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Essay on AVID Approach to Teaching
Over the past few decades, scholars and policy makers have been perplexed as to why students learn so little in some schools. Many researchers and school reformers currently claim that school effectiveness hinges on organization and curriculum awareness and expectations. They contend that shared values and activities, positive adult social relations, positive teacher-student relations, and democratic governance enhance student’s school engagement and their academic achievement. Other researchers contend that schools are effective when they offer demanding curricula and employ teachers whose educational expectations for their students are high. The Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) reports to be just such a program. According to its creators, AVID is designed to prepare middle and high school students with average ability from groups traditionally underrepresented in postsecondary education for eligibility, and success in four-year colleges and universities. It recognizes that the only way some students can get into or through college is by perseverance, hard work, and as the AVID’s name reveals, individual determination. AVID comes from the Latin root avidus, meaning eager for knowledge.
The program was originally designed as an intervention for high school students. In the mid-1980s, when AVID began to expand beyond San Diego City Schools, and middle school students were transitioning to high school, AVID programs were addressed through a Summer Bridge Program. By 1989-1990, however, an AVID middle level program had been implemented, and the Summer Bridge program was discontinued. Since then, the number of middle school AVID programs in California has increased to approximately 119.
Students of mid-range ability are targeted for participation in the AVID program. These students have the potential to succeed in a rigorous academic program but normally would not succeed without support. The program is not for at “risk” students who are in need of remediation, and it is not for gifted students, who are already performing well.........
