Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)

BC AVID Pilot Sites

The BC AVID Pilot Sites are the result of a partnership between the Ministry of Education, the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation (CMSF), the Social Research Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) and the AVID Center, in San Diego, California. The partnership supports the Ministry goals of improving student achievement, and promoting a high quality performance-based education system.

The AVID program targets students considered to be "academically in the middle", underrepresented, or first generation post-secondary. It helps them work towards improving their academic records and supports them in planning and preparing for post-secondary studies. Key characteristics of the AVID program include:

  • an AVID "Elective" course in which AVID students learn Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration and Reading skills (WIC-R) conducive to achieving optimum learning outcomes,
  • AVID tutorials to reinforce WIC-R learning techniques for use in all courses,
  • the use of Socratic teaching methods,
  • monitoring of student progress through the AVID data system and analysis of results to identify stumbling blocks, and
  • a holistic approach using AVID Site Teams to assist students in overcoming stumbling blocks. Site Teams may include teachers, administrators, parents, counsellors and AVID tutors.

Since its inception in San Diego, California in 1980, the AVID program has been credited with:

  • increasing academic records,
  • increasing graduation rates,
  • increasing enrolment in post-secondary academic programs,
    and
  • narrowing the achievement gap.

To evaluate the potential of AVID in a British Columbia context, CMSF is funding a five year research study involving 17 pilot sites, selected through a Request for Proposal process. The participating schools spent the 2004/05 school year planning and training staff in preparation for the first offered AVID classes, which began in September 2005.

An early implementation report of BC AVID is scheduled for mid-2008 and an interim impact report is scheduled for the end of 2009. These will be posted at the SRDC web site.

For more information about BC AVID, including professional development opportunities, please refer to the BC AVID web site hosted by School District 33 (Chilliwack), the lead district in this project. Enquiries should be directed to:

Stan Watchorn
BC AVID Lead District Director
Chilliwack School District
stan_watchorn@sd33.bc.ca
(604) 792-1321