About AVID

One way that the Paradise Valley Unified School District is fulfilling its mission to and ensuring the educational success of students is through AVID – Advancement Via Individual Determination – an academic elective especially for those students in the middle who were not previously successful in a college prep program but who show academic potential.

“When students who are overlooked as
having college potential are supported with
the academic and social skills they
need, their lives can change dramatically.”

— Mary Catherine Swanson, AVID Founder

AVID was developed based on the philosophy of access to rigor with support and hard work. It helps students improve their academic record and begin college preparation with the goal of enrolling in and graduating from a four-year college. With additional support, a commitment to achieve, and the development of skills and knowledge, students are prepared to be successful at the highest levels of study, up to and including pre-AP,  honors, and Advanced Placement courses. The AVID Essentials include the WIC instructional strategies – writing,  inquiry, collaboration – and a framework of support methodologies develop academic skills, while AVID support structures enable students to become competitive in the college application process.

The AVID academic elective is a regularly scheduled college preparatory class that has at its core a curriculum of essential instructional methodologies for students in grades six through twelve. In addition to the AVID elective course, students are enrolled in honors (at the high school level) or college prep English, mathematics, social science and language classes required for admission to colleges and universities. The AVID class supports student success in these challenging academic classes by teaching study skills, writing skills and critical thinking.

Tutors work with students to help them with problems they may encounter in these challenging courses. AVID  students are expected to maintain C’s or higher in order to meet the four-year college entrance requirements.

What differentiates AVID from other educational reform programs is its success rate? Since 1990, nearly 15,000 AVID students have graduated from high school and gone on to college. According to research on AVID by the University of California, San Diego, high school students enrolled in the program for at least three years graduate and enter college at a 93% rate, 75% higher than the national average.

Over 60% of AVID’s graduates enroll in four-year colleges and universities. The national average for four-year college enrollment is 35%. Latino AVID graduates are going on to four-year colleges at almost two times the national average, and the program’s African American graduates are going on to four-year colleges at one and  a half times the national average. After two years, 89% of the AVID students in one four-year university were still enrolled and on track for graduation; this retention rate is far higher than the college average.

At the present time, the following PVUSD middle schools have AVID programs: Greenway and Vista Verde. High Schools with the AVID include North Canyon and Paradise Valley.  Shadow Mountain will be an AVID school during the 2007-2008 school year. Students can enter the program as early as the 6th grade and remain in it through the twelfth. It is recommended that students enter the AVID program no later than 10th grade.

If parents would like more information about AVID, they may contact their child’s school guidance counselor, the Middle/K-8 and High School Offices, and/or visit “AVID Resources” on the AVID Web site at www.avidcenter.org .

Participating Schools —

AVID Curriculum —

The AVID curriculum, based on twenty-four years of research and rigorous standards, is developed by middle and senior high school teachers in collaboration with college professors, and emphasizes teaching pedagogy which focuses on writing-to-learn, inquiry, collaboration and reading for comprehension. This allows college preparatory classes to be accessible to all students.