AVID

Welcome to the C&I Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) page.  

AVID is a school wide instructional system for students in 7- 12th grade. The AVID College Readiness System is designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges and succeed in higher education. The school wide system creates or enhances a college-going culture at the school to meet the needs of all students. The formula is simple and has worked for more than 30 years – – Using the AVID support system, raise expectations of students and they will rise to the challenge.

The mission of AVID is to help close the achievement gap and prepare students for success in a global society. Improving students’ critical thinking, reading, and writing abilities allows them to participate and succeed in courses of high rigor and better prepares them for postsecondary access and success. Building cultures of college and career readiness, and confidence in the ability of all students to achieve their dreams creates a momentum to transform schools, and that is exponentially powerful and positive. AVID closes the expectation and opportunity gaps that students face, and in doing so, transforms lives, transforms campuses, and transforms our community.

The AVID College Readiness System believes that all students are capable of completing rigorous curriculum given the appropriate skills and support. The AVID Elective class serves students in intermediate and high school. AVID Elementary is a pilot program at Pinedale Elementary, and incorporates kindergarten through sixth grade. At the heart of the system are proven AVID methodologies based on WICOR: Writing to learn; emphasis on Inquiry; Collaborative approach; Organizational skills, and critical Reading.

“School wide” achievement results from the professional learning experience by teachers, counselors, administrators, and district administrators, and through the success of the AVID students. “School wide” AVID reflects systemic changes in attitude; a strong AVID system transforms the leadership, systems, instruction, and culture of a school, ensuring college readiness for all students.

 

AVID was created by one exceptional teacher who recognized that students from low-income families without a college-going tradition could succeed in high school and be college ready.

In 1980, Mary Catherine Swanson was teaching English at Clairemont High School when San Diego schools were being desegregated. Students from urban schools were being bused to the suburbs. Many teachers thought that these students wouldn’t be able to succeed, but Mary Catherine believed that they just needed the opportunity and the right support.

She recruited 32 low-income, diverse students with average grades (C students) and enrolled them in college preparatory classes and an elective class she designed to develop study skills, provide tutoring in collaborative study groups, and focus on writing for learning.  The simple formula remains the same: raise expectations of students and, with the AVID support system in place, they will rise to the challenge.