By using “untracking” and a mentoring program through Goodwill, one of the poorest school districts in Colorado is creating college students.
Adams County School District 14 is located in one of the poorest areas of the Denver Metropolitan Area. Slightly over half of its students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, compared to 18% for the state. Most of their parents did not go to college; many speak English as a second language. In 2000, GEAR UP started funding Adams City High School and its two feeder middle schools.
The two main activities started with the GEAR UP monies are a mentoring program coordinated by Goodwill, which pairs individual students with professionals in the community, and a program called AVID. AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination, is an “untracking” program that places underachieving students in the same rigorous college preparatory curriculum as high achieving students. AVID students are then given the scaffolding they need to succeed: parents sign contracts to be engaged in their children’s learning, and tutorials are held twice a week. The program also provides students with the time management, note taking, and test taking skills they need to succeed academically but would not learn in class. All this is supplemented by motivational days, where the students meet guest speakers, go on field trips, and get exposure to things they would otherwise not know. This can be as mundane—and crucial – as speaking with college students.
GEAR UP has created changes throughout the district. The middle schools have added more rigorous courses. The 9th grade AVID class is twice as large as when the AVID program was started a few years ago. Enrollment in AP courses has doubled. As of their junior year, over half of the students had passed Algebra II, which has been identified as one of the most important college preparatory courses. The majority of juniors have plans and customized help to get into college.
Despite these advances, Adams County District 14 schools are still struggling. Test scores are low in the middle and high school levels, while behavioral problems are high. One program cannot eliminate the disparities caused by poverty, language barriers, lack of parent education, and starting middle school academically behind. GEAR UP is no panacea, yet it is clear that the students in this school district are better off because of the program. More students have more of a chance than they ever did before.
