What is GEAR UP Arkansas
The GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) Partnership is funded by the US Department of Education to increase the college-going rate of low-income secondary school students in these school systems. GEAR UP ARKANSAS COLLEGE READY NAVIGATOR (GUAR-CRN) provides training and support for students, families, administrators and teachers at secondary schools with a majority of low-income students to support teachers and provide assistance directly to students to enhance preparation for post-secondary education.
Our Vision
To help Arkansas students and families successfully navigate the path to being college and career ready.
GEAR UP Arkansas uses 3 Big Buckets to shape all resources, support, and programming provided to Scholars, Staff, and Families:
- College and Career Aspirations
- Steps to College Entry
- Academic Preparation
Family and Community support is embedded in each bucket, connecting families and partners to GEAR UP Programming.
Our Design Model
The Human-Centered Design (HCD), a problem-solving technique that puts real people at the center of the development process, enabling GUAR-CRN to create services that resonate and are tailored to students’ needs (Harvard, 2020). The goal is to keep students and their families wants, pain points, and preferences front of mind during every phase of the process of implementing college and career ready programming. In turn, we have more intuitive, accessible services that meet the needs of students and their families that create long-term solutions because stakeholders are involved in generating the solutions.
