The Road to College: Rigor, Readiness, and Retention

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The Road to College Rigor, Readiness, and
Retention
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The Mission of AVID

• The mission of AVID is to ensure that ALL
  students, and most especially the least served
  students who are in the middle
• will succeed in rigorous curriculum
• will complete a rigorous college preparatory
  path
• will enter mainstream activities of the school
• will increase their enrollment in four-year
  colleges and
• will become educated and responsible participants
  and leaders in a democratic society.
• AVIDs systemic approach is designed to support
  students and educators as they increase
  schoolwide/districtwide learning and performance.

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What is AVID?

• A structured, college preparatory system working
  directly with schools and districts
• A direct support structure for first-generation
  college goers, grades 4-12
• A schoolwide approach to curriculum and rigor
  adopted by nearly 4,000 middle schools and high
  schools in 45 states and 15 countries
• A professional development program providing
  training throughout the U.S.

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The AVID Student Profile

• Students With Academic Potential
• Average to high test scores
• 2.0-3.5 GPA
• College potential with support
• Desire and determination
• Meets One or More of the Following Criteria
• First to attend college
• Historically underserved in four-year colleges
• Low income
• Special circumstances

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AVID Program Essentials

1. AVID student selection
2. Voluntary participation
3. AVID elective class offered during the school day
4. Rigorous course and study
5. Writing and reading curriculum
6. Inquiry to promote critical reading

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AVID Program Essentials (Continued)

1. Collaboration
2. Trained tutors
3. Data collection and analysis
4. District and school commitment
5. Active and interdisciplinary site team

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A Sample Week in the AVID Elective
Daily or Block Schedule

• AVID Curriculum includes
• Writing Curriculum
• College and Careers
• Strategies for Success

• AVID Tutorials Include
• Collaborative Study Groups
• Writing Groups
• Socratic Seminars

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What is Academic Rigor?
Rigor is the goal of helping students develop the
capacity to understand content that is complex,
ambiguous, provocative, and personally or
emotionally challenging. Taking rigorous courses
opens doors! Source Teaching What Matters Most
Standards and Strategies for Raising Student
Achievement by Strong, Silver and Perini, ASCD,
2001.
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Meeting the Challenge

• To help all students do rigorous work and meet or
  exceed high standards in each content area we
  must help students
• Develop as readers and writers.
• Develop deep content knowledge.
• Know content specific strategies for reading,
  writing, thinking and talking.
• Develop habits, and behaviors to use knowledge
  and skills.

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AVID 28 Years of Success
Over 28 years, AVID has become one of the most
successful college-preparatory programs ever for
low-income, underserved students, and today
reaches more than 320,000 students in nearly
4,000 U.S. schools in 45 states, Canada, and 15
other countries.
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Why AVID Works

• Places AVID students in rigorous curriculum and
  gives them the support to achieve
• Provides the explicit hidden curriculum of
  schools
• Provides a team of students for positive peer
  identification and
• Redefines teachers role as that of student
  advocate.

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Ethnic Breakdown of AP Test-takers AVID vs.
National
Opening access to Advanced Placement courses for
all students, regardless of ethnicity or economic
background, is essential to leveling the academic
playing field. AVID students, who take many AP
tests every year, show greater ethnic diversity
than AP test-takers do overall. The proportion of
Latinos taking AP exams is over four times higher
among AVID students than among U.S. students
overall.
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Completion of Four-Year College Entrance
Requirements
AVID students complete university entrance
requirements at a much higher rate than their
non-AVID peers.
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AVID Graduates

• 97 plan to enroll in a college or university
• 66 plan to enroll in a four-year university
• 31 plan to enroll in a two-year college
• 83 of parents have less than a four-year college
  degree

Source AVID Center Senior Data Collection
System, 2007-2008 (N14,995) Percentages have
been rounded to the nearest whole percent
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Percent of Students Applying and Getting Accepted
to Four-Year Colleges
One of the most impressive and consistent
indicators of AVID's success is the rate at which
it sends students to four-year colleges.
Seventy-eight percent of 2007 AVID graduates were
accepted to a four-year college.
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Keys to AVID Implementation

• Select a site and district coordinator.
• Gain site and district support for the program.
• Identify and commit resources for program costs
• Clarify the goals of the program for school
  faculty and
• gain their support.
• Select interdisciplinary AVID site team.
• Identify and recruit students.
• Schedule class and students.
• Recruit and hire tutors.
• Attend Summer Institute.
• Implement.

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AVID Collaborative Support for the Success of
Underserved Students
Colleges and Universities
AVID Support Staff
Community
AVID Coordinator (AVID Elective Teacher)
Parents
Student
Administration
Tutors
Subject Area Teachers
Counselors
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AVID Program Implementation Essentials

• 1. AVID student selection focuses on students in
  the middle (2.0 to 3.5 G.P.A. as one indicator)
  with academic potential, who would benefit from
  AVID support to improve their academic record and
  begin college preparation.
• 2. AVID program participants, both students and
  staff, choose to participate.
• The school must be committed to full
  implementation of the AVID program, with the AVID
  year-long elective class available within the
  regular academic school day.
• AVID students are enrolled in a rigorous course
  of study that will enable them to meet
  requirements for university enrollment.

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AVID Program Implementation Essentials (continued)
5. A strong, relevant writing and reading
curriculum provides the basis for instruction in
the AVID elective class. 6. Inquiry is used as
a basis for instruction in the AVID
classroom. 7. Collaboration is used as a basis
for instruction in the AVID classroom. 8. A
sufficient number of tutors are available in the
AVID class to facilitate student access to
rigorous curriculum.
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AVID Program Implementation Essentials (continued)
9. AVID program implementation and student
progress are monitored through the AVID Data
System, and results are analyzed to ensure
success. 10. The school or district has
identified resources for program costs, has
agreed to implement AVID Program Implementation
Essentials and to participate in AVID
Certification. It has committed to ongoing
participation in AVID staff development. 11. An
active interdisciplinary site team collaborates
on issues of students access to and success in
rigorous college preparatory courses.
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• A strong, committed AVID teacher remains the
  cornerstone of a successful AVID program.

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• The prospective AVID teacher must share the
  same desire and individual determination that we
  expect of prospective AVID students.

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• The prospective AVID elective teacher should
  be recruited to the position rather than
  assigned. As with AVID students, the teacher
  should commit to the program voluntarily, with a
  full understanding of the expectations and goals
  of AVID.

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Desirable Candidate Qualifications

• A veteran teacher - minimum three years
  experience
• Collaborative workplace experience
• Credentialed expertise in a college preparatory
  subject area
• Effective classroom management style and
  organizational skills

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Desirable Personal Traits

• Commitment to personal and professional growth
• Creative problem-solver
• Perseveres through long-term projects
• Builds relationships with staff and community
  members
• Enjoys multi-tasking

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Desirable Collegial Skills

• Respected by faculty and staff
• Communicates well
• Proponent of equal access to rigorous curriculum
• Has or can develop a leadership role on campus

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Features of Successful AVID Programs

• School Site Leadership
• Skilled and Committed Teachers
• Effective Site Teams
• Access to Quality Professional
• Development
• Access to Effective Tutors
• Adequate Funding
• Support Beyond the School Site
• Guthrie David, Strategies for Dissemination,
  1994

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Principles of Tutoring

• Establish and maintain rapport with the students
• Assure that the students do the work
• Order learning priorities
• Facilitate learning do not try to be experts in
  all fields

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How Tutors Are Chosen

• The AVID coordinator usually contacts the tutors.
• Most tutors are students at local universities.
• In addition, the college tutor corps is rounded
  out by qualified peer tutors, staff members, and
  community and business volunteers.

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• The AVID coordinator interviews, hires, and
  trains tutors who are
• skilled writers
• responsible workers
• effective and flexible communicators
• self-confident and self-initiating workers
• serious workers with a sense of humor
• dedicated workers who want to work with the AVID
  program and the AVID students for lower
  compensation than they might receive working at
  their universities.

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Coordination of Tutors

• Tutorial activities are coordinated by the AVID
  coordinator.
• The coordinator and tutors meet informally and
  formally to discuss concerns of the day, to
  review lesson plans, and to plan classroom
  activities.
• Constant communication between the coordinator
  and tutors keeps the goals of the program in
  focus and promotes growth within the program.

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Role of Tutors in the Classroom

• Tutors are selected from diverse subject areas
  and can give students an idea of the range of
  opportunities that stem from postsecondary
  education
• Tutors work with students individually and in
  study groups, facilitating tutoring students in
  their advanced level classes.
• Tutors challenge students to discover answers on
  their own rather than rely on tutors for answers
• Tutors expect students to come to tutorials
  prepared and able to articulate what help they
  need.

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Role of Tutors in the Classroom(Continued)

• The goal is for students to become independent
  learners, able to help themselves and others.
• In addition to leading tutorials, the tutors
  respond to student journal entries, timed
  writings, and assignments, which students then
  have the opportunity to revise and edit.
• Tutors also evaluate the binders in which AVID
  students log all their assignments, keep their
  study calendars, and collect lecture and reading
  notes.
• Tutors comments, both written and oral, on
  student binders, writing, and tutorials ideally
  evolve into a dialogue between the two, so that
  tutors guide students through the learning
  process.

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Role of Tutors in the Classroom(Continued)

• Tutors serve as role models, providing students
  with immediate and continuous contact with the
  worlds of the university and work
• Tutors serve as liaisons between teachers and
  students, acting as advocates of the academic
  values teachers seek to instill in their students

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Tutors perform several functions

• work individually with students on writing
  assignments
• lead peer critique groups
• respond to student writing with oral and written
  comments
• conduct brainstorming and clustering sessions
• develop writing assignments
• teach mini-lessons

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AVID Student Selection
Looking for three things

• Ability
• College Potential
• Desire and Determination

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The AVID Student Profile
Students with Academic Potential

• Average to High Test Scores
• 2.0-3.5 GPA
• College Potential with Support
• Desire and Determination

Meets One or More of the Following Criteria

• First to Attend College
• Historically Underserved in 4-year Colleges
• Low Income
• Special Circumstances

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Middle Level Library
Implementation Implementing and managing the AVID program (IMAP) Calendaring the AVID curriculum Organizing the AVID student binder Wall of fame Strategies for Success Cornell note-taking system Binder organization Test-taking time management Inquiry method Socratic seminar
AVID Family Workshops Understanding the AVID elective Understanding the path from middle school/high school to college and careers Handouts PowerPoints in English Spanish College Careers Self awareness Six year plan Post-secondary research College preparation Career exploration
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• Middle Level Library

• Middle Level Library

Middle Level Writing Curriculum Teacher Guide Writing Reading Oral communication Tutor Training Algebra Tutorial Tutorial Support Resource Guide with CD (New) Tutorial Support Resource Activity Guide CD (New) Tutorial Tips from an AVID Teacher

• Schoolwide Middle Level Library

The Write Path English Language Arts (ELA) English Language Learners (ELL) History/Social Science Mathematics I II (New) Science Administrator Guide World Languages 25th Anniversary DVD AVID Celebrating 25 Years of College Dreams
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• High School Library

Implementation Implementing and Managing the AVID Program (IMAP) Calendaring the AVID Curriculum Preparing for College Grades 11-12 AVID College Readiness Working with Sources Grades 11-12 Organizing the AVID Student Binder Wall of Fame Strategies for Success Cornell note-taking system Binder organization Test-taking time management Inquiry method Socratic Seminar
College Careers Self awareness Six year plan Post-secondary research College preparation Career exploration AVID Family Workshops Understanding the AVID elective Understanding the path from middle school/high school to college and careers Handouts and PowerPoints in English Spanish
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High School Library

• High School Writing Curriculum
• Evaluating and analytical writing strategies
• Timed writing
• Student models
• Focus lessons for specific needs
• Tutor Training
• Advanced Tutorial Path
• Algebra Tutorial
• Tutorial Support Resource Guide with CD (New)
• Tutorial Support Resource Activity Guide CD (New)
• Tutorial Tips from an AVID Teacher

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Schoolwide High School Library

• The Write Path
• English Language Arts (ELA)
• English Language Learners (ELL)
• History/ Social Science
• Mathematics I (New)
• Science
• The Write Path II
• Advanced English
• Advanced History/Social Science
• Advanced Science
• Mathematics II (New)
• Administrator Guide
• World Languages
• 25th Anniversary DVD
• AVID Celebrating 25 Years of College Dreams

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• Frequently Asked Questions

• What do we receive when the AVID curriculum comes
  to our site?
• Middle School Six boxes, six libraries
• High School Six boxes, six libraries
• Teacher guides and 30 student guides (use as
  class set) for AVID elective materials
• Informational videos, copies of Wall of Fame,
  daily planning guides
• What strategies should we use to explore and
  disseminate the AVID materials?
• Site team curriculum box opening party
• Summer Institute attendees share with their
  content departments
• Administrators read their guide, especially
  Evaluating Your AVID Program
• Schedule follow-up site team meeting share
  successful activities, student work
• Share at staff and department meetings

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• Frequently Asked Questions

• What do we look for in the AVID Elective Class?
• Library boxes should be opened and books
  distributed
• Red and green books used on curriculum days
• Teachers and tutors should be using their blue
  guides
• Continued reference to daily planning guide
• Cornell notes taught early and refined by
  modeling
• Writing assignments begin early and continue
  throughout the year to ensure rigor in the AVID
  class
• Writing/editing groups used continually as part
  of the writing process
• What should concern us about the AVID curriculum,
  both schoolwide and elective class materials?
• Library boxes not opened
• Curriculum not used for academic training
• Formal writing assignments not begun (Lack of
  rigor)
• Daily planning guide not consulted
• Content teachers have not shared materials and
  strategies

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• WICR Activity

• At your table, take your Curriculum Sampler and
  review the contents.
• Choose ONE activity to examine in detail and to
  share with your table
• Explain HOW this activity connects strongly to
  WICR strategies and how it will support the
  development of AVID students