Planning for the GEAR UP RFP

November 13, 2020

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Presenters Troy Grant Senior Director of College Access

GEAR UP TN Principal Investigator

Tennessee Higher Education Commission

troy.grant@tn.gov 615-532-0423

Duane Gregg Director of GEAR UP Tennessee

Tennessee Higher Education Commission

duane.Gregg@tn.gov 865-206-70712

mailto:troy.grant@tn.govmailto:duane.Gregg@tn.gov

Today’s Agenda

• Overview of the GEAR UP Program

• GEAR UP Partnership Grant Requirements

• Exploring Program Designs

• Understanding the Competitive Context

• Key Considerations for Your Decision-Making

• Q & A

• Overview of Next Steps

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How to Ask Questions

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1. Type your question in the chat. We will answer these during the presentation or at the end.

2. We will provide a time for Q & A at the very end of the presentation.

3. Email with any follow-up or private questions after the event

About GEAR UP

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What is GEAR UP?

•Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs

• A highly competitive, federally-funded initiative, that started in 1998

• National in scope

• A key lever in our nation’s strategy in improving college readiness and success for low-income students

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The Need for a Unified Approach

College Knowledge

College & Career Aspirations

Academic Achievement

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National Objectives for GEAR UP

1. To increase the academic performance and preparation for postsecondary education of participating students;

2. To increase the rate of high school graduation and participation in postsecondary education of participating students; and

3. To increase educational expectations for participating students and increase student and family knowledge of postsecondary education options, preparation, and financing.

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Two Grant Programs: State & Partnership

State Grants

• Competitive, 6/7-year grants

• Awarded to an organization appointed by the Governor

• Must provide scholarships to GEAR UP students or obtain a waiver

• Provide early intervention and services to cohorts of students, priority students, or both

• Annual budget is limited--new applicants were limited to $5M

• Work focused on expanding a statewide culture of college-going and attainment

Partnership Grants• Grantees can have as many partnership grants as

they are awarded by the US Department of Education. There is no statewide limit.

• Partnerships do not have to provide a scholarship.

• Partnerships must include a college, a school district, and at least two community partners.

• Competitive, 6/7-year grants

• Awarded to a school district or college/university

• Provide early intervention and services to cohorts of students, in specific feeder patterns

• Annual budget is limited to $800 per student served. In the last competition, the award range was $100,000 - $7,000,000. 9

GEAR UP TN

• Tennessee has received three state GEAR UP grants from the U.S. Department of Education

• For each state grant project, the Governor has appointed the Tennessee Higher Education Commission as the fiscal agent.

Grant 1 Grant 2 Grant 3

Year Funded 2005 2012 2017

Number of Districts 9 15 15

Number of Students 6,164 37,500 22,500

Funding Level $21 M $29.5M $24.5 M

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GEAR UP TN Outcomes

• 2005 – 2011 GEAR UP TN Grant

• An average of a 10.7 percentage point increase in college-going rate

• 2012 – 2019 GEAR UP TN Grant

• An average of a 9-percentage point increase (2015 data) in college-going rate (some sites saw in excess of a 20 + % increase in their college-going rate

• A 20-percentage point increase in FAFSA completion

• 2017 – 2024 GEAR UP TN GRANT

• 2018 – 2019 95.3 % TN Promise Rate

• 2018 – 2019 89.7 % FAFSA Completion for TN Promise students

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Improving College Readiness

• GEAR UP promotes success by:

• Diagnosing the root causes of student barriers to higher education;

• Facilitating the completion of a rigorous college preparatory curriculum;

• Providing intensive academic and social support to students;

• Engaging students and families about the value of education; and

• Guiding students and families through the college search, application, and enrollment process

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Unique Requirements of GEAR UP• Eligible students and schools

• GEAR UP deploys a cohort approach, in which entire classes of students (no later than 7th grade) must be enrolled in a school where at least 50% of the student population qualify for free or reduced priced lunch

• GEAR UP then follows your designated cohort (or cohorts), as they transition to and through HS, and optionally through the 1st year of PSE

• Budget limitations: up to $800 annually per student served

• “Supplement not supplant”

• Partnership requirements

• Legislation requires K-12, postsecondary, and community partners to work towards common goals—you must have at least TWO partners (although most applicants have many more)

• GEAR UP match: $1 non-federal to $1 federal

• Major sources include in-kind K-12 staff time, volunteers, facilities/space, in-kind services from partners, scholarships/tuition waivers

What is Possible

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About the Opportunity

• From a philosophical and competitive lens, winning applications generally think of GEAR UP as “more than just a grant”

• Think of GEAR UP as a catalyst to forge a stronger pathway to college for the communities you’re targeting

• To have a lasting impact, the competition rewards:

• Involvement of high-level leaders in the partnership

• Alignment to the strategic goals of your participating systems

• Systemic approaches to core challenges

• Continual improvement

• The list of allowable/permissible activities is extensive and should be tailored to your community’s unique needs

• Visit the U.S. Department of Education’s Website to view the GEAR UP legislation that includes all eligible GEAR UP services

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https://www2.ed.gov/programs/gearup/legislation.html

Common Activities: Academics

MSEarly HS

Late HS PSE

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Professional Development

Curriculum Development/Alignment

Strengthening Academic Offerings

Summer Programs

Student Course Selection

Tutoring, Advising, Mentoring

MS to HS Bridge Programs

Dual Enrollment, Early College, AP

ACT/SAT Test Preparation

HS to PSE Bridge Programs

Common Activities: Aspirations

MSEarly HS

Late HS PSE

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Career counseling, mentoring, and internships

Leadership, service learning, and motivational programs

Grit/Non-Cog

Educational Advising/ Goal Setting

Student, family and community engagement programs

College & Career Visits Scholarships, Tuition Discounts/Waivers, Awards

Common Activities: College Knowledge

MSEarly HS

Late HS PSE

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Creating College-Going Cultures

School-Wide Capacity Building

Hands On Support for the College Search, Application, and Enrollment Processes

Financial Literacy

FAFSA Completion

Teaching the College Planning Process(Students & Families)

GEAR UP Objectives Framework

1. The percentage of GEAR UP students who pass Pre-algebra by the end of 8th grade.

2. The percentage of GEAR UP students who pass Algebra 1 by the end of 9th grade.

3. The percentage of GEAR UP students who take two years of mathematics beyond Algebra 1 by the 12th grade.

4. The percentage of GEAR UP students who are on track for graduation at the end of each grade.

5. The percentage of GEAR UP students who are on track to apply for college as measured by completion of the SAT or ACT by the end of 11th grade.

6. The percentage of GEAR UP students who graduate from high school.

7. The percentage of GEAR UP students who complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

8. The percentage of GEAR UP students and former GEAR UP students who are enrolled in college.

9. The percentage of GEAR UP students who place into college-level Math and English without need for remediation.

10. The percentage of current GEAR UP students and former GEAR UP students enrolled in college who are on track to graduate college.

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Competitive Context

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Competitiveness

• Recently, around 1 in 7 Partnership Grants are funded—you’ll need a near perfect score

• However, given the size of the upcoming competition, your odds are better than ever

• The peer review process is less an exercise in critical thinking, and more an exercise in ticking off all the right boxes, so it’s certainly attainable. Your job as the writer for the grant proposal is to make the peer reviewer’s job easy. Clearly answer every question.

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What We Do and Don’t Know

What We Know

• A GEAR UP competition is fully expected to take place in 2021

What We Don’t Know

• When the RFP will be released

• What the competitive priorities will be

• The Partnership RFP looks different from the state RFP, and we do not know if the US DOE will make changes to align them

• If the US DOE will remove some selection criteria and redistribute points (We should know this in a few weeks.)

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Distribution of Points Based Upon the 2018 Competition

Need15%

Project Design

15%

Project Services

15%Personnel10%

Management Plan10%

Project Evaluation

20%

Adequacy of Resources

15% • If the Partnership RFP changes, the distribution of points will change

• The selection criteria include a wide variety of sub-criteria that the peer reviewers use as a rubric/checklist

• There are 7 criteria leading to a maximum of 100 points

• There will likely be additional competitive priorities, which increases the possible point total

• Does not include points for prior experience with a GEAR UP grant

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GEAR UP Grants Require Logic Models

A logic model provides a well-specified framework that identifies the key components of your process or practice to achieve the desired outcome. It should also include a description of the relationships among the key components and outcomes.

Input: What resources and information go into the program? (Federal funds, match, data)

Activities: What activities and services will the program undertake? (Student, parent/family, school, educator, partner)

Output: What is produced by the activities? (number of students/families served, number of partners)

Short-Term Outcome: What short term changes result from the activities or services? (number of student/family participants, increased aspirations for college enrollment

Mid-Term Outcomes: What mid-term changes result from the service or activity? (Increased Pre-Algebra enrollment, increased attendance, increased college knowledge, increased EPSOs)

Long-Term Outcome: What are the long-term goals and objectives of your program? (Increased academic performance, increased high school graduation rates, increased college-going rates, increased college persistence rates) 24

Logic Model Example

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Input

• Federal and matching funds

• Grant staff

• Demographic data

• Course and assessment data

• Postsecondary data

• Family data

• School data

• State data

Activities

• Student

• Student activities (list)

• Family

• Family engagement

• School

• Course offerings

• PD

• Partner

• Summer camps

Output

• 4,000 students served

• 4,000 families served

• At least two new course offerings per school

• One PD offering for each school per year tied to curriculum.

Short-Term Outcome

• 70% of students participating

• 50% of families participating

• Increased aspirations (from baseline) about college enrollment

• Increased school alignment with GEAR UP

Mid-Term Outcome

• 85% of students participating

• 75% of families participating

• Increased pre-Algebra enrollment

• Increased attendance

• Increased financial aid knowledge

• Increased course

Long-Term Outcome

• Increased academic performance

• Increased postsecondary applications

• Increased high school graduation

• Increased postsecondary enrollment

• Increased postsecondary persistence

Source: Structure modified from U.S. Department of Education training, 2014

Formative Evaluation Summative Evaluation

The counterfactual is statistically

matched students in non-GEAR UP, low-

income schools.

Critical Questions

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Things for you to consider

• Do you have preexisting partners that you could mobilize quickly in pursuit of a compelling, shared agenda for college readiness?

• Do you have relationships with K-12 schools/districts or a postsecondary institution where you’d like to partner?

• Do you have the thought leaders who can help with the program design, services, and evaluation?

• Will your partnership’s leaders step up and dedicate the resources needed for the planning process?

• Do you have access to the relevant data needed for the application?

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Q & A

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Next Steps

• Review the GEAR UP page on ED’s website for abstracts, last year’s TA materials, and other info

• Review last year’s RFP for additional details.

• Review the GEAR UP legislation and regulations

• Discuss the opportunity with your colleagues and if you’re considering this opportunity:

• Let us know and tell us about your potential partnership and service area

• Complete the follow-up survey after this webinar

• Register for the next webinar on December 3rd at 9:00 CST. This webinar will focus on the GEAR UP grant application and best practices in GEAR UP grant writing

• Feel free to contact us anytime with questions

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https://www2.ed.gov/programs/gearup/index.htmlhttps://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/chapter-28/subchapter-IV/part-A/subpart-2/division-2https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/34/part-694

Follow-Up Email from THEC

We will send you an email with the following items next week:

• Recording of this webinar and the PPT slide deck

• 2019 GEAR UP Partnership Application

• Abstracts of the funded 2018 and 2020 GEAR UP Partnership Grants

• List of the interested applicants for this RFP based upon the survey that will be sent out immediately following this webinar

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Troy Grant troy.grant@tn.gov 615-532-0423

Duane Gregg duane.Gregg@tn.gov 865-206-7071

mailto:troy.grant@tn.govmailto:duane.Gregg@tn.gov