As you may remember from previous posts, Doing What Works from WestEd, the American Institutes for Research and RMC Research Corporation, is a great multi-media site that is a wonderful clearinghouse for research based education practices online. This site from  the U.S. Department of Education offers an online library of resources that may help teachers, schools, districts, states and technical assistance providers implement research-based instructional practice.

This Practice Guide offers educators, administrators, and policymakers five research-based practice recommendations designed to increase postsecondary access, particularly for underserved, low-income, or first-generation college-going students. Fitting perfectly with the goals of California GEAR UP, each recommendation includes a summary of the research evidence and a level of evidence rating. Developed by an expert panel convened by the Institute of Education Sciences, the Practice Guide is the foundation for all the Doing What Works content on increasing postsecondary access.

As usual, the site provides easy to navigate tools and well produced multimedia all education professionals and families can use to help students navigate the path to college.

The Fostering College Aspirations section speaks directly to the GEAR UP community, which focuses on surrounding students with adults and peers who support their college-going aspirations. The practice guide and multi-media provides examples of ways schools can foster college-going aspirations beginning as early as middle school. Carefully designed mentoring programs connect students with college-educated professionals who can share their college experiences, talk about career planning, assist with the application process, and check on students’ academic progress.

Helping students navigate the steps to apply for college and understand financial aid is another extremely important piece of the college access puzzle. Knowledgeable school officials should offer one-on-one support regarding preparing for and taking admissions tests, searching for and selecting between colleges and other postsecondary education options that meet students’ needs, and completing the application and enrollment process. Under the Assisting with College Entry practice, the site provides additional support, downloadable guides, and video that further demystify the college entry process.

Checking out this extremely useful site is a must for all GEAR UP and education professionals concerned with college access. The wealth of materials and information is a one stop website that should be an automatic go-to for the GEAR UP community.

Let us know how you use the site on our Facebook page!

“I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country — and this country needs and values the talents of every American. That is why we will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”

- President Obama, 2009 address to a joint session of congress.

Increased scrutiny of college degree attainment is related to concern over the nation’s ability to remain competitive in an economy that is becoming more globally inclusive and complex. Many believe the nation’s standing and competitiveness is be- ing jeopardized as numerous countries begin and continue to surpass the United States in degree attainment. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2010), the United States ranks 12th out of 36 developed countries in the number of 25- to 34-year-old adults with some type of college degree (link). OECD data indicate that an increasing number of countries will catch or surpass the United States in tertiary degree attainment in coming years due to the lack of progress in educational attainment among the younger segment of adult Americans compared to their same- age peers in other countries.

In a new brief, Developing 20/20 Vision on the 2020 Degree Attainment Goal: The Threat of Income-Based Inequality in Education, the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education argues that most federal education policy discussions neglect to develop targeted interventions for students from low-income and working-class families. Using analysis from acclaimed higher education researcher Tom Mortenson, the report highlights that bachelor’s degree attainment for students from the wealthiest half of American families is higher than the bachelor’s degree attainment rates for all countries included in the OECD international comparison analysis. On the other hand, American students from families in the bottom half of the income distribution rank nearly last among other OECD countries in bachelor’s degree attainment.

Policy Recomendations:

1. Set and track goals to reduce income-based disparities on key educational outcomes related to the 2020 goal.

2. Funnel federal dollars, such as Title I funds, to the low-income, underperforming students who need it most. Invest in ways that offset disparities in per student expenditures created by state and local policies that give an advantage to students in wealthy school districts and neighborhoods.

3. Protect the Pell Grant against cuts that will reduce college access for low-income students.

4. Increase supplemental college access and support services for low-income students throughout the educational pipeline. Tap into the many benefits of supplemental academic support and outreach services such as TRIO and GEAR UP that are needed to help students from low-income families with the support they need to enroll and excel in college.

The recommendations they offer will not singlehandedly achieve the Administration’s goal, but they provide reasonable solutions that can help the nation reduce income-based inequalities in educational attainment and make progress toward the goal pos- sible by the year 2020.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan held a round table discussion at California GEAR UP distinguished school Tincher Prep yesterday in Long Beach. The purpose of his visit was to learn best practices of the school and to hear how Tincher has been so successful in creating distributed leadership and a school community working for the same goals.

Principal Bill Vogel said it best: “You give teachers choice in their professional development, you let them lead the direction of the school, and you let the school have discretion in how to best serve their students.” The teachers chose to participate in California GEAR UP three years ago.

“We need funds to keep programs and people” he said. “We need programs like GEAR UP, AVID, and funding for those programs.”

The secretary listened intently as administrators and teachers talked about the programs that make Tincher a success. Mr. Vogel and the staff repeated listed California GEAR UP as a key program in their development. The East Long Beach K-8 school, where more than 50 percent of the students are designated as disadvantaged, has been lauded for its gains in test scores and was named a “School to Watch” by the California Middle Grades Alliance in 2009.

Duncan said the Tincher sets an example for other school districts in the country.

“I’ve studied your school district for a long time, and I think you have so much to be proud of,” he told a crowd gathered in the school library. “I don’t say this lightly, but more so than the vast majority of school districts that I visit, this school district has gotten things right for a long time.”

Also in attendance was Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Long Beach., who said federal funding should be streamed directly to school districts instead of being “tied up” in Sacramento.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan addressed No Child Left Behind, and the fact that virtually every school in Los Angeles Unified School District will be classified as failing by 2014 if the law is not urgently reformed.

That has led to a narrowed curriculum that focuses intensely on those subjects, sacrificing the well-rounded education that every child needs, he said.

Middle school music teacher Laura Strand said No Child Left Behind should have a greater focus on art, music and sports programs that are in danger of being cut in the budget crisis.

“I see students being pulled out of these programs when they’re finding success and it breaks my heart,” she said.

“No Child Left Behind is fundamentally broken,” Duncan said. “We want to fix it before we go back to school this fall.”

He said Congress needs to rewrite the law to be more “fair, flexible and focused” this year, so it can be implemented for the next academic calendar.

Tincher Prep has been a California GEAR UP school since the fall of 2008 and is part of a cohort of schools receiving professional development services with the goal of creating a college-going culture throughout the school community. Tincher recently received the California GEAR UP Leadership Team of the Year award at our Southern California Community conference, and as the Secretary of Education has pointed out, continues to be a model school.

To learn more about how Tincher has become a leader in the GEAR UP community, please visit our website and check us out on Twitter and the other articles on our blog.

A recently released report by State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson shows 13 school districts have “negative” certifications.  That means they may not be able to cover their bills through the end of next year.

Nearly 2 million students—roughly 30 percent of pupils in California—now attend school in a district facing serious financial jeopardy, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced.

“The emergency confronting California’s schools is widening and deepening,” Torlakson said. “As disturbing as these numbers are, unless the Legislature moves to place the Governor’s tax extension plan on the ballot, they are just the tip of the financial iceberg facing school districts up and down the state.”

Torlakson’s findings came as he released the results of the first semiannual Interim Status Report that represents budget certifications for California local educational agencies (LEAs) through the end of October 2010. The reports reflect a certification of whether an LEA is able to meet its financial obligations.

The number of LEAs on the negative certification list rose to 13 from 12 last year at this time. The number of LEAs on the qualified certification list dipped slightly to 97 from 114 last year at this time.

“Schools face the daunting challenge of up to $4.5 billion in additional cuts if tax extensions are not placed on the ballot by the Legislature and approved by voters in June, an additional cut of 10 percent.” added Torlakson. “This would be devastating to an education system that has already sustained $18 billion in state funding cuts over the last three years – a loss of one-third of the annual budget for schools.”

With an already decimated education budget in California, massive teacher reductions, the loss revenue from these tax extensions could be devastating. Now more than ever, support for GEAR UP programs will continue to be the lever of change throughout school districts in California.

The House of Representatives and Senate have agreed on a two-week extension on federal spending for FY11, avoiding a government shutdown for the time being. Previous to this measure, another Continuing Resolution that expires March 4, 2011, was funding the government.

Although this new CR forestalls a government shutdown, it does not eliminate the threats challenging GEAR UP.  As you may know, the House of Representatives passed the Continuing Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (H.R. 1) on February 19, 2011.  It stipulates the largest cuts in history to education programs ($11.55 billion total).  Many programs will suffer cuts or elimination, and GEAR UP faces a $19.8 million reduction in funding.

Enactment of such a bill (meaning passage by both the House and Senate) would:
1.    Decrease the number of awards available for the 2011 GEAR UP grant competition;
2.    Threaten GEAR UP’s growth and expansion, as funding levels set in FY11 could serve as a high-water mark for some years to come;
3.    Exclude more than 40,000 low-income, minority and disadvantaged students from receiving support on their journey to college.

Other important programs facing cuts or elimination are: Pell grants, supplemental education opportunity grants, LEAP, aid to minority-serving institutions, TRIO, Byrd honors scholarships, higher education teacher quality partnerships, statewide data systems and regional educational labs, amongst others.

We need you to help us stop these threats to GEAR UP, and education as a whole.

Call to Action (today through March 17, 2011)
Contact your Members of Congress now, specifically your Senators and ask them to reject spending cuts targeting GEAR UP.

Act Now:
1.  Call and/or write your Senators. Ask them to reject the spending cuts proposed by the House of Representatives.  Emphasize how this measure might affect your GEAR UP site’s possibilities for future funding.  Talk about the potential effects your community and/or state would suffer if your GEAR UP grant is not renewed: drops in high school graduation rates; drops in college enrollment rates; jobs losses; decreased workforce competitiveness; etc.
You can find your Senators’ contact information here: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

2. Set up meetings with your Senators. Face-to-face meetings with your Senators and/or their staff are a great way to make yourself heard.  Request them to oppose the spending cuts targeting GEAR UP.  Inform them of the consequences of the potential cuts and share success stories to illustrate the positive effects GEAR UP is having in your community.
You can find your Senators’ contact information here: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

3. Contact local media. Share your thoughts on how these potential cuts would impact your GEAR UP site, your community and possibly jeopardize future funding for continuing the fight to level the playing field in college access for low-income, minority and disadvantaged students.

Whatever you choose to do is great.  All actions work to get your voice heard on Capitol Hill.

The most important thing is to act, NOW.

PIQE (Parent Institute for Quality Education) provides nine week family seminars and teacher professional development to California GEAR UP schools throughout the state and continues to be one of the most successful and popular services provided by GEAR UP. PIQE services are specifically developed for the needs of GEAR UP schools and communities and are are provided in a multitude of languages.

PIQE began in 1987 as a result of discussions with parents of a predominantly Latino elementary school in the San Diego area. Parents were interested in addressing the conditions that prevented their children from succeeding in school.

Armed with information from those meetings, PIQE founders, Rev. Vahac Mardirosianand Dr. Alberto Ochoa, launched the organization’s first program, which included workshops targeted for parents of K-12 children. The seminar has since evolved into PIQE’s signature program, the Parent Engagement Education Program, a nine-week curriculum delivered to parents in their primary language, aimed at helping them become educational advocates for their students. After much success, the program was launched at other schools in San Diego and later, throughout California.

After more than 20 years, PIQE continues to receive rave reviews from families and teachers. Here are some recent quotes:

I just wanted to let you know how successful and empowering the PIQE program has been. Two of my parents were graduates of your program, and came prepared to parent conferences with the most insightful, relevant and comprehensive questions I have ever been presented with.  I really felt as if I was on the ‘hot seat’, and was thrilled.  We all win; teachers, students, parents, and society.

-Bay Area Teacher

English Translation:

I was in your PIQE class at St Helena Elementary, and I am sending you this email to thank you for the information you gave us in the nine classes. I also take pleasure in telling you that most of the parents used the information during their recent Parent/Teacher Conferences including me. The truth is that we needed a class like this and I hope that next year we can have this same opportunity for the parents that did not have a chance to experience it.  I also want to let you know that during our ELAC meeting we had 15 parents instead of 4 and half of those were PIQE parent graduates. Thank you very much for everything and I am going to take your word that we can ask you if we have any questions.

-PIQE Parent

In addtion to the nine week family seminars are GEAR UP schools, PIQE provides Early Childhood Development programs, Family Financial Literacy Education, Teachers Workshop on Family Engagement, and a Four Month Follow UP Parent Coaches Program. Programs are of course not just limited to GEAR UP schools and are available across the state. Check out their programs here.

The California GEAR UP-PIQE partnership is a testament to successful collaboration in providing family engagement services and community education programs. PIQE provides its program in 18 languages and serves ALL communities.  PIQE is now working in 6 states and its most recent office opened in Houston, Texas. For more information on PIQE, please visit their website to learn more.

If you are interested in collaborating or funding PIQE, please contact the President of PIQE, David Valladolid. You can read the Presidents message here. You can also find PIQE on Facebook.

Share with us your PIQE success story!

It was a busy month for California GEAR UP. Throughout the state, participating GEAR UP middle schools attended strategic planning sessions that are the core of the professional development services. Institutes and Forums involving all School Leadership Team members, Regional Coordinators, GEAR UP staff, and partners.

The two-day Institutes use the SSAR and offers strategies and techniques for focusing on the school-determined needs. It provides opportunities to learn about successes and challenges from other school teams.

This year selected GEAR UP schools making strides to implement college-going culture in their schools were chosen to be ‘Schools on the Move’. The Schools on the Move presented successful strategies at each of the Principal and Leadership Team Institutes. Participating schools and topics include:

Pixley Middle School: In order to establish Rigorous Academic Curriculum, Pixley  Middle School implemented GEAR UP in four specific areas: the structure of our school schedule, common classroom strategies, college centered campus and classrooms, and college awareness activities.  These four areas helped students become more aware of the requirements to get into college and at the same time created an environment of interest to attend college. Also, this new college bound environment lessened the apathy our campus was experiencing.

Pleasant View Elementary: Presentation topics: Offering Rigorous Instructional Programs, and Reflective Rigorous Instructional Practice, Response to Intervention, Parent Involvement & Articulation into High School.

Upland Junior High School: Building a College Going Culture With a “We Can Do It!” Attitude, including: Ideas for building school and college excitement, lessons to build student understanding about getting to college, Upland Junior High’s scholarship application process, Procedures that support student achievement and establish high expectations for all students, how we communicate with our families and include them in the education process.

La Cumbre Middle School: The strategy shared is school wide weekly homework accountability system. Developed several years ago, this easy system really provides weekly feedback to students, staff, and parents. They are happy to share their strategy which has kept students accountable, teachers accountable, and provided a climate of academic success.

Davidson Middle School: The presentation is about how Davidson redesigned every system and structure in the school to conform to the vision of high achievement for every student, one school community, and increased parent involvement.

Pacoima Middle School: Presentation focus on school wide strategies Pacoima Middle School staff developed and implemented to strengthen areas of academic rigor identified on the GEAR UP SSAR.  With GEAR UP and other community-based resources, staff worked smarter in departments and teams, to increase academic rigor and student access to algebra and other rigorous courses. Data-driven instructional practices, department collaboration, and instructional leadership contributed to successful outcomes, including a 47-point gain in the Pacoima Middle School 2010 API scores.

Cali Calmecac Language Academy: Presentation will focus on the use of data analysis to drive instruction and determine the type and need for intervention as well as the effectiveness of the Two-Way-Bilingual Immersion Model. Also address the impact of a Parent Participation requirement for all families and the effectiveness of PIQE workshops for participating families.

Harden Middle School: Sharing our successes and challenges for creating a sustainable college bound culture and aligning these with focus on rigor.  Presenting slides and short segments from our Husky TV that highlight many of our accomplishments and practices.  We will share school changes over a 3 year period.

Tincher Middle School: Presentation of on-going academic success, data driven instruction, successful intervention strategies and use of technology to support the instructional program. The data assessment presentation will include information on action plans and PDSA plans, use of School Loop, communications, transition/articulation meetings, Baldrige approach and data driven instruction, and promoting a scholarly, ‘geared up for college’ environment is a top priority.

All presentations concluded with a question and answer session and time for attending schools to discuss how the Schools on the Move strategies can be taken back and implemented.

California GEAR UP hosted their northern Continuing Sustainability Schools in Berkeley today as part of the fall school based services event schedule that will run until the end of October. Participating GEAR UP Schools, many of which have been in the program for more than 5 years, the Continuing Sustainability Project develops and implements long-term strategies to maintain the active participation of middle schools with California GEAR UP and to chart the sustainability of program initiatives towards the development of a college-going culture. Many of our CSP school have been with us for 5 years and are in the culminating stages of their sustainability plans.

Outcomes include:

1. Development of a high performance (stable, cohesive and communicative) GEAR UP Leadership Team that will lead the school community in continuously assessing the college-going culture of the school based upon the School Self -Assessment Rubric (SSAR) and the GEAR UP indicators.
2. A clear understanding of what a college-going culture is and looks like as described by the school’s SSAR and the 5 GEAR UP Sustainability indicators.
3. Continued measurable progress of the 5 GEAR UP Sustainability indicators:

• Sustainability of the Leadership Team
• Academic Rigor
• Academic Counseling
• College and Financial Aid Information for Students and Families
• Regular Involvement of Families

4.   An alignment of the school’s Professional Development Action Plan with the GEAR UP Sustainability Plan.

“We are lucky to have GEAR UP over the last 5 years to focus on high quality teaching and school-wide involvement in the concept that all students can achieve…can go to college.”

California GEAR UP CSP school principal.

Valley High School is finishing preparations for their second annual National GEAR UP Day celebration to be held on September 30. Activities include:

• Business and Community Leaders Breakfast starting at 8:00 am.
• Campus tours and classroom visits
• Lunch-time Student activities and performances
• An opportunity to network with business and community leaders, families, and educators.

National GEAR UP Day is a celebration of transformative work of California GEAR UP – Valley High School Collaboration that includes dramatic gains in the statewide API, the opening of a Family Center, distribution of 100 Education Trust Awards, the implementation of a Leadership Skills Initiative, as well as on-going school-wide academic support.

Confirmed attendees include:

• Penny Edgert Principal Investigator, California GEAR UP, Executive Director, California Education Roundtable
• Robert Oakes, Vice President & General Counsel, Association of Independent California Colleges & Universities
• Vicki Lovotti, Executive Assistant, Intersegmental Coordinating Committee
• Carolyn Hamilton, CA Dept of Education, P-16 Policy Development Division
• Alice Kawazoe, Consultant, CAPP
• Timoteo Rico, Director, EAOP UC Davis
• Jessie Ryan, Associate Director, Campaign for College Opportunity
• Arlene Greene, Deputy Director, Scholarshare Investment Board
• Marsha Robinson, Ellen Ringer, Middle Grades Improvement Office, CA Dept of Education

For information on this event or to attend, please contact Deisy Padilla:DPadilla@egusd.net

Continue to follow events across the state as we cover National GEAR UP Day across California.

Click here if you can’t see the imbedded trailer above.

Some are calling Davis Guggenheim’s new film “Waiting for Superman” education’s “An Inconvenient Truth“. The new film is bound to be controversial as it is being characterized as supporting everything from ‘corporatizing education‘ to the argument that education failures perpetuate societal ills, from national security and crime to poverty, and that it’s essential to “change the odds” for families who can’t afford private educations.

From the clips available online to those shared on Oprah this week, the documentary promises to be interesting, provocative and heart-wrenching, if a bit simplistic. It’s difficult to make a mainstream film about public education in America that captures the complexities of the system (and without putting people to sleep). But the central theme — the charter school admissions lottery — seems to imply that charter schools are the only ticket out for poor and working-class kids, as though neighborhood schools were something of a lost cause, will be the controversial topic for viewers.

Hopefully the movie will spark meaningful debate that will continue the push for equitable education for ALL students.

It opens this weekend and we will be very interested to hear from our readers what they thought of it.