GEAR UP Educator Support
Appalachian GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) provides college-going programming to students and families, academic support in schools, professional development for teachers and administrators, and more in order to improve college access in rural Western North Carolina.
GEAR UP Student Support and Programs
GEAR UP is a federally funded college access program designed to increase the number of students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education immediately after high school. Learn more about the services and programming available to GEAR UP students.
Coordinator Resources
Here is a collection of resources to inform, guide, and empower your local GEAR UP program.
- C.O.R.E: College Options, Readiness, and Education – A comprehensive postsecondary access system designed to help schools address student needs as they relate to postsecondary education. Our focus is on instructional services, postsecondary PLCs, and building relationships.
- Tutor.com – A free on-demand, online tutoring platform. Students are able to connect anytime with tutors for help with homework, studying, SAT/ACT practice, editing papers and more.
- Family Engagement Toolkit – Resources to inform, guide, and empower your local GEAR UP program and UCAN committee as you plan for and implement GEAR UP family engagement programming.
- GEAR UP Club Activities – Suggested activities to engage middle and high school students in planning their postsecondary path.
College Visit Programs
The Coordinator’s Guide to Successful GEAR UP College Visits for Middle and High School Students and Families provides resources and planning tips to help design and implement an intentional, informative, inspirational, and interactive campus visit.
Academic Innovation Mini Grants
Academic Innovation Mini (AIM) Grants are designed to support individual and school passion projects aimed at improving academic performance through innovative classroom experiences that engage, inspire, enhance, and motivate student learning.
Education Policy Fellowship Program
The Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP) is a national program that engages a diverse and collaborative community of strategic leaders to promote equitable education policy. Participants from Appalachian GEAR UP districts receive funding to cover the cost of participation.
Rural Teacher Leadership Network
GEAR UP in conjunction with the Public School Forum and Leading Edge Learning hosts the Rural Teacher Leader Network (RTLN). RTLN is a signature initiative of the NC Public School Forum’s Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity, designed to elevate and empower teachers in rural communities. Building upon the success of the Rural Leaders Teacher Network East, this western cohort continues the statewide effort to develop educators as change agents who can lead from within their classrooms, schools, and communities.
Through an intensive, cohort-based learning model, participants explore issues impacting rural education and collaborate to design practical, sustainable solutions. The program is rooted in collective care, community-based leadership, and educational access—reflecting the Flood Center’s commitment to ensuring every student has access to meaningful opportunities for success.
Educator Initiatives
Project IMPACT
Project IMPACT is a research effort geared towards improving ACT scores across the GEAR UP districts. Beginning with the class of 2025, the ACT will again be required for admission to 4-year public universities. Also, scoring a 22 in Reading or Math helps incoming students clear an academic hurdle by helping them place out of remedial Math and English courses at 4-year and 2-year colleges.
Schools will employ the Project IMPACT intervention sequence during English 3 and Math 3 courses. Teachers will receive training and support in the execution of the intervention. GEAR UP hopes that the results of the intervention will be an improvement in student proficiency in Reading and Math in the 2025 standard state administration of the ACT.
Counselor Network
Counselors at rural secondary schools are often faced with a limited, and sometimes non-existent, peer group. They also struggle to find high-quality professional development due to geographic isolation and tiny budgets for professional counselor development in districts with a single, small high school. GEAR UP’s Counselor Network endeavors to connect isolated counselors across our ten districts with resources normally out of reach for single high-school districts. We have contracted with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) to provide training on the ASCA National Model for school counselors, and more importantly, connect counselors so they have a network of peers to collaborate with and lean on.
MATH I RipTide
Math 1 Research Innovation Program Tied to Innovative Design in Education (RIPTIDE) is a research study evaluating the impact of using instructional strategies such as station-based learning to address low-performing student outcomes in Mathematics. In partnership with Emerald Education, ninth grade teachers participate in a cohort experience that brings together face to face professional development, virtual coaching and asynchronous course structures that focus on the development of data-driven decision making, the exploration of learning modalities, blended learning models, as well as formal and informal assessment structures.
Western NC Research Fellows Program
Appalachian GEAR UP has partnered with Society for Science to launch the Western North Carolina Research Fellows Program. This program will build a STEM educator community focused on increasing student pathways to authentic research opportunities among GEAR UP middle schools in western North Carolina. This year-long, cohort-based professional learning model facilitates peer-to-peer collaboration and collective problem solving, while empowering teachers to create effective, engaging STEM learning opportunities tailored to the needs and circumstances of their students.
Global Leaders
An initiative through our Participate Learning partnership, teachers or schools participate in modules focused on identifying global issues and tackling them through the context of the classroom and community.