Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 10, 1999
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136
Alt Contact:  John McLain of the Higher Education Coordinating Board, 360-586-3475

Locke announces $15 million grant to help disadvantaged students 'GEAR UP' for college

OLYMPIA – Gov. Gary Locke today announced that Washington will receive a five-year, $15.6 million grant to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds attend college. The grant, which was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, will be administered by the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board in partnership with the University of Washington.

The new grant program, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), offers grants to states, school districts, or higher education institutions to increase enrollment of low-income students, who traditionally are less likely to pursue higher education. Locke asked the Secretary of Education personally to fund the Washington effort as another step in the state's comprehensive education reforms.

"In our state, we're on the brink of making higher education a right, and not just a privilege," Locke said. "But to ensure that this right is more than an empty promise, our young people must be better prepared for a higher education experience -- and that's where GEAR UP will make a difference."

The state's GEAR UP program will offer a variety of projects to improve post-secondary enrollment among low-income students:

- Faculty at the University of Washington will help develop a K-12 curriculum that gives students more access to the subjects they need for admission to and success in colleges and universities.

- Professional development activities for teachers will improve instructional practices and student learning.

- GEAR UP will offer institutes, seminars, and a variety of training materials to enable teachers to master more subjects and improve classroom strategies.

- Some 1,200 low-income 7th through 12th graders in targeted communities will receive long-term and intensive tutoring, mentoring, and college planning assistance. (The communities of Wapato,

- Inchelium, Spokane and Tacoma, and Grays Harbor County, will be the first to participate in this project. The state will identify other target communities during the first year of the GEAR UP grant.)

- Annual summer institutes at the University of Washington and field trips to other campuses will expose elementary and secondary students to the college experience.

- From the seventh grade through high school, students and families will receive publications about the importance of higher education, college planning, and the availability of financial aid.

"We need to help students and families know that regardless of background, anyone who wants to work at it can achieve a college education," said Marc Gaspard, executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating Board. "And we need to help all students gain the skills and education necessary to enjoy economic prosperity and productive lives."

Students will also perform public service, and in exchange receive scholarships if they graduate from high school and enroll in Washington colleges or universities. The GEAR UP grant will allow the state to establish and assess these projects in a few areas, and then replicate effective practices in communities across Washington.

State GEAR UP will begin implementation on Sept. 1, 1999; federal funding is expected to last through June 2004.


State of Washington GEAR UP Program

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs

FACT SHEET

Congress authorized GEAR UP in 1998 to help low-income, disadvantaged students plan for and succeed in higher education. The U.S. Department of Education awards two types of grants — one to states and one to partnerships among higher education institutions, school districts, and community-based organizations.

Governor Gary Locke initiated the grant application for Washington's GEAR UP Program, which will be administered by the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and the University of Washington (UW).

Funding:

Federal Award Expected State, Local, and Private Match

1999-2000: $2,728,645 $2,803,581

Five-year Grant Cycle: $15,539,837 $15,640,837

Washington GEAR UP Program Goals:

1. Provide comprehensive early intervention services and financial assistance to low-income and academically at-risk students.

2. Increase academic performance and preparation for post-secondary education of participating students.

3. Increase educational expectations for participating students; increase student and family knowledge of postsecondary education options and financing.

4. Increase the enrollment rate of participants in postsecondary education.

5. Establish effective educational partnerships among families, schools, institutions of higher education, local organizations and businesses, state educational service agencies, and state and local governments.

Program Features:

Under GEAR UP, the state administers two early intervention projects to encourage more disadvantaged students to enroll and succeed in higher education: (1) the GEAR UP Scholars Project, and (2) the GEAR UP State and Partnership Coordination Project.

GEAR UP Scholars Project

HECB administers the Scholars Project, which serves 1200 low-income, disadvantaged students (grades 7 - 12) in nine communities. The Scholars Project provides long-term, year-round support to motivate, encourage, and prepare students to enroll and succeed in post-secondary programs.

Scholars participate in an array of community-based, developmentally appropriate early intervention activities, including: academic planning, tutoring, campus field trips, early and frequent information about financial aid and college preparation, career advising, community service, and mentoring from college students and volunteers. A family-sponsor component encourages parent participation of 40 hours or more annually.

All successful participants receive state-funded scholarships, up to four years, upon enrollment in an approved postsecondary program of study.

Out of the 1200 total participants, 320 from the tenth through the twelfth grades are selected as Scholars Project Ambassadors. Ambassadors assume leadership and service responsibilities, including mentoring and tutoring younger academically at-risk students, developing and leading service projects, and conducting college outreach activities for academically at-risk peers.

GEAR UP is intended in part to enable states to continue services to students in the National Early Intervention Scholarship and Partnership (NEISP) Program, a federal/state effort that ends in August 1999. HECB has administered NEISP since 1994. The five former NEISP communities (Grays Harbor, Inchelium, Spokane, Tacoma, and Wapato) now host GEAR UP Scholars Project sites.

GEAR UP State and Partnership Coordination Project

The Governor's Office, HECB, and the UW administer the State and Partnership Coordination Project. The Coordination Project establishes partnerships and structures within the state to provide considerable support to the state GEAR UP projects, to local GEAR UP partnerships that have been awarded, and to other early intervention projects.

The Coordination Project:

Expands statewide capacity and create lasting systemic change to prepare more disadvantaged students for postsecondary study.

Establishes critical linkages between local K-12 schools, the various sectors of higher education, state and local governments, businesses, community organizations, and statewide educational outreach organizations.

Develops and implements effective curricula and early intervention strategies for serving students, families and schools that can be replicated across the state and nationally.

Activities of the Coordination Project include:

Annual summer institutes at the UW, for up to 1,000 GEAR UP participants, parents, schoolteachers and administrators, program staff, and local partners.

Curriculum transformation designed by UW faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences. This effort makes specific K-12 curriculum modifications relating to student skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Changes are made to increase academic performance, modify cultures, and provide meaningful and appropriate student orientation opportunities.

College planning publications, including financial aid, postsecondary opportunities, and admissions criteria. HECB designs and publishes a series of publications appropriate to GEAR UP students and parents. Publications are translated into a variety of languages. These are made available initially to all GEAR UP partnerships and their participants, with eventual replication and statewide distribution.
GEAR UP newsletters with information for students, parents, partners, and educators.

Professional development activities for all GEAR UP staff and K-12 faculty, counselors and administrators. Activities will include special workshops and ongoing availability of materials over the state's K-20 network and the Internet.

UW Outreach Partners, a cadre of UW graduate and undergraduate assistants who will provide roving, comprehensive, year-round support to GEAR UP projects across the state. Assistants will come from backgrounds similar to those of the GEAR UP target populations.

The creation of GEAR UP technological media — including web sites, teleconferences, chat rooms, list-serves — with news from the state and national GEAR UP community and materials for professional development, college planning and preparedness, parent training, etc.

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