Supporting Urban School Students’ Preparedness for Post-Secondary Study Through Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP)

Abstract

Despite efforts to increase the number of urban school students from low-income backgrounds who graduate from high school and attend college, success in postsecondary continues to be a pervasive challenge. This study examined a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness Programs (GEAR UP) high school who had received the intervention program beginning in seventh grade. Findings in the study revealed that there was a significant difference in Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) scores between the intervention and comparison group. GEAR UP students significantly outperformed the comparison group on their composite PSAT score, as well as on mathematics and reading subtests.