Littleton Public Schools Creates A.V.I.D Learners
Written by : the Rose Foundation
It's unusual for middle- school students to gush about their classes or teachers. But it's even more unusual for students to make a special trip during their summer break to do so. " I love the program and it's helped me so much," says Danielle, a student at Powell Middle School in Littleton. " I went from almost failing to being on the honor roll in the fall."||
Her classmate Quinn concures. " I felt like I was alot smarter after this year [ the end of seventh grade ] than I did after sixth grade," he says. "I went from one or two A's to almost all A's. Mrs Graham made it easy." Mrs.Graham is the A.V.I.D teacher at Powell.
The two eighth-grades are talking about a program called A.V.I.D ( Advancement Via Individual Determination). A.V.I.D is a national program for fifth-to-tweleveth grade students who are in the academic middle- neither "gifted"nor in need of remidial teaching. Linda Arnold, assistant principal at Powell, describes it this way: " It is for the kids who have great potential but aren't reaching it."
A.V.I.D students typically hav a grade-point averages averages between 2.0 and 3.5. Although 3.5 might seem high for an "average"student, the determining factor is more about wether that student is preforming to his or her abilities. The other important consideration is a disire to improve; students voluntarily give up an elective, typicaly gives up a more"fun" class, to be part of the program.
Among other activities, during thier daily A.V.I.D class class period students learn orginizational and studys skills and get academic help from each other and paid adult tutors. The tutors use Scoratic-style questioning to help students apply thier own critcal thinking skills to determine what they need to learn and how best to learn it.
The effects can be dramatic. "There's been a great deal of confidence-boosting," says Kathy, Quinns mother. Talking about Quinn's formaly less-than-perfect orginizational skills and last minute, and late-night homework sessions, she laughlingly adds, " Our nights are so much more plesensent now."
Across the nation, A.V.I.D students are typically the first in thier families to attend college, and many are from low-income or minority families. While Littleton Public Schools' students tend to come more affluent and educated backgrounds, Powell Middle School Principal Becky Friend still saw that A.V.I.D could have a positiveeffect, bringing the idea with her when she came to Littleton from a lower-income school in Aurora.
A.V.I.D has now sread to 105,000 students in more than 1,900 middle and high in 30 states and 15 countries. In Littleton, a $100,900 grant over three years from Rose Community Foundation is helping the district train more teachers so that A.V.I.D can expand to its lowest-income middle schools, with the eventual goal of making it a district-wide program.
Danielle's parents are so convinced of A.V.I.D's positive effects on their daughter, they are strongly thinking of choosing their daughter's high school based on the program's availability. " A.V.I.D turned Danielle around 180 degrees," says her father Rick. " I think it's really changed her overall impression of herself," says Danielle's mother, Shelly. "The most important thing is, I think she's proud of herself."