College access programs provide middle and high school students with essential skills to prepare them for a successful transition to postsecondary education. TRIO Talent Search (TS)and Upward Bound (UB) are federally funded programs established to strengthen the likelihood that students from underserved groups will graduate high school and pursue…

Only 11% of students who are Pell-eligible and the first in their family to attend college graduate with a bachelor's degree. Upward Bound is a federal-funded project that seeks to: (1) improve the motivation and skills of disadvantaged students; and (2) increase students' likelihood of success at two- and four-year institutions. The study sought…

Considerable research has examined the personal factors and practices associated with transition-age youth with disabilities achieving higher employment rates and greater self-sufficiency as adults, but there is limited evidence on the longer-term effectiveness of these practices and services. This study examines the role of youth's use of…

(Purposes) There are two purposes of this history. The first was to describe how the EOA National Best Practices Clearinghouse identified, described, and evaluated evidence that was focused on effective educational practices for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) and TRIO students who were economically…

Learners from underserved backgrounds tend to show lower levels of college readiness (ACT, 2016a; ACT, 2018). In part to address these disparities, the authors investigated growth in social and emotional (SE) skills in a cohort of largely Hispanic, high-poverty students who participated in GEAR UP. GEAR UP is a discretionary federal grant program…

Low-income and first-generation students face several academic and social obstacles that prohibit them from entering college. These barriers include poor academic performance, limited knowledge of the college admissions process, lack of family and peer support, and financial illiteracy. The purpose of this study was to uncover former Upward Bound…

This is the full report. In 2019-2020, the program's third federally funded year, GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) Austin served a cohort of 8th grade students (n = 2,546) across 11 middle schools. Nearly all GEAR UP students received support services relevant to college preparation. Evaluation findings…

This is the executive summary for a full report. In 2019-2020, the program's third federally funded year, GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) Austin served a cohort of 8th grade students (n = 2,546) across 11 middle schools. Nearly all GEAR UP students received support services relevant to college…

GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federal program designed to promote college access and success for students from low-income backgrounds. Although some literature has examined K-12 outcomes, little research has explored the extent to which GEAR UP achieves its intended postsecondary objectives. The…

As an early Common Core booster, Michael Petrilli had hoped that by now--10 years after most states adopted the standards--the nation's schools would have logged tangible improvements in teaching and learning that resulted in higher student achievement. In this article, Petrilli reviews what Common Core is and discusses the work ahead that is…

Education standards do not flop spectacularly. Their failure gives rise to nothing like the black-and-white films of early aeronautical experiments: no missiles exploding on launch pads or planes tumbling from the sky. But 10 years after 46 of the 50 states adopted the Common Core standards, the lack of evidence that they have improved student…

"Find the Fit" advising increased the number and selectivity of colleges applied to by disadvantaged students in a federal college access program. "Find the Fit" includes customized information about college going and costs, text messaging of key application and financial aid deadlines, and related advisor training. These…

Where students go to college, not just whether they go, may be important to their educational and career success. Yet half of high school students from disadvantaged families "undermatch"--they do not enroll in college at all or not at the most selective college they could. The U.S. Department of Education tested a set of promising,…

The 10th anniversary of Common Core's launch offers the opportunity to take stock of the impact these nearly national standards have had on student learning, as well as their future prospects. In this article, Morgan Polikoff shares his view that the standards movement in general, and Common Core in particular, have achieved all they are going to…

Decisions about whether and where to go to college can make a difference in students' later success. However, many students from low-income families--"undermatch"--they do not enroll at all or do not enroll in the most selective college they likely could attend. This study investigated whether promising advising strategies, bundled…