Blazing New Trails - Connexions

170 CRITICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
connections with students in order to see learning take place. The second would be our
teachers’ participation through the AP training that gave them a taste of what it’s like
to raise the bar in all classrooms, not just the AP or Pre-AP classrooms.
GEAR UP Leadership Institutes featured principals, counselors, and teachers who were
achieving GEAR UP goals in addition to providing the opportunity to study performance data
and determine next steps. The collaborative environment that was fostered in the Leadership
Institutes of administrators, counselors, and teachers allowed mutual sharing of practices and
processes that were contributing to students’ success.
Teachers also stressed the benefits of the professional development attained through
college visits. As a teacher explained:
I’ve learned so much. Every college we go to, I learn something new that I can bring
back and tell the students. I think that it is important, too, that we become educated
and aware of certain expectations that certain colleges have of students so that we can
share that with other students.
The GEAR UP program has provided teachers with additional opportunities for professional
development. The primary focus has been to provide experiences that help teachers increase
rigor in courses while ensuring student success.
P-16 alignment was emphasized through successful collaborative meetings between
teachers from the high school, community college, and the university for the core subjects of
math, science, English, and social studies. In the meetings, barriers were identified that
needed to be addressed in order for students to have a seamless transition to college. These
meetings were highly beneficial as noted in participants’ evaluations. P-16 alignment was also
attained through a successful emphasis on preparation for college and careers. As a teacher
reported:
In middle school, we had a GEAR UP class focused on researching careers,
researching colleges, looking at options that students could have for their lives and
what the process of preparation looks like. We followed that with establishing the
College Zone Career Center. I think that the success that we’ve had has already proven
to our local district that it’s valuable; so I don’t think we have any concerns about
sustaining it for the future.
The principals also each recognized the importance of vertical team meetings to the
improvement process and supported the vertical team’s efforts through actions, such as, paying
substitutes so the vertical teams could meet all day for planning. Teachers who were not
currently teaching AP courses participated on the vertical teams in the professional
development activities. This alignment of student expectations ensured a smooth transition
from each course. Although all administrators required the vertical team members to attend
summer College Board Institutes, administrators assigned both Advanced Placement and
regular classes to individual teachers so that the strategies used in the AP program would also
be used in the regular-level classes. Each of the partner schools eliminated low-level classes
and honors courses. Students either took regular-level courses, Pre-Advanced Placement
courses, Advanced Placement courses, or concurrent and dual credit courses. Advocating for
student success included ensuring the strategies and materials needed to achieve increased
student learning were available for teachers. Teacher buy-in to the Advanced Placement