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.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

California GEAR UP Celebrates National GEAR UP Day

September 20, 2010 – California GEAR UP announced today the celebration of the Second Annual National GEAR UP Day, commemorating 11 years of success for the program on September 30, 2010.  GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) was enacted as part of the 1998 Higher Education Act to give more low-income students the skills, encouragement, and preparation to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. In the last ten years, GEAR UP distributed more than $3 billion to nearly 12 million students across the country.

This year schools across California will once again celebrate National GEAR UP Day the entire week of September 27 and will host a kick-off event at their schools. Last year more than fifty California GEAR UP schools celebrated by:

• Valley High School press conference that included Superintendent Jack O’Connell and Assembly Member Alyson Huber
• Proclamation in San Francisco from Mayor Gavin Newsom
• Letter of Recognition from author of GEAR UP Congressman Chaka Fattah
• Schools displaying student’s ‘college dreams wall’ in their school
• Teachers hosting community success story luncheons with elected officials.

National GEAR UP Day is a celebration of transformative work of California GEAR UP and the 68 partnership projects have impacted over 1/3 of the 1200 middle schools in California, with the State grant serving over 236,000 students in 260 schools in 106 school districts in 25 counties since 1999.

“National GEAR UP Day celebrates students, families and school communities across the United States and beyond. The occasion marks more than ten years of support from Congressional, State and local leaders and recognizes our collaborative efforts to close achievement and opportunity gaps for ALL students.” ~Shelley Davis, California GEAR UP Director.

Please see attached list of celebrating California GEAR UP schools. We invite you to visit our amazing GEAR UP schools in your area. For more information on National GEAR UP Day or a GEAR UP school near you, please contact:

Sean K. Brennan, Communications Director: sean.brennan@ucop.edu, 415-948-9262 or Shelley Davis, Director: Shelley.Davis@ucop.edu (916) 551-1757.  Follow events across the state at: www.castategearup.org/blog.

National College Access Network (NCAN) announced Congressman Fattah as the featured speaker for the Awards of Excellence Luncheon on Monday, October 11, 2010.

Congressman Fattah, Representative for the 2nd District of Pennsylvania, is completing his 16th year in the U. S. House of Representatives.  He also serves as chair of the Congressional Urban Caucus and member of the House Appropriations Committee addressing the unique challenges of America’s urban communities and setting spending priorities of federal discretionary funds.

An early advocate for college access, Congressman Fattah is the architect for GEAR UP.  In the last ten years, GEAR UP distributed more than $3 billion to nearly 12 million students across the country.  He was also a chief sponsor of the American Opportunity Tax Credit Act, which provides tax credits for college expenses for students and their parents.  On a state level, he is the creator of the College Opportunity Resources for Education (CORE) initiative and founder of the Graduate Opportunity Initiative.

Before his election to United States Congress in 1994, Congressman Fattah served six years as a Representative in the Pennsylvania State House followed by six years as a Pennsylvania State Senator.  He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including 10 honorary doctorates and the University of Pennsylvania’s Fel’s Center of Government Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.  Time Magazine named him one of the 50 most promising leaders in the country.

You may also remember our post about Congressman Fattah during the GEAR UP National Conference this year. If you don’t, check out the video of the Congressman talking to our director Shelley Davis HERE.

For more information on the conference and to register, please visit the NCAN website.

Two interesting reports released by the Public Policy Institute of California we’d like to share with you. The first is on the California High School Exit Examination and how student success can be determined as early as fourth grade. The report suggests a philosophy shared by California GEAR UP, that providing resources to struggling students in early grades will be a more effective way to improve achievement than the current approach of focusing on students in the last year of high school.

The report suggests the following (read report for full recommendations):

• Develop an “early warning” system to forecast which ele- mentary or middle school students will be at risk of failing the CAHSEE.
• After-school reading classes and related reforms of intervention.
• Consider targeting additional tutoring funds at elementary and middle school students at risk of failing the exam.
• Consider additional academic support directed at the many students who marginally pass the CAHSEE.

The second report released this week addressed Lessons in Reading Reform.  The report is the first evaluation of the long-term effects of a massive reform program implemented in the San Diego Unified School District—the state’s second largest and one that is similar to the demographics of other large districts. It comes at a time of national debate over efforts to improve public school accountability. These efforts include setting content standards and student testing—but offer little guidance about how to help students improve.

The key element that seems to have driven success was a significant amount of extra student time spent on reading, with a possible additional factor being widespread professional development for district teachers. The combination was not cheap to implement nor a fix-all. But in elementary and middle schools it demonstrably worked.

Suggestions from the report include:

• Early intervention is most effective.
• Middle school students who took extended-length English classes made big gains.
• A longer school year at elementary schools with the weakest reading scores led to moderate gains.
• The reforms did not cause negative side effects.

Please take the time to review the reports and let us know what you think. You can comment on the blog or visit us on our Facebook page to leave a comment.

Being widely reported across California, ACT has announced the scores of the graduating class of 2010.  While hispanic students showed an increase in college readiness, their scores continue to fall short of those necessary to be successful in college.

“A record number of California students took the ACT college readiness examination in 2010…While the percentage of ACT-tested California graduates who are ready for college coursework is higher compared to five years ago, the findings indicate that there are still too many high school graduates who are not ready to succeed in college-level work. The ACT results also provide further evidence of the achievement gap; a lower percentage of students who are African American or Latino are meeting the ACT’s college readiness benchmarks compared to students who are white or Asian.

“Preparing more students for success in college is key to ensuring that California’s economy remains strong in the global economy of the 21st century. These results tell us that we must continue to focus on implementing strategies that effectively prepare all students for success in college and the workforce.”

-California Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell

The ethnic and racial patterns of the score report prompted renewed calls for extra attention to the needs of struggling students.

David Hawkins, the director of public policy and research for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, noted that the ACT results show modest progress toward one definition of career readiness, but that such definitions vary from one postsecondary program or institution to another. In gauging a student’s preparedness for higher education, he said, high school grades and coursework are also key indicators of his likelihood of future success. (from Education Week article)

While the California GEAR UP community strives to address the Achievement gap it takes a dedicated education community to make meaningful gains in scores such as the ACT.

The disconnect between secondary and postsecondary institutions lies at the heart of the problem: Many high-poverty public high schools lack the resources to prepare students for college reading and writing requirements; many colleges and universities, meanwhile, are unaccustomed to extending meaningful academic opportunities beyond their campuses.  In this way, low-income high schoolers are very often confronted by both the weakest bridge between high school and college and the widest gulf to cross.  (Education Week: Commentary “The Promise of Early College” by Stephen Tremaine)

What is your school, program, or community doing to address these gaps?

In the world of education, prevailing theories and modes of reform are usually a long time coming. In the last decade a body of research emerged and supported the connection between collective leadership in successful schools and is a key philosophy in the work we do at California GEAR UP.

A new and expansive study recently released further supports collective leadership and the role principals have in successfully implementing shared power at the school site.

Effective principals encourage others to join in the decision-making process in their schools, said the study, which was commissioned by the New York-based Wallace Foundation and produced by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, in St. Paul, and theOntario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

The long-awaited study, published this week, is the largest to date to focus on the principals role in collective leadership. It attempts to get beyond the broad statement that school leadership is important and digs into just what types of leadership appear to make the most difference when it comes to improving schools. In order to answer that question, the foundation devoted $3.5 million and six years to surveying more than 8,400 teachers and 470 school administrators. Additional interviews were conducted with more than 1,000 educators at the school, district, and state levels. In addition, researchers observed 310 classrooms. The study also tied the data to student test scores in mathematics and English.

Highlights:

How does this study influence our work in schools? What do you think about the study?

On Thursday, July 29, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will take part in a live town hall meeting with the nation’s teachers on Sirius/XMs Satellite Radio’s POTUS public affairs channel. The program will air from 11:00 AM EDT-12:00 PM EDT and will feature a studio audience of teachers from a cross-section of public schools, drawing from a variety of districts, grade levels, and disciplines. Tim Farley, host of POTUS’s “The Morning Briefing,” will moderate the event.

Since his appointment in 2009, Secretary Duncan has spoken with thousands of teachers from around the United States together input on the Obama administration’s blueprint for K-12 education reform. Duncan has been a supporter of GEAR UP and has consistantly urged educators to challenge the status quo.

As Congress prepares to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the purpose of this town hall is for teachers to voice their ideas and concerns directly to the Secretary and to discuss the critical issues in education with the educators who work daily in America’s classrooms. In addition to the studio audience, those listening to the program online or via radio will be able to call in free of charge with questions and comments.

The town hall will be broadcast on channel 110 on Sirius Radio and channel 130 on XM. Nonsubscribers may access the program free of charge through these live online feeds by going to www.xmradio.com and clicking on “Free Online Trial.”

Let us know if you plan to take part in the town hall by commenting below.

The National Council for Community and Education Partnerships has established the Dr. Peter A. Dual International Fellowship Program in honor of NCCEP founding board member and chairman, who was a champion of providing students and young professionals the experience of global education.

The program was created to develop research projects and education initiatives that will better prepare students to operate in a global society. As part of the NCCEP mission, this project seeks to expand education opportunities for low income students and their families in the US and Mexico, as well as other countries.

The fellowship will be awarded to recent college graduates and young professionals who plan to become engaged with international education development and implementation.

Applications will be accepted from individuals within the US, Mexico, and other countries in which NCCEP has an international presence. For more information contact marianafranco@edpartnerships.org or visit the website.

Today kicked off the first day of one of the largest conferences of college access and education professionals in the entire country.  Among many highlights of the opening session, Congressman Chaka Fattah, the author of the original GEAR UP legislation, spoke about the importance of “Investing in smart kids, not just smart bombs.” See the video interview of the congressman on our Twitter feed: http://yfrog.com/n6w81z

The Honorable Martha Kanter, Under Secretary, US Department of Education added further support for GEAR UP and similar innovative programs across the country. Highlights of her speech include:

“GEAR UP supports the President’s vision of having the worlds most educated workforce by 2020…the work of GEAR UP has never mattered more.”

“Education is the premier civil rights issue of our time.”

“GEAR UP along with other complementary programs and key collaborations…a whole community comes to the table in support of Secretary Duncan’s ‘Cradle to Career’ agenda.”

Dr. Kanter bolstered the crowd with her words and further supported GEAR UP’s mission.

Dr. Kanter shared the importance of institutionalizing what we know that is working with GEAR UP.  Their efforts are guided by the goal of President Obama for America: to have the best educated workforce in the world by 2020. Dr. Kanter is personally motivated by the acknowledgment of our President that “education is the civil rights issue of our time.”

Shelley Davis Director, CA GEAR UP

Other speakers include NCCEP International President Hector Garza, Laura Rendon, Weiya Liang, and California’s own Shelley Davis.

The “Father of GEAR UP” Congressman Chaka Fattah, continues his reign as our champion in the House and now Chair of House Appropriations Committee. He shared encouraging news from President Obama as he continues to extol our program success. The Congressman graciously acknowledged the presence of the delegation from Mexico, including comments celebrating GEAR UP expansion in the international community under Dr. Garza’s leadership. Words of wisdom: “Ignorance is far more costly than education”.

Shelley Davis Director, CA GEAR UP

Follow us on Twitter for up to the minute happenings and to see the great video of Congressman Fattah talk about California GEAR UP.

The lunch plenary was punctuated with an award for Congressmen Ruben Hinojosa for his outstanding support for GEAR UP. He was unable to make it due to flooding in his home district, but his staff accepted on his behalf presented by Roberto Rodriguez of the President’s Domestic Policy Council.

UPDATE:

Many of the morning and afternoon breakout sessions on the first day have included:

• Customizable online education communities with EduGuide.
• Vermont Student Assistance Corp: career and college planning resources for middle and high school students, as well as adults. Includes scholarships and grants.
• Oregon GEAR UP Principal Leadership Program in conjunction with Education Partnerships Inc. shares leadership strategies for principals in 12 clusters with systematic, school-wide, and local site planning to create a sustainable school culture.
• The awesome staff at Wooster High School in Reno, NV shared how they engaged families and parents throughout the community through detailed engagement plans, resources such as EdLine, Connect Ed, and Infinite Campus, use of bilingual community reps, mentoring programs, and engaging community parters as key collaborators.
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens presented by Franklin-Covey. The training attended by mostly students talked much about taking control of teens lives, improving relationships, finding balance, and long term planning.
• SAISD GEAR UP advanced mathematics coursework to prepare students for college. Concepts from Agile Mind.

UPDATE:

We also had a chance to meet with many of the gallery presenters such as:

• Data Management specialists CoBro Consulting.
• Our good friends over at Education Catch the Dream showed us La Plática de Prosperidad which helps engage parents and families.
• More to come….

Check back soon as we continue to update. Let us know what you think!

California GEAR UP Students and staff, University of California President Mark Yudof and California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott joined Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Assembly Higher Education Committee Chair Marty Block at a State Capitol press conference on June 3 to voice their support for higher education provisions in the Assembly Democrats’ California Jobs Budget. Speaker Perez spoke about how important higher education programs are to the state in addressing economic and employment woes.

“Educational opportunity is central to creating the kind of quality, high-paying jobs that will lead California back to a strong and lasting economic recovery,” Pérez said. “This is a budget plan that reflects the values of California by protecting education and preserving the pathway to higher education.”

Students from Valley High School, a California GEAR UP school, were there to support the speaker and the higher education provisions in the California Jobs Budget.

Also in attendance was Ben Quillian, Executive, Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer of the California State University; Roberto Torres, Vice President of the California State Students Association; Reid Milburn, President of the Student Senate of the California Community Colleges; Victor Sanchez, President of the University of California Students Association; Diana Fuentes-Michel, Executive Director of the California Student Aid Commission; Karen Humphrey, Executive Director of the California Postsecondary Education Commission; Jonathan Brown, President of the Association of Independent California Colleges & Universities; Erica Romero, Western States Director for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities; Michele Siqueiros, Executive Director of the Campaign for College Opportunity.

Special thanks to Max Espinoza from the Speakers office and Michele Siqueiros and Jessie Ryan from the Campaign for College Opportunity for taking time to speak with Valley GEAR UP students after the press conference.

To see video or read the transcript from the press conference, please visit Speaker Perez’ site here.