Blazing New Trails - Connexions

Increasing Student Success in Rigorous Courses 169
and realize that they could work problems on their own gave me so much joy.” Another
college tutor stressed, “Most of my students who came to one-on-one tutoring put forth an
effort to learn and were usually very proud of themselves when they left.” The college tutors
learned also. For example, a college tutor reflected, “I’ve learned more about what this job is
requiring of me and how just my being there and encouraging them has affected the students
much more than I realized.” Another college tutor commented, “It was a lot more difficult
than I expected. The students are expected to learn a lot in a very short amount of time. I was
not expecting this much pressure.” Another college tutor stressed, “I’ve definitely learned that
you’ve got to be prepared. I learned to take the book home and do the lesson before I ever got
to the tutoring session.”
The college tutors helped to emphasize preparation for college while ensuring mastery
of the subjects. As a college tutor explained, “I had plenty of opportunities to talk to the
students about college.” Another college tutor shared, “I addressed the entire class about my
experience in college and what the Spanish department is like and what it was like to take
classes in college. I thought that really interested some of the students.” Another college tutor
added, “The GEAR UP program is doing an amazing job.” The college tutors also praised
their orientation and preparation for tutoring stating, “The orientation went very well. There
was amazing communication. The GEAR UP office is always there to help.”
A statewide recognized E-mentoring program was implemented with three partner
ISDs. The districts are over an hour from the university partner making ongoing contact with
college mentors difficult through a face-to-face venue. E-mentoring between College of
Education secondary teacher preparation college students and the GEAR UP high school
students provided the opportunity for ongoing communication regarding preparation for
college. A highlight of the semester was the mentor and mentee meeting during a campus visit
by the high school students to the university. The enthusiasm for the process and the college
day experience was evident in the words and expressions as students departed the university.
Evaluations also supported the benefits of the program.
In increasing student support and outreach, the teachers identified an increased focus
on each child’s success. A teacher explained:
We’ve really improved our staffing meetings in discussing a student’s needs. Teachers
and principals are in these meetings. There are usually around eight adults with the
parent and student, and we talk about our concerns for the student, his or her grades,
what’s going on, and how we can help.
Additional student support and outreach have been provided through the GEAR UP project
through peer tutoring activities for students who were struggling in courses. A teacher
stressed, “The peer tutoring has been instrumental to students’ success.”
Professional development. The GEAR UP grant also afforded the opportunity for
quality professional development through specialized professional development to meet
identified needs, such as, GEAR UP Leadership Institutes, AP Institutes, vertical team
meetings, and P-16 alignment meetings. For example, an administrator stressed:
The first thing that I think the GEAR UP grant provided us was an opportunity to
provide quality staff development in two areas. The first area was the Capturing Kids’
Hearts Training, where we are trying to change our mindset about how teachers
provide instruction in the class room to make sure they are making personal