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 United
States Department of Education program rules require that GEAR
UP efforts target students beginning no later than the seventh
grade. Additionally, the program must focus on schools where
more than 50% of the student population is eligible for free
or reduced lunch under the National School Lunch Act. Although
the original LA GEAR UP proposal outlined plans for instituting
the program at 17 middle schools in 7 districts, the group has
since grown to 25 schools in 11 districts. The initial cohort
contains approximately 2,500 seventh-grade students in widely
scattered districts throughout the State. Students in the selected
districts were judged to have above-average needs, based on
four criteria:
59% or more of the district's students are eli- gible for free
or reduced lunch;
the district's composite ACT score is 19.6 or lower;
the percentage of first-time college freshmen is 42.7% or lower;
and
the percentage of freshmen requiring reme- dial courses is 45.6%
or higher.
Twenty-five districts met these requirements. The cohort group
consists entirely of volunteer schools. To date, no schools
meeting the criteria have been rejected for participation in
LA GEAR UP, but future opportunities to join the program will
necessarily be limited to the neediest of schools, due to resource
constraints. The targeted middle schools and their associated
feeder elementary and high schools will receive assistance in
integrating a range of reform opportunities into ongoing school
improvement efforts, without having to provide significant amounts
of additional funds or other resources. |
| At
the culmination of a strategic planning process, the
LaSIP Council approved recommendations of GEAR UP directors
from Ohio, Wisconsin, and New York, who emphasized flexibility
and opportunity in forming collaborations with schools
and districts. |
| Each
Cooperative Agreement will include a budget and a pledge
of financial support that will adapt the program to
ongoing reform at each school site |
| The
long-term vision of LA GEAR UP is to identify and institutionalize
successful school reforms. |
LA
GEAR UP staff have held a series of meetings with school
and district personnel to discuss needs and resources. LA
GEAR UP will assume the principal responsibility to fund
core professional development initiatives, summer camps,
and the Rewards for Success program. In other cases, LA
GEAR UP and the participating schools will leverage funds
to pursue mutual goals.
LA GEAR UP and participating schools are negotiating cooperative
agreements which will be updated annually. These documents
summarize the ways LA GEAR UP initiatives are being adapted
and integrated into reform activities at each school. The
agreements also outline continuing commitments relating
to matters such as alignment of professional development
and instruction, data collection and analysis, convergence
of resources, engagement of community partners, and review
of school policies that directly impact learning.
Contracts will be appended to cooperative agreements in
those cases where LA GEAR UP commits funds to be spent directly
by a school or district. Each contract will specify terms
and expected deliverables.
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