Closing the Achievement Gap with the AVID College Readiness System

1. Closing the Achievement Gap with the AVID College Readiness System Dr. Wendell J. Brown, Texas State Director

3. Who is in the Middle? Think about students with whom you have been associated that you consider to be “in the middle.” What is it about these students that puts them “in the middle?”

4. B, C, and D Students • Falling short of their potential • Capable of completing rigorous curriculum • First in family to attend college • Historically underrepresented in four-year colleges • and universities • Economically disadvantaged Who are they? Students in the academic middle

5. Challenges and Choices: Raising Achievement and Closing Gaps

6. Low Expectations Underlying Everything Is the Cycle of Low Expectations Poor Test Results Less Challenging Courses Low Level Assignments/ Instruction

7. National Rates National Rates Race and ethnic graduation rates based on the Urban Institute’s Cumulative Promotion Index. Disability graduation rate is from National Council on Disability, 24th Annual Report to Congress. Realize the Dream, National Report Card on Education and Equal Opportunity, accessed 10/3/2005: http://realizethedream.civilrights.org/scorecards/national.cfm

8. Of 100 Kindergarteners… U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. March Current Population Surveys, 1971-2001, In The Condition of Education, 2002.

9. College Graduates by Age 24 Young people from High 75% Income families Young people from Low 9% Income families Tom Mortenson, Postsecondary Educational Opportunity.

10. Nearly 75% of high school graduates enter colleges, • but only 12% of these students have completed a significant college-prep curriculum.* • Consequences: • High percentages of students requiring remediation • Low bachelor’s degree completion rates The Reality... Kati Haycock, Closing the Achievement Gap, Educational Leadership, 2007.

11. Students Who Require Remediation Are Less Likely to Earn a Degree Cliff Adelman, Cliff in Crosstalk. Vol. 6 No.3, Summer 1998.

12. Challenging Curriculum Results in Lower Failure Rates, Even for Lowest Achievers Ninth-grade English performance, by high/low level course, and eighth-grade reading achievement quartiles SREB, “Middle Grades to High School: Mending a Weak Link”. Unpublished Draft, 2002.

13. In the end, we have to make different choices. Achievement and opportunity gaps come from choices that educators and policymakers make. Choices about: • How much to spend on whom • What to expect of different schools and students • Who teaches whom • How to organize classrooms and schools

14. To develop an equitable College-Going Culture in secondary schools… Change Sought... “College by design, not by chance”

15. Meeting the Challenge • To help all students do rigorous work and meet or exceed high standards in each content area, we must help students: • Develop as readers and writers. • Develop deep content knowledge. • Know content specific strategies for reading, writing, thinking and talking. • Develop habits, skills, and behaviors to use knowledge and skills.

16. Transcript Study: “the single biggest predictor of college success is the quality and intensity of students’ high school curriculum” Academic Preparation Cliff Adelman, Answers in the Tool Box, U.S. Department of Education, 1999.

17. What is Academic Rigor? Rigor is the goal of helping students develop the capacity to understand content that is complex, ambiguous, provocative, and personally or emotionally challenging. Taking rigorous courses opens doors! Teaching What Matters Most; Standards and Strategies for Raising Student Achievement by Strong, Silver and Perini, ASCD, 2001.

18. What Rigor Looks Like for ALL Students… • qualitatively different academic environments • no predetermined limits • development of deep understanding • consistent engagement in sophisticated • investigations • building inquiry-based learning communities

19. What Rigor Looks Like for ALL Students… • building upon interests, strengths and personal goals • teachers and students as risk-takers • creation of life-long learners and thinkers • encouragement of independent investigation • acceptance of responsibility

20. Academically well-prepared students are likely to graduate from college regardless of their social background. Unprepared students of all backgrounds are not likely to do so. Academic Preparation Adelman, 1999 American Educator, 2004

21. AP and College Success Students who take AP courses and exams are much more likely than their peers to complete a bachelor’s degree in four years or less. Camara, Wayne (2003). College Persistence, Graduation, and Remediation. College Board Research Notes (RN-19). New York, NY: College Board.

22. Impact of AP on 5-Year College Graduation Rates Chrys Dougherty, Lynn Mellor, and ShulingJian, The Relationship Between Advanced Placement and College Graduation (National Center for Educational Accountability, 2005)

23. Advancement Via Individual Determination [L. avidus]: eager for knowledge

24. Superman – Gifted & Talented • Superman is naturally Gifted & Talented. • He does not need any special help or toys and gadgets • to be successful. • He just flies and is blessed with powers naturally. • Batman – AVID Students • Batman is just as capable as Superman, but he needs: • Alfred the Butler (AVID Teacher), • Special toys and gadgets (AVID Classroom and WICR), and • Robin (AVID tutors and peers) Superman vs. Batman

25. Classroom curriculum • Academic instruction • Instructional tools • Tutorial support • Student connections • Professional development AVID College Readiness System Components

26. The AVID Elective Curriculum

27. WICR • Writing to learn • Inquiry • Collaboration • Reading to learn • Study Skills Academic Instruction

28. Instructional Tools • Cornell Note Taking • Planners/Time Management • Binders/Organizational Skills • AVID Curriculum Library

29. Tutorial Process • Collaborative Tutorial • Socratic method • Costa’s levels of thinking • 1 trained tutor for every 7 students

30. Colleges and Universities AVID Support Staff Community Parents AVID Coordinator (AVID Elective Teacher) Student Student Administration Tutors Subject Area Teachers Counselors Collaborative Support for the Success of Students

31. Teacher/adult advocate • Supportive peer groups • Community service activities • Extracurricular activities and leadership opportunities • Motivational activities • Career and college exploration Student Connections

32. Professional Development • Summer Institute • District Director training • Content area PATH trainings • Tutor training • Regional workshops

33. Teachers benefit from... • Involvement in a systemic and curricular approach • Initial in-depth staff development and ongoing • support in regions and districts • Focus on results • Accountability • Site team work • Increased leadership

34. AVID and Classroom Instruction That Works Effective Instruction by Meta-Analysis • examines average effect of 1251 experimental studies • focuses on instructional strategies with high probability of • success for all pupils, K-12, in all subjects • expresses results as effect size • (An effect size of 1 = 34 percentile point gain) Classroom Instruction That Works (2001, ASCD) , Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, page 4-7.

35. Categories of Instructional Strategies That Affect Student Achievement • Identifying similarities and differences 45%* • Summarizing and note-taking 34% • Reinforcing effort & providing recognition 29% • Homework and practice 28% • Nonlinguistic representations 27% • Cooperative learning 27% • Setting objectives & providing feedback 23% • Generating and testing hypotheses 23% • Questions, cues, & advance organizers 22% • *Increase in achievement (percentile) of the experimental group compared to the control group Classroom Instruction That Works (2001, ASCD) , Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, page 7.

36. Accelerates under-achieving students into more rigorous courses • Teaches academic skills not targeted in other classes • Provides intensive support with in-class tutors and a strong student/teacher relationship • Creates a positive peer group for students • Develops a sense of hope for personal achievement gained through hard work and determination Why AVID Works

37. In AVID students are challenged with rigorous curriculum, but they are also taught: • Leadership Skills • Study Skills • Organizational Skills • Goal Setting • Student Success Skills • Social Skills AVID Teaches the “Hidden” Curriculum

38. AVID Strengthens • Elementary/middle school/high school/post-secondary articulation • Accountability • Comprehensive professional development • A district-wide focus on results

39. Builds Partnerships: • Collaboration with College Board/International Baccalaureate Organization • Partners in state and federal grants • Partners with community organizations • Partners with parents • Partners with counseling programs • Collaboration with college outreach programs How AVID Supports School Wide Change

40. How AVID Supports School Wide Change • Creates a College Going Culture: • Site team focused on a college-going culture • College field trips and research projects • College tutors as role models • College going data to guide district plan • Guest speakers • Increased AP and Pre-AP participation, IB and Pre-IB, and Duel Enrollment courses especially for minority students • Implements research based, best instructional practices for all students in the school

41. The success of AVID persists despite differences in: school location school ethnic distribution school poverty level

42. AVID A student’s perspective

43. AVID in Texas • San Antonio ISD implemented AVID in1997. • In 2009/2010, AVID is in more than 105 school districts and charter programs, serving approximately 800 campuses. • The Texas AVID program is the second largest in the nation. • AVID is a state approved, innovative elective course with PEIMS numbers for AVID I – IV. • AVID Professional Development trainings have been approved to receive continuing professional development credit by the Texas State Board of Educator Certification.

44. AVID Results in Texas • AVID seniors had a 97.7% graduation rate. • AVID seniors boasted an SAT and/or ACT taking rate of 86.2%. • 91.8% of AVID graduates completed four-year college entrance requirements. • 77.5% of seniors who applied to 4-year college • and were accepted. (n = 1680) Data gathered in 2008-09 about AVID’s 2009 seniors. n = 1680

45. AVID in Texas (2007-08) with AVID 2008-09 2008-09 AVID 21% 62% 14% 61.5% State of Texas Demographics AVID Student Demographics

46. AVID Results in Texas In August of 2007, Northside ISD, in San Antonio, implemented AVID at the middle school level.

47. AVID Results in Texas In just one year, Northside AVID students have shown tremendous gains in the number of students scoring “Commended” on the TAKS Reading Test.

48. AVID Graduates Nationally • 99% plan to enroll in a college or university • 69% plan to enroll in a four-year university • 30% plan to enroll in a two-year college • 59% of parents had no college level experience AVID Center Data Collection System, 2006-2007 Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole percent

49. Section 39.114 High School Allotment states that • districts and campuses must use funds to: • Implement college readiness programs to prepare underachieving students for college • Implement programs that encourage students toward advanced academic opportunities, such as dual credit and AP • Implement programs that give students opportunities to take academically rigorous course work, including four years of math and science Using High School Allotment Funds

50. Section 39.114 High School Allotment states that • districts and campuses must use funds to: • Implement programs that align the curriculum for grades 6 through 12 with postsecondary curriculum • Implement other high school completion and success initiatives in grades 6 through 12 as approved by the commissioner • AVID meets ALL HB1 requirements Using High School Allotment Funds