In California and across the United States, Black/African American and Latino/a youth attend college at a lower rate than that of their white and Asian peers. The California Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) implements its developed effective practices and resources to systemically dismantle the college access disparity; to reach that goal, GEAR UP has contracted R.T. Fisher to partner in these educational reform efforts since 1999.

R.T. Fisher assists with developing and implementing systemic intervention consultation, math professional development, and family engagement structures. In addition, R.T.Fisher assists in developing staff capacity and leadership to implement GEAR UP programming at the district level. As a result of this work, staff across 37 California school sites have strengthened capacity to oversee and sustain their own robust intervention service systems.