As a member of the BERC team, I visited many schools this year for various studies and program evaluations. Of course no two schools are exactly the same, so I had the opportunity to witness an array of programs, plans, and goals dedicated to student success and to preparing students for their future. Due largely to my background in school counseling, the topic of college and career readiness is one that I am very familiar with and one I very much enjoyed taking a closer look at. One such program I have enjoyed studying is AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) a post-secondary college readiness system. This program uniquely focuses on under-served students while also being designed to increase school-wide learning. We have gathered information about the implementation of AVID at various schools through a variety of means, including focus groups with staff members, parents, and students, classroom observations, transcript analysis, high school graduation and college attendance rates, , and student and staff surveys. As you can probably guess, there were different implementation strategies and varying degrees of commitment and enthusiasm toward the program in each school we visited, but there were several practices that I observed that appeared to be widely successful and that could be applied to other programs as well. The following three practices are ones that I, as an educator, believe to be best practices for supporting students in their education journey from high school to college and beyond.
Community
Many schools that implemented the AVID program grouped their AVID students and instructors together throughout their time in middle or high school or, in some cases, throughout both. This strategy was praised by students, staff members, and parents as it was deemed to have a positive impact by creating a sense of community within the AVID program; an “AVID family” as it was sometimes called. This really got me thinking about the need for this community feeling in a school, a sense of belonging and safety for students. I can definitely think back on my time in school and remember the difference it made for me when I had consistent support. Having an advisor throughout college who got to know me and learned what I wanted in my future and having a cohort of students that I went through my graduate school experience with, those are the times I felt the most supported and comfortable in my educational career. I felt that sense of community, and having others who also cared about my future really inspired me and pushed me to do my best. I believe the AVID program’s emphasis on building a sense of community is a strength of the program, and one that could be utilized by other programs as well.
(AVID) Strategies
The many AVID strategies (e.g. Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Reading [WICR], Socratic seminars, and Costas Questioning) are targeted to prepare students for future learning and to provide them with college-readiness skills. I have witnessed students learning important college-readiness skills through AVID strategies that prepared them to think critically, to ask higher order questions, and to work collaboratively with their peers. I have also witnessed in some schools that many AVID strategies have spread school-wide, increasing the scope of impact. I was told by some teachers this year that they love having AVID students in their classroom who know how to take notes, how to participate in discussions, and who can help other students in the classroom with these skills. In fact, early results of the studies we have conducted on the AVID program show that these strategies can increase Powerful Teaching and Learning in classrooms.
College and Career Readiness
AVID is just one of many post-secondary college readiness system that is implemented in the hopes of better preparing students for their future. The AVID strategies, a personalized environment, a community focus, and a push toward taking academically challenging classes are all geared toward helping students thrive in their future college and career experiences. Whenever I witnessed a school implementing AVID or another similar program focused on college and career readiness I also saw a desire to prepare students for their future. I believe the sense of community and support that a program like AVID provides and the strategies that prepare a student for college and career help students toward reaching their full potential and a thriving future. This is one of my personal goals as an educator, and it has been very inspiring to witness practices that are succeeding.
Although no two schools are exactly alike, I think all schools can take these three fundamental practices and make them their own for the betterment of their students.
Although no two schools are exactly alike, I think all schools can take these three fundamental practices and make them their own for the betterment of their students.
Bekah Sieg, M.Ed. Research Assistant
Rebekah holds a Master of Education in School Counseling and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Seattle Pacific University. Rebekah spent 200+ hours working as a school counseling practicum student at an elementary school in Lake Washington School District and 600+ hours working as a school counseling intern in the Edmonds School District at the middle school level. During this time Rebekah provided individual and group counseling for students and worked closely with administrators, teachers, caregivers, and community members in order to support student learning, academic success, and well-being. Rebekah also has experience working as a tutor to high-needs students in the Seattle School District. As a tutor she provided support for teachers, helped build students’ self-efficacy, and advocated for their academic success. Rebekah is looking forward to increasing her educational research experience at The BERC Group and to making a difference in the field of education.
