Mission
"The mission of AVID® is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society. The AVID College and Career Readiness System is designed to increase schoolwide learning and performance for students in grades K–16. AVID comes from the Latin root avidus, meaning “eager for knowledge.” A well-developed AVID system restructures the teaching methods of an entire school and opens access to rigorous curricula, raising advanced-level course enrollments and increasing the number of students attending college." - ASIR
History
"In 1980, Mary Catherine Swanson, then English Department chair at San Diego’s Clairemont High School, developed AVID to address the significant needs that she observed at her school. Court-ordered integration in 1980 transformed the student body of Clairemont, which had served an affluent, homogeneous population. Busing brought to the school hundreds of disadvantaged students who had no experience in the traditional college preparatory programs that were Clairemont’s strength. Ms. Swanson devised AVID to help these students succeed in a rigorous program and prepare for college." - ASIR
How It Works
"AVID trains educators and provides resources that help all students on campus reach their full potential. Students selected for the AVID Elective/Excel Elective are often enrolled in a school’s toughest classes, such as AP®, IB®, and dual enrollment courses, and also attend a related elective class, which is taught within the school day by a trained AVID teacher.
Few of the students who are identified for the AVID Elective/Excel Elective are enrolled in college preparatory classes prior to enrollment in AVID, and even fewer are enrolled in a rigorous curriculum. Upon entering the AVID Elective/Excel Elective, students enroll in advanced-level college preparatory classes that fulfill the college entrance requirements. Tutors—ideally, former AVID students—from area colleges and universities are trained to use specific teaching methodologies and materials to work with these high school students. The college tutors work with AVID students in study groups and individually, assisting them in all academic areas to make progress commensurate with college expectations.
AVID-trained Site Coordinators and teachers instruct students in lessons originally developed collaboratively in AVID by high school and college instructors. These lessons also include note-taking, study skills, test-taking, time management skills, SAT® and college entrance/placement exam preparation, critical reading, and research skills. The AVID curriculum covers writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading (WICOR®). AVID students also receive extensive help in preparing college applications and financial aid forms. Guest speakers from educational institutions and the business community also visit AVID classes. Students raise money for field trips to museums, theaters, and other places of educational and cultural interest. Trips to colleges are an integral part of the program.
Many of these students with potential to succeed in college need extra encouragement and academic assistance, which traditional secondary school programs do not offer. AVID meets the needs of these students by:
Providing instruction and other academic support to students to prepare them for eligibility in four-year colleges and universities or other postsecondary opportunities
Giving students college-level entry skills
Increasing the “coping skills” of students
Motivating students to seek college educations
Increasing each student’s level of career awareness" - ASIR
Leadership
"It is essential that AVID Site Coordinators and teachers elicit the support of other leaders on the school campus. An AVID Site Team should be established to ensure schoolwide change. Team members should include the principal, a counselor, and staff members who represent the various departments on the campus. This team should also work with any AVID feeder school teams, creating a vertical team to ensure that the AVID Elective/Excel Elective is truly a 7th through 12th grade support system that becomes more and more rigorous each year. The Site Team and vertical team can also work on ensuring that the various Indicators of the Coaching and Certification Instrument are met.
The AVID Site Team and School Leadership Team also work collectively to address various aspects of the school’s instruction, systems, leadership, and culture—AVID’s four Schoolwide Domains—to affect schoolwide transformation. The information contained within this AVID Secondary Implementation Resource is designed to support those conversations and provide tools to further that work.
For more information about the AVID system, news and research related to AVID, and staff development opportunities, please visit the AVID Center website at www.avid.org (Links to an external site.)" - ASIR
