September 16, 2008
The splendid news arrived last week on the desk of Yvette
Morgan, Co-Director of St. John’s University’s Gear-Up program. As
Lead Principal Investigator, she received the “grant award
notification” advising her that St. John’s University will receive
$2.4 million from the U.S. Department of
Education to expand its Gear Up
program into additional schools in Queens County.
The University will also receive dollar-for-dollar matching
funds from St. John’s and other Gear Up partners, raising the total
amount of funding available for the new 2008-2014 program to $4.8
million, notes Andre McKenzie, Ed.D., Vice President of Academic
Support Services and Co-Director of Gear Up.
“We are extremely pleased to have been given the opportunity to
expand our Gear Up project,” the St. John’s Vice President states.
“The U.S. Department of Education will provide us with 2.4 million
dollars to provide services to an additional 800 low-income, middle
school students in Jackson Heights and Astoria, two ethnically
diverse Queens' neighborhoods with large Latino and Asian
populations.”
The St. John’s grant proposal underwent a rigorous peer review
process at the Department of Education. Director Morgan says that
the process was “highly competitive this year; although 283
institutions applied for the grant, only about 30 received funding.
At a time when the current administration has not increased
funding, we’re very humbled to be selected,” she says.
“The success of our Gear Up proposal was truly a collaborative
effort,” Dr. McKenzie reports. “Professor Glenn Sklarin provided
assistance with the editing of the final document, while Jared
Littman of the University’s Office of Grants and Sponsored Research
helped us with the administrative tasks required in submitting the
proposal. We are extremely grateful for their
contributions.”
The University’s Gear Up (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness
for Undergraduate Programs) program provides a broad range of
academic and social support services to economically and socially
disadvantaged middle and high school students. To date, the St.
John’s program has serviced students in Long Island City and
Astoria, at Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle School (I.S. 204) and
Albert Shanker School (I.S. 126), and has continued with those
students as they moved on to high schools in New York City, mainly
Long Island City High School.
The University has been a Gear Up provider since 1999. The first
cohort of 550 students to participate in the six-year program
graduated from high school in 2005; today close to 650 students in
43 high schools are involved.
Services provided by St. John’s in the middle schools are
school-based, Monday through Friday, and are three-pronged: student
services, including mentoring, tutoring and counseling; parent
services; and teacher professional development.
As students move on to high school, St. John’s continues to work
with them during the evenings and on weekends, offering workshops,
technology training and summer institutes to students, their
parents and teachers. Throughout, they receive academic and social
counseling in city schools where it’s difficult to access a
guidance counselor. Most importantly, students receive the message
that if they work hard and earn good grades, a college education is
affordable and attainable.
This year, a Big Brother/Big Sister-type pilot program was put
into place at Long Island City High School to help those most at
risk: students failing multiple courses. Eighty students who were
failing four courses were tutored and mentored by the Gear Up team.
In three months time, 47 of those 80 had reduced the number of
courses they were failing by two or more.
“We believe that the transition from middle to high school is a
critical one,” says Director Morgan. “Students often find it
difficult to find support and often feel disconnected. Gear Up
helps to build their self esteem and make them aware of the
importance of completing their high school courses for career
success.”
Parents are provided with information about planning and paying
for college, high school graduation requirements, immigration
and legal issues, to name a few. “We tap into New York State higher
education resources,” explains Director Morgan, “as well as those
of the College Board, exposing parents to ideas about preparing for
college.”
The Gear Up Director estimates that “on a consistent basis,
about 20 people are on the current St. John’s team.” Faculty,
mostly from The School of Education, provide training to the public
school teachers, while graduate assistants play a significant role
as tutors and mentors. Undergraduates spend time in the program as
part of their academic service learning. With this new contract,
she adds, “we’ll probably pick up 20 more team members.”
She is quick to point out, however, that the program never
remains static. “It’s ever-changing as the needs progress. It has
to be flexible if we’re going to be truly successful.”
So far, the program has been extremely successful.
Sixty-eight percent of the 550 students who were in the first class
of Gear Up have graduated from their high schools on time.
Seventy-three percent of those who graduated enrolled in a college.
Both percentages exceeded the New York City averages.
“Our goal,” she stresses, “is to increase those numbers with
this new grant.”