The AVID Student

Advancement Via Individual Determination, AVID, is a seventh through twelfth grade program that prepares students in the academic middle for admission to a four-year college or university. Students take an AVID elective course throughout middle school and high school that provides them with the skills needed to be successful in advancing academically with the ultimate goal of attending college. For more than 25 years AVID has been instrumental in preparing students for success in higher education.

The core component of the AVID Program is the AVID elective, which supports students as they challenge themselves in more rigorous classes. Students are taught study skills, note taking, time management, writing and research skills, while being immersed in a college-going culture. The class also includes tutoring sessions that are led by college students and provide support for success in the academically rigorous curriculum. Additionally, the AVID class provides access to information about colleges and universities through field trips, guest speakers, college tutors, scholarship opportunities and college admission requirement information.

AVID brings research‐based strategies and curriculum to educational institutions in elementary, secondary, and higher education. The AVID System annually provides 60,000+ educators with training and methodologies that develop students’ critical thinking, literacy, and math skills across all content areas throughout the entire campus, in what we call Schoolwide AVID.

AVID teaches skills and behaviors for academic success, provides intensive support with tutorials and strong student/teacher relationships, creates a positive peer group for students, develops a sense of hope for personal achievement gained through hard work and determination. As a result, policymakers and educators now consider AVID's mission to be an essential strategy for closing the achievement gap, making college access and success available to ALL students.

AVID targets students in the academic middle—B, C, and even D students—who have the desire to go to college and the willingness to work hard. These are students who are capable of completing rigorous curriculum but are falling short of their potential. Typically, they will be the first in their families to attend college, and many are from low‐income or minority families. AVID pulls these students out of their unchallenging courses and puts them on the college track: acceleration instead of remediation.

Not only are students enrolled in their school’s toughest classes, such as honors and Advanced Placement®, but also in the AVID Elective. For one period a day, they learn organizational and study skills, work on critical thinking and asking probing questions, get academic help from peers and college tutors, and participate in enrichment and motivational activities that make college seem attainable. Their self‐images improve, and they become academically successful leaders and role models for other students.

AVID has a rigorous recruitment process when it comes to enrolling students into the AVID elective classes. Students whom are recommended must undergo a process that includes application, data evaluation, interview, and parent notification. We are asking a lot of our students enrolled within the AVID elective classes as a result each year the students are required to complete their AVID agreement acknowledging that they are aware of the expectations of the course.