What is AVID?

Some parents are complaining that I.S.D. 166 requires their children to take a class called AVID. But what is AVID?

AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. It was designed for students in grades fourth through twelve to prepare kids with a grade point average (G.P.A.) of 2.0 to 3.5 and a strong desire to go to a four-year college or university. While AVID is meant for all students, its main focus is on the least-served students in the “academic” middle. The curriculum also is aimed at helping teachers.

So, how does it work?

Teachers can return what they’ve learned through AVID training to any classroom to help all students, not just those in AVID, become more college- and career-ready.

Elementary students enrolled in AVID are encouraged to consider college and possible career plans.

Each school district can use AVID as it sees fit.

For one period a day, students can receive additional academic, social, and emotional support geared toward helping them succeed in their school’s most rigorous courses. Districts can decide how many AVID elective classes can be offered to start and which grade levels AVID will be taught. Additionally, in middle school, long-term English language learners’ language and literacy needs can be addressed through the AVID Excel elective class if a district is large enough to offer such a class.

Today AVID is taught in more than 7,000 schools in 47 states in the U.S., plus schools in the Department of Defense Education, Canada, and Australia to more than 2 million kids in grades K-12 and 62 postsecondary institutions.

I.S.D. 166

At Independent School District (I.S.D.), 166 three teachers and the principal went for AVID training last summer. The teachers are adapting what they learned in their curriculums. Although the school district labeled the class as an elective, it is not an elective but a required class. Students gain half a credit for their participation. The biggest reason to bring AVID to the school district was the belief that this program would help students catch up academically after two years of school—a lot of it taught remotely—during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Associated Press, the average student lost more than half a school year of learning in math and nearly a quarter of a school year in reading during the pandemic.

This statistic was worse for kids who live in poverty or whose parents lost their jobs because of the pandemic.

Some history

In 1980 Mary Catherine Swanson, an English department head and teacher at Clairemont High School, believed that if students worked hard, she could teach them the skills needed to be college-ready, and she came up with AVID.

By 1986 the AVID system was a big success at Clairmont. It was then adopted by the California Department of Education, which granted funds to start the program throughout San Diego County.

Three years later, the Summer Institute was launched for AVID professional learning in San Diego with 258 attendees. Swanson won the $50,000 Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Education. In 1992 AVID Center became a nonprofit to help serve schools throughout the U.S. By 1996, schools throughout California, other states, and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools were using AVID. In 2003 the College Board co-sponsored the first-ever AVID National Conference. Four years later, in 2007, AVID Elementary was launched nationwide. In 2010 AVID for Higher Education was developed, reaching teachers and students K-16 “through customizable professional learning and by helping colleges strengthen their student services and the freshman experience.”

It was hoped that by applying AVID in college, students would improve their study skills and critical thinking and gain self-confidence.

In 2012 California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed $8.1 million in state funding for AVID.

In agreeing with Gov. Brown’s position on AVID, the nonpartisan California Legislative Analyst’s Office noted, “While there is some research that indicates that students enrolled in AVID courses go to college at higher rates than local or national averages, it is unclear whether the results found in some of these studies are attributable to the effects of the program. Instead, this is because AVID is only offered to more motivated students, who may otherwise have gone to college at higher rates even without the services offered by the program.”

AVID’s mission statement is “to close the opportunity gap in education by preparing all students for college readiness and succeed in a global society.”

And “AVID provides schools a direct line of support to regional teams, data tracking, planning guides, and self-assessments to help schools measure their success and refine their approach. AVID empowers schools to create change in a sustainable, measured, and responsive way to campus needs.”