The purpose of this study was to conduct a quantitative, exploratory analysis of key variables at transition grade levels (i.e., 7th, 9th, 12th) toward retention and completion in postsecondary education among Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) students. The exploration included variables that were retrieved from existing data on 65 students from one of the state's GEAR UP subawards in order to conduct correlations, t-tests, sign tests, and binomial regression to explore the variables across the transition years in relation to GEAR UP participation and postsecondary outcomes. Students represented by the data were GEAR UP participants since their 7th-grade year, having engaged in twice monthly peer-mentoring and summer programming activities within a university partnership. Importantly, most students were of Latinx heritage backgrounds, and the majority enrolled in postsecondary education; notably, the 4-year postsecondary completion rate was 84%. A discussion and conclusion of this exploratory analysis are provided.

中文翻译：

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探究 GEAR UP 学生的理想与追求差距

本研究的目的是对过渡年级（即 7 年级、9 年级、12 年级）的关键变量进行定量、探索性分析，以帮助“获得本科课程的早期意识和准备”(GEAR UP) 学生保留和完成高等教育。 。该探索包括从来自该州 GEAR UP 子奖项之一的 65 名学生的现有数据中检索的变量，以便进行相关性、t 检验、符号检验和二项式回归，以探索过渡年份与 GEAR UP 相关的变量参与和中学后成果。数据所代表的学生从七年级开始就是 GEAR UP 的参与者，他们在大学合作伙伴关系中每月参加两次同伴辅导和暑期编程活动。重要的是，大多数学生都有拉丁裔背景，并且大多数都接受高等教育；值得注意的是，四年后中学毕业率为84%。提供了该探索性分析的讨论和结论。