SCOE | Capital Region AVID Center

Capital Region AVID Center

AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is an elective and schoolwide program that promotes increased college eligibility and access to rigorous curriculum. Serving Alpine, Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba Counties, the AVID elective offers students a clear-cut path to college, beginning in their middle school years.

Trained tutors, participation in rigorous academic classes, the AVID elective curriculum, and the AVID elective social support structure prepare students for academic success. The schoolwide program restructures the teaching methodology of the school to make college preparatory curricula accessible to almost all students. AVID supports staff with an articulated professional development program including quarterly workshops, summer institute training, coaching, mentoring and technical support.

Capital Region AVID Center
10474 Mather Boulevard
P.O. Box 269003
Sacramento, CA 95826-9003
(916) 228-2761, Fax: (916) 228-2404

Primary Contacts

Christopher Scott, Director
(916) 228-2655
cscott@scoe.net

Lindsay Paoli, Coordinator
(916) 228-2654
lpaoli@scoe.net

Grace Sauser, Project Specialist
(916) 228-3907
gsauser@scoe.net

The Challenge

How to increase the college-going rate for students from low income and minority families is a significant policy dilemma. Expanding their participation will strengthen our workforce, economy and democracy. And it is the right thing to do.

The Solution

AVID is designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges. Although AVID serves all students, it focuses on the least served students in the academic middle. The formula is simple — raise expectations and provide support.

How It Works

AVID students are enrolled in a school's toughest classes, such as Advanced Placement, and receive support in an academic elective class called AVID and taught within the school day by a trained AVID teacher.

Results

AVID is used in 1,902 schools in 30 states and 15 countries, with 105,000 students enrolled in the AVID elective. Ninety-five percent of AVID students reported enrolling in college.

77% enrolled in four-year institutions and 17% in community colleges.

This is a four-year college-going rate three times higher than the California state average (CREATE, 1999). The national average for four-year college enrollment is 35%.

Impacts on Minority Students

Latino AVID graduates attend four-year colleges at almost two times the national average, and the program's African-American graduates 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. (Mehan, 1996.)

What Others Say

AVID was named one of the nation's top 10 educational organizations by Worth Magazine for 2002. AVID Founder and Executive Director Mary Catherine Swanson was CNN and Time Magazine's 2001 America's Best Teacher. She also received the prestigious McGraw Prize in Education. AVID has been featured on 60 Minutes II and in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and hundreds of other newspapers.

What's Next for AVID

AVID continues to expand throughout the country and the world at an astonishing rate. A major project is in the Midwest, where grant money from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation is enabling AVID to help students in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri. AVID continues to strengthen its partnership with the College Board in an effort to open access to Advanced Placement tests to all students.