student population. A thoughtful and
experienced project plan has been designed to take into consideration
the depth, breadth, and scope of this energetic project. Activities have
been designed to meet the goals and objectives of GEAR UP. These include
but are not limited to: after-school and weekend programs, tutoring,
mentoring, counseling, college fairs and tours, financial aid workshops,
computer projects, motivational activities including a GEARING UP FOR
COLLEGE poster contest, a variety of summer camps and enrichment
programs, educational field trips, leadership and learning style
training, comprehensive teacher training activities, parent involvement
and literacy and academic readiness programs, 21st Century Scholar
presentations, technology literacy, curriculum review and academic rigor
incentives, comprehensive coordination with state and local agencies to
ensure the efficient use of resources, and an innovative scholarship
program.

Through a strong management plan, skilled leaders, and rigorous internal
and external evaluation processes, the intended outcomes are to
institutionalize the values of GEAR UP so that at the end of the funding
cycle, college-going rates are increased, student self-esteem and
motivation are improved, academic skill-levels are higher and school
environments have embraced the concept of student success whereby all
students are encouraged to reach for higher education goals, making
college attainment an institutionalized reality that is the norm, not
the exception as it has been for generations.

Project Director: Amie Fazalare

Telephone Number: 304-367-0436

Email Address: afazalare@mail.fscwv.edu

Central Wyoming College

Central Wyoming College GEAR UP

Central Wyoming College (CWC) is a small, two-year community college
located within the boundaries of the Wind River Indian (WRI)
Reservation, one of the largest Native American reservations in the
United States. CWC is the only accredited postsecondary institution
within a 120-mile radius. The U. S. Department of Health and Human
Services 2003 Data Profile for the WRI Reservation reports that 87
percent of family incomes are below poverty level; 70 percent have a
history of substance abuse; 66 percent have a history of family
violence; and nearly 20 percent of children have attempted suicide. Over
50 percent of students enrolled in eighth grade drop out before their
class graduates; only one out of ten individuals over 25 have received a
college education.

Local school counselors have identified the sixth grade as a crucial
time period where a majority of students decide to stay in school or to
drop out before their class graduates. This demonstrates a high need for
academic and support services before such a decision is made. The CWC
GEAR UP plans to partner with four middle schools on the WRI Reservation
and target students enrolled in grades five through seven. Ninety-seven
percent of the students served will be Native American.

The project has identified its overall purpose to help students improve
their academic performance and preparation for postsecondary education;
increase parental involvement to enhance academic, emotional and social
growth of students; and to provide professional development activities
to teachers. Students will be provided tutoring, financial aid
assistance, mentoring, and monthly student success workshops. Business
and community agency partnerships have been established in support of
this project to provide educational opportunities to the high-risk youth
in the target area. They include the Lumina Foundation, USA Funds,
National Weather Service, Riverton Memorial Hospital, and the Northern
Arapaho and Shoshone Boys and Girls Club.

The total number of students served will be 315 over the five-year grant
period. Federal funds for the five-year period will be \$1,512,000,
matched by non-federal local sources. CWC has committed a scholarship
component providing direct financial aid to students totaling \$300,000
over the six-year period.

Project Director: Kristy K. Salisbury

Telephone Number: 307-855-2246

Email Number: KSALISBU@CWC.ED