The GEAR UP initiative serves schools and communities across the Rio Grande Valley with programs and resources that support students’ college readiness. As part of this effort, Agile Mind’s Academic Youth Development (AYD) summer program is designed to help students develop key skills and mindsets for success in Algebra I and in high school.

This page provides resources to orient you to the AYD summer programs and the outcomes that students and educators who participate in this initiative can experience.

Educator Survey

Please complete this brief survey to help us learn how to best serve you during disruptions due to COVID-19 this summer.

About AYD

AYD connects students’ social and emotional learning (SEL) to challenges in school. More students succeed in school, career, and life when they learn skills that support their social and emotional development and then explicitly connect those skills to their academic learning.

This suite of programs translates the latest research on student mindset, motivation, learning, and persistence into practical classroom strategies and tools that can be enacted every day, in every classroom, to produce a lasting impact on every student.

AYD summer programs help students develop the habits of mind
and actions associated with success in school and the workplace, and
have daily opportunities to apply new learning to challenging problems
in mathematics.

Integrating SEL with challenging mathematics

Academic Youth Development connects students’ learning with foundational mathematics content. Students apply new skills to real-world problem-solving in areas of mathematics that are essential to their grade-level achievement. They learn and refine proven strategies for mathematics success, and collaborate with peers to analyze and understand problem situations, develop conjectures, and describe their thinking.

AYD Outcomes

This document highlights outcomes for students and educators who participate in AYD, in terms of what they know and do related to key ideas and strategies in the program.

Frequently Asked Questions

This one-page document shares common questions students have about Academic Youth Development.

AYD Fact Sheet

This document describes the Academic Youth Development family of programs and the benefits for educators, students, and school systems.

Transforming the Culture of Learning

In this video created by Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD (TX), students and teachers describe the impact of Academic Youth Development on their mindsets and their classroom learning culture.

Changing Attitudes & Mindsets

In this brief video, a teacher and her students describe the impact of Academic Youth Development on students’ mindsets for learning.

Academic Youth Development Introduction and Walkthrough

This video shares an overview and demonstration of the program, including key ideas and strategies that support students’ learning.

Productive Struggle

In this brief video, a teacher and her students describe how AYD helps them apply strategies to persist through academic challenges.

Changing the Culture of Learning Mathematics

In this brief video, a teacher and her students share how AYD helps students change how they feel, think about, and respond to mathematics.

About GEAR UP

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is a seven-year program of the United States Department of Education designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.

Region One Education Service Center (ESC) and its partners provide services at middle and high schools for a cohort of students beginning no later than the seventh grade and follow the cohort through high school.

With questions about GEAR UP or Region One ESC, please contact:

Kristopher L. McKinney
Education Specialist
Region One Education Service Center
Phone (956) 984-6128
Fax (956) 984-7645
klmckinney@esc1.net