As part of the extensive six-month planning phase, California GEAR UP has completed 51 school site visits and three statewide events in Glendale, Berkeley, and Costa Mesa. Teams learned more about tools and resources provided by California GEAR UP and how to start collaborating with each other on successful strategies to introduce GEAR UP information into the school wide community. Forty-six middle schools will be selected to receive support developing a college-going culture through professional development, engagement of families and communities, counseling support, partner services and resources for the six-year grant period.

The California GEAR UP Bridge Project is well underway in Elk Grove, CA. As the direct student services component of California GEAR UP, the Bridge project continues to build on the philosophy that middle school success is a strong predictor of high school completion and college attendance. A Bridge for Students Model: Approximately 458 seventh graders from five elementary schools in the Elk Grove Unified School District will be the cohort of students who will receive direct services until they graduate from high school in 2017. One of the objectives guiding this model is: To Increase by 20 Percent the Number of Bridge Students Achieving at Grade-Appropriate Levels in Mathematics as Compared to the Respective 2010-11 Class at the School. Program components include hosting events like the Regional Family Engagement night, focused on bringing families from the entire Valley Elk Grove region together to focus on student success strategies. Another program is the ‘Core Values’ program which includes a character development program that discusses integrity, perseverance, indomitable spirit, and other character traits and all of the activities have a physical outlet to them so that they are fun.

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Sharing the vision of California GEAR UP in the vital importance of parent involvement in the success of students, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today released a new, free publication, Family Engagement Framework, a Tool for California School Districts, to help school districts engage families in their children’s education. The Family Engagement Framework is the culmination of nearly a decade of collaboration between the California Department of Education (CDE), an informal Title I advisory group to the CDE called Family Area Network, and the California Comprehensive Center at WestEd, California GEAR UP strategic partner and evaluator. “This new resource from the department will be a valuable addition to our family engagement initiatives and we will share this tool with GEAR UP schools across the State. In collaboration with our partners, we provide statewide services to families because we know that “Families Make the Difference”. -Shelley Davis, California GEAR UP Director.

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The rise in student loan debt has directed critical attention to the growing pace of college costs as well as the reliance on loans to finance those costs. For graduates entering the workforce in recent years, many are finding that they are unable to find the type of job they thought they were securing when they received their degree, if they are able to find a job at all. Consequently, more loans are going unpaid and student loan debt has become the only class of consumer debt where defaults are increasing. Released this month by The New American Foundation’s Asset Building Program, a new policy paper entitled Overcoming Obstacles to College Attendance and Degree Completion: Toward a Pro-College Savings Agenda. This paper examines current trends in college cost and college financing, the role of savings in increasing postsecondary access and completion, and present a framework for developing a pro-college savings agenda and specific policy recommendations to overcome obstacles currently faces by low-income students. To read the entire report, please visit the Asset Building Program website HERE.

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We are excited and pleased to announce the planning phase for the new cohort of 51 California GEAR UP middle schools! The 2011-2017 cohort begins whole school services with a planning phase already underway. For a list of schools chosen for the planning phase click the link below:

CGU Planning Schools 2012

Selected California GEAR UP schools commit to strong academic programming and a cohesive college and career readiness curriculum, beginning at the middle school and connecting with area high schools and local postsecondary institutions. GEAR UP provides a network of support and professional development activities to integrate a college-going culture into school site reform efforts.  Check out the whole story here.

The first installment of an ongoing series featuring California GEAR UP Education Trust Awards Student Ambassadors. Rosie Powell attended Valley High School in Elk Grove, CA where she was a member of the GEAR UP class of 2011. She received an Education Trust Award from California GEAR UP and it has forever changed her life. Rosie participated on a panel with other ETA Student Ambassadors at the 2011 GU Community Conference. Their stories were the highlight of this statewide event and this article is the first of many students we will follow through their college experience.

To read the interview and see how Rosie is doing at Howard University, check out the article here.

The 2012 NCCEP/GEAR UP Capacity-Building Workshop provides professional development and strategic planning activities for new and experienced GEAR UP professionals to effectively meet their project goals and objectives. Most importantly, the Capacity Building Workshop is a unique opportunity to have your GEAR UP team learn and explore new concepts together, developing common strategies to positively impact the valuable college access work at your program sites. The Capacity-Building Workshop will address issues pertaining to STEM, parent engagement, meeting the needs of Rural schools, evaluation, and much more. The Capacity-Building Workshop is designed and coordinated by the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) and planned in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education.

For Tips on How to Make the Most of Your Conference, check out our blog post. Or check the schedule at a glance.

During National GEAR UP Week a petition was launched to urge congress to protect funding for GEAR UP during budget negotiations, which are happening now. The goal was 1,000 signatures before the super committee deadline on November 23rd, which is almost upon us.

The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results show California’s fourth and eighth grade students continue to make incremental gains in reading and mathematics scores, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson reported today.

1. Sign the petition: http://bit.ly/sTIXge
2. Send the link (or this newsletter) to 5 people asking them to add their voices to the chorus urging Congress to protect effective community based college access programs like California GEAR UP.

The timing of this petition is critical and it only takes a moment of your time. For more information on GEAR UP visit our website.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced the California Department of Education (CDE) has restored a time-saving Web tool to make it easier for school districts to create state-mandated School Accountability Report Cards (SARCs).

“The few dollars the state saved by eliminating this service were clearly outweighed by the time and trouble being shifted to California’s more than a 1,000 school districts,” Torlakson said. “I’m glad we’ve found a creative way to restore this tool, and I’m grateful to Ed-Data for stepping up to the plate to help us meet this need.”

SARCs contain valuable accountability information on schools to help parents and the public evaluate and compare their progress in achieving goals.

Deep budget cuts to the CDE forced the department to discontinue its SARC Web tool in 2010. The SARC Web tool conveniently provided districts with templates pre-populated with data on each of their schools. As a result of the cuts, local educational agencies were forced to fill out the forms manually—increasing the workloads at districts. With system restored schools and families once again have access to this resource.

Read more on the blog HERE or the CDE site HERE.