Deborah George, director of gifted & talented/advanced academics/AVID, and Paula Barnhouse, program director for P-16 Parent/Student Counseling, presented certification plaques and banners during staff development sessions at the schools August 16-19.
According to George and Barnhouse, AVID is a college-readiness system designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges. AVID has been implemented both nationally and internationally at 4,500 schools in 45 states and 16 countries. George said that although AVID serves all students, the program’s focus is those in the least-served “academic middle”. In addition to the certified schools of Irving High, Austin, Crockett and de Zavala, AVID will be implemented at all seven middle schools and at Nimitz High School
The first set of students participating in AVID graduated from Irving High in 2010. All 16 of the participating seniors were accepted to a four-year university or college, and 14 of those students are registered to attend in the fall. Five AVID seniors received Irving Schools Foundation Scholarships and most students also received additional scholarships or financial aid. Additionally, the TAKS passing rate of AVID students was higher than the school average, and attendance rate was 3 percent higher than the school average.
Austin, Crockett and de Zavala have completed their second year of AVID implementation, and became certified after meeting rigid national AVID standards. The schools were evaluated on 11 essentials that measure the fidelity of the AVID system at that campus. In 2009-2010, 258 seventh and eighth grade students were enrolled in the AVID program at these middle schools. As with Irving High, middle school AVID students scored higher on TAKS tests, Algebra 1 scores were higher, and attendance rates were better than the school average.
