4 A's

Adopt, Adapt, Accelerate, Advocate. This is a holistic view of technology in classrooms and can be integrated with any other educational contexts. The 4 A's are incorporated into the WAG to support teachers in using digital tools especially in virtual classrooms. See resource here (need MyAVID.org log in).

ASIR

AVID Secondary Implementation Resource. An in-depth resource that gives examples and materials related to each individual indicator on the CCI.

CCI

Coaching and Certification Instrument, aka the giant rubric that reviews campus implementation of the AVID schoolwide domains of culture, instruction, systems, and leadership. Each domain has several indicators. Site Coordinators and Site Team collect evidence throughout the year to show successful implementation of each indictor.

Domains

The domains you will hear about are on the CCI and a summary of AVID program implementation: instruction, culture, leadership, and systems. Each domain includes many specific indicators.

TRF

Tutorial Request Form. This is what a student fills out before tutorials that helps them identify a point of confusion, or, *what* exactly they don't understand.

WAGs

Weeks at a Glance. This is the AVID elective curriculum, available for each week, for each grade level. Log in to MyAVID and view WAGs here.

WICOR

Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading. The foundation of AVID learning and appear in the instruction domain on the CCI. All AVID strategies hit one or more elements of WICOR.

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AVID Schoolwide: A strong AVID system that transforms the Instruction, Systems, Leadership, and Culture of a school, ensuring college readiness for all AVID Elective students and improved academic performance for all students based on increased opportunities.

AVID Schoolwide Instruction: The entire instructional staff utilizes AVID strategies, other best instructional practices, and 21st century tools to ensure college readiness for AVID Elective students and improved academic performance for all students.

AVID Schoolwide Systems: Systems that are in place to support governance, curriculum and instruction, data collection and analysis, professional learning, and student and parent outreach to ensure college readiness for AVID Elective students and improved academic performance for all students.

AVID Schoolwide Leadership: Leadership that sets the vision and tone that promote college readiness and high expectations for all students in the school.

AVID Schoolwide Culture: AVID’s philosophy progressively shifts beliefs and behaviors resulting in an increase of students meeting college readiness requirements.

Academic Support Structures: Supplemental academic services, such as additional tutoring, collaborative study group opportunities, and small group instruction within or outside of the regular class schedule that help students succeed in rigorous courses and prepares them for postsecondary success.

Arthur Costa’s Levels of Thinking: Levels of thinking and questioning that offer a framework for inquiry:

Level 1: Gathering – “On the page” or “From the book”

Level 2: Processing – “Between the lines” or “From the book and brain”

Level 3: Applying – “Off the page” or “From the brain”

Articulation: The interrelationship and continuity of content, curriculum, and instruction across different courses, either within the same grade level (horizontal articulation) or from one grade level to the next (vertical articulation).

AVID Coordinator: A strong advocate who is committed to the philosophy of AVID, including the support for equity and access for all students to advanced classes. He/she also leads in building an active, participatory AVID Site Team, engaging the members in the collection of evidence, and providing data for certification purposes. The AVID Coordinator advocates and provides professional learning regarding AVID methodologies for other staff members of the school and district.

AVID Elective Students: Students who have the desire to attend college and are capable of completing rigorous courses, but may fall short of reaching their potential and would benefit from AVID Elective support for college readiness. Typically, AVID Elective students are underserved students in secondary institutions. AVID places these students in Advanced Placement® or honors courses without remediation.

AVID Leadership Trainings: Approved AVID Leadership trainings include Summer Institute Leadership strands, AVID Leadership for College Readiness (LCR), Leadership for AVID Schoolwide Path trainings, and/or other comparable AVID Divisional Leadership trainings facilitated by AVID Center divisional staff.

AVID Site Team: A voluntary team of administrators, counselors, teachers, and others who work together to close the achievement gap and provide college readiness for all students by implementing AVID across their school site.

AVID Strategies: Practices and methodologies, applicable in any content area, that support students in developing the college readiness skills of writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading, which allow students to have access to rigorous curricula.

AVID-Trained: When reporting this metric, indicate the percentage of staff on your campus who have attended AVID Summer Institute (SI) or Path to Schoolwide, which are the most comprehensive AVID training experiences. Additional trainings to support meeting this metric might include attendance at divisional trainings equaling 12 hours (facilitated by a program manager or consultant) and/or a minimum of 12 hours of training provided by a district director or staff developer using modules from the AVID Professional Learning Modules Library (available on MyAVID). The hours may be earned consecutively over time, to total a minimum of 12 hours.

AVID Tutor: AVID tutors are trained in the AVID tutorial process, support students’ WICOR skill development, and serve as a role model for AVID Elective students. Options for AVID tutors include, in preferential order:

Current college students

Cross-aged students or adults

Collaborative Study Groups: A structure by which students and/or teachers identify a specific question from a content area, collaborate to develop and deepen their understanding through Socratic inquiry, and apply their new learning in order to enhance classroom performance.

College-Going Environment: A school climate in which college attendance and enrollment are evident, and students are actively guided by faculty and staff to meet college readiness requirements.

College Readiness: The state in which students can qualify for and succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing college courses leading to a baccalaureate degree without the need for remedial or developmental coursework (Conley, 2007).

College Readiness Requirements: The level of preparation a student needs to enroll and succeed—without remediation—in credit-bearing general education coursework at a college or university (Conley, 2007).

College Talk: A discussion where faculty and staff share their own experiences, including their college decision-making process and financial aid information, which imparts confidence in students that college pathways are open to all of them (MacDonald & Dorr, 2006).

Courses of Rigor: For Middle/Junior High Schools, a rigorous sequence of courses that may include taking a higher level class than expected beyond the current grade level; taking advanced, honors, Pre-AP^® level, or Project Lead the Way courses; higher-level math courses such as Common Core Math 8, Algebra, and Geometry; and/or moving from an English Learner special education designated class to a college-prep course. For High Schools, a rigorous sequence of courses that may include continuing with a course sequence beyond what is required (e.g., third year of a world language); taking a higher level class than expected beyond the current grade level; taking AP, IB^®, Cambridge, or Project Lead the Way courses; engaging in dual enrollment (e.g., taking high school courses and college courses simultaneously); taking honors or advanced courses; and/or taking online acceleration courses.

Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT): The use of digital tools to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information to successfully function in a knowledge economy.

Master Schedule: The course schedule for the entire school, including its associated terms, periods, and days, that is accessible to teachers, parents, and students.

Open and Equal Access: Policies, procedures, and processes that ensure student enrollment and success in rigorous courses of their choice.

Philosophical Chairs: An inquiry-based strategy that is built on a prompt and to which contradictory positions exist; participants address these positions through deep, academic discourse in a structured formal process.

Professional Learning Community (PLC): A group of teachers and/or school leaders who meet regularly, work collaboratively, and share expertise in order to promote professional growth, enhance teaching skills, and improve students’ academic performance.

Rigor: Using inquiry-based collaborative strategies to challenge and engage students in content resulting in increasingly complex levels of understanding.

Scaffolding: In education, scaffolding refers to a variety of instructional techniques used to move students progressively toward stronger understanding and, ultimately, greater independence in the learning process. (Definition sourced from edglossary.org).

School Leadership Team (SLT): A team on campus that includes the principal, representation from the AVID Site Team, and other staff involved with initiatives that support the implementation of AVID Schoolwide.

Socratic Seminar: A structured collaborative dialogue, focusing on a common text or resource, which students have analyzed and for which they have prepared questions to spur the discussion.

Stakeholders: Students, faculty and staff, parents, families, and community members who have a vested interest in the school’s outcomes and in the academic success of its students.

Structures for Collaboration: Strategies designed to support collaboration in which students effectively share information amongst peers by working in various group configurations to engage with subject matter.

WICOR: Key methodologies used in an AVID Elementary and Elective classroom and AVID Schoolwide site; stands for Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading.

Writing can serve as a record of one’s thinking or as a learning, public, and personal communication tool. Students who write consider their audience and purpose, engage in various writing processes to address specific situations, support their thinking, and demonstrate understanding. The AVID curriculum supports writing through the use of focused note-taking, learning logs, quickwrites and reflections, process writing, peer evaluation, and authentic writing.

Inquiry is uncovering one’s understanding, asking critical questions, and engaging in thinking, learning, and discussion. Students who inquire analyze and synthesize materials or ideas, clarify their own thinking, probe others’ thinking, and work through ambiguity. The AVID curriculum supports inquiry through the use of skilled questioning techniques, Costa’s Levels of Thinking, Socratic Seminars, tutorials, investigations, and guiding questions.

Collaboration is teamwork with shared responsibility; sharing of ideas, information, and opinions; and formal and informal discussion. Students work together toward a common goal, develop positive interdependence, work in focused study groups, and support the learning of others through inquiry. The AVID curriculum supports collaboration through Socratic Seminars, tutorials, Philosophical Chairs, group activities and projects, peer editing groups, and service learning projects.

Organization is managing materials and practicing methodical study habits; planning and prioritizing school, work, and social tasks; engaging in mental preparation and goal-setting; and strategically and intentionally taking responsibility for one’s own learning. Students who organize develop and use processes, procedures, and tools to study effectively; manage their time through prioritizing and goal-setting; are prepared for courses; participate during instruction; interact with instructors; self-direct, self-evaluate, self-monitor, and self-advocate. The AVID curriculum supports organization through the use of binders and organizational tools, calendars, planners, agendas, graphic organizers, a focused note-taking system, tutorials and study groups, and project planning and SMART goals.

Reading is strategically gaining meaning, understanding, and knowledge from print and other media; it is purpose-driven and interactive. Students who read understand text structures; apply prior knowledge; make connections to other texts, self, and the world; make predictions and ask questions; and create visual images as they read. The AVID curriculum supports reading through the use of deep reading strategies, note-taking, graphic organizers, vocabulary building, summarizing, and academic thinking skills.