GEAR UP!
Edstar has years of experience with both Partnership and State-wide GEAR UP evaluation. We have customized data management systems for data collection and reporting.
GEAR UP!
We have been evaluating Department of Education grants, including GEAR UP Partnership grants since 2000, and Statewide GEAR UP grants since 2015, in both NC and MS. We are currently providing GEAR UP program evaluation services in MS. Edstar has created a system of resources for GEAR UP evaluation. Dr. Janet Johnson’s GEAR UP experience includes serving on: Data and Service Quality Committee, Research and Evaluation Committee, as a representative for the Executive Committee for the National College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium (CCREC) Evaluation and Research Committee for CCREC 2.0.
Customized Data Collection Resources
We create forms for schools to use for keeping records of services. Staff who serve the students use these forms to record the information needed for the Annual Performance Report, for research on best practices, and for fiscal accountability. We host these forms on a website that the school staffs access. The site contains short video tutorials for how to complete each form.
Claims Processing
We process every GEAR UP sign-in sheet by first logging the event, and our system gives it a unique ID. The log contains information about the event and staff conducting it. That event ID is then used with the data that is keyed in at the student level. We log each claim for reimbursement by easily finding the event ID, and verify that the claim matches the documentation for the event. We provide this documentation to the GEAR UP management, and they can then link each claim item with documentation of the event. When the documentation does not match the claim, we follow up for clarification and correction. This also raises the integrity of the data.
GEAR UP Data Management System
Our staff collects the data from school staff and enters it into our GEAR UP Data Management System. The data is compared with the workplans, and immediately returned for correction when something is not clear. The quality and integrity of the data is very high as a result.
Continuous Formative Feedback
We provide easy-to-understand info-graphics for feedback to the management and school staffs, in addition to writing the Annual Performance Report.