Publications
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) Austin: 2020 GEAR UP Student College Aspiration Results Summary
This report is focused on GEAR UP students’ characteristics, service participation and performance, disaggregated by their college aspirations (i.e., yes, maybe, and no). The report aims to help program staff have a better understanding of college aspiration gaps and address GEAR UP students’ needs. Data presented in this report found that GEAR UP students indicating yes or maybe they would go to college after high school had better academic performance, greater attendance, and fewer campus discipline incidents than did GEAR UP students indicating they would not go to college.
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) Austin: Annual Evaluation Report 2019–2020
In 2019–2020, the program’s third federally funded year, GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) Austin served a cohort of 8th grade students (n = 2,546) across 11 middle schools. Nearly all GEAR UP students received support services relevant to college preparation. Evaluation findings suggest that students, teachers, and parents had a positive perspective on the role of the program services in college preparation.
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) Austin: 2019 Fall Student Focus Group Results Summary
This report describes findings generated from student focus groups across five GEAR UP campuses in the Fall 2019 semester. The focus group participants described their perspectives of the GEAR UP program, experiences with the GEAR UP activities, and plans for future education. Findings obtained from the 2019 fall student focus groups echoed those obtained from focus group interviews with students and teachers in the 2018-2019 school year.