Pushing AVID program into middle schools ensures college preparation

The mission of the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program is to “close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society.”

In a dawning age like this one, when nations half a world away are providing the assembly-line and factory jobs that once sustained America’s middle class, when students in other nations are claiming academic superiority, what’s more important than that?

Success in a global society today demands a standing commitment to higher educational goals. It demands that of our schools and of our students. And, as we recognize increasingly, it calls for higher educational goals earlier.

That’s why the Riverside County Superintendent of Schools commends those districts which have extended the AVID program from high school down into middle schools. Particular congratulations are due to those where middle school programs have won AVID National Model Demonstration School standing. Those districts are Desert Sands, Hemet, Riverside and Alvord.

AVID has been a powerful success among its original target audience, high school students for whom college once might have been considered a longshot. In fact, six Riverside County districts have AVID national demonstration high schools, too: Palo Verde, Hemet, Val Verde, Moreno Valley, Alvord and Riverside. Riverside Unified boasts the largest and most successful AVID program in the country, at Ramona High.

But why wait until high school to plant the expectation – not just the dream – of higher education? Students who grow up believing that high school is their portal to education, not their exit door, are most likely to graduate and continue their learning. The earlier that notion is created and nurtured, the better.

In Riverside County, 4,678 middle school students are now enrolled in the AVID elective program. Of those, 74% complete Algebra 1 with a grade of “C” or better; 87% are recommended for a college-preparatory sequence of courses in high school. And when graduation day rolls around, 99.5% of them will march in commencement; 87% will be accepted to a four-year university.

Those statistics bear out the value of bringing AVID to younger students. Middle School AVID motivates students to hold college as their educational goal. It sets them up to be successful on a college preparatory track in high school that will eventually lead to a college degree. It does that through its focus on the building blocks for academic success: reading, writing, critical thinking, communication, note-taking, organization and study habits. With support and mentoring, these AVID middle-schoolers arrive at high school believing in themselves as students. That’s the key to lifelong learning and a brighter future for them all.