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, 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" in their educational achievement, those traditionally underrepresented in post-secondary education, or who would become the first generation in their families to attend
post-secondary school. 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, Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation funded 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 with in September 2005 at the Grade 9 level.  The first Cohort of AVID students completed Grade 12 in June 2009 and the second will complete in June 2010.

In November 2008, the BC AVID Pilot Project - Early Implementation Report was released.  An interim impact report will be released in 2010 and a final report in 2012.  These will be posted on the SRDC website.

Enquiries about the BC AVID program should be directed to:

Stan Watchorn
BC AVID Project Leader
swatchorn@sd78.bc.ca
604-869-9971

Enquiries about the evaluation research should be directed to:

Reuben Ford
Research Director
Social Research and Demonstration Corporation
rford@bc.srdc.org
604-601-4082