Students in middle get an extra push

Ausha Budell takes careful notes in all of her classes at North Central High School, even when the rest of the students stare off into space.

“It helps you bring out the big idea in what you are supposed to be doing,” Budell said of her notes. “I’m more focused.”

Note-taking is just one skill Budell, 14, has learned as a freshman in an elective class called AVID at NC this year.

Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, is a national program that targets what education officials refer to as the “academic middle.”

Students in AVID have a history of performing well on tests, but some may have B, C and sometimes D grades.

Other students, like Budell, are straight-A, low-income students who show a strong desire to do what it takes to go to college.

They don’t cause trouble and don’t tend to struggle.

“These are not the kids that get our attention first,” said Julie Poage, a program coordinator at NC.

In its second year at NC and at Rogers High School, AVID encourages students to take rigorous college-level coursework, such as Advanced Placement and honors courses, and offers skills to help them with those courses. Students also get help with college eligibility and planning.

They start talking about those classes that will be required for college entrance and take field trips to local colleges. Students also practice taking college-entrance exams such as the PSAT and learn organization and study skills.

Students apply to be in the program and must commit to it for four years. With help from a federal grant, both Rogers and NC have two AVID classes this year – a new freshmen class and sophomores from last year – and both hope to keep adding a class each year until there is one in each grade level.

The ultimate goal is to have every student at the end of four years be accepted to a four-year college or university.

“In the nation, there are programs for gifted and talented kids, and we have plenty of programs for kids with learning disabilities,” said North Central Principal Steven Gering.

But until recently there have been no programs available for average students, who statistics show are the majority of public school students.

AVID was created in San Diego in 1980 and has slowly spread.

It is used in about 2,300 middle and high schools in 36 states and 15 countries. Professional development and training for teachers as well as curriculum are provided by the national organization.

“This is not a program to try and save really, really at-risk kids,” Gering said. “Sometimes it’s just that the kids don’t know how to play the game, get (work) organized, turn it in, manage it.”

Last week, AVID teacher Joanne Candelaria began her class by asking students if they were “master students.”

“What would it take to make you one?” Candelaria asked. Students began scribbling their answer furiously in notebooks. Students in AVID have learned how to take notes with the Cornell system, taught at many colleges, and regularly turn notes in for inspection by a teacher.

“They focus on organization, organization, organization,” Poage said.

While data are still being collected locally on what effect the program is having on student performance, nationally it seems to have had an impact.

According to the organization’s Web site, 75 percent of AVID graduates in 2004 were accepted to a four-year college.

“I told her (AVID) would be a lot more work, but it would help her get prepared so she can get scholarships to go to college,” said Budell’s mother, Sarita Marie. “I’m a single mom, making minimum wage,” so the cost of college may be out of reach.

Already Budell is talking about becoming a pediatrician, her mother said.

“She knows what she wants, and I’m really proud of her” Marie said. “In my eyes she’s never been average. She’s always been an overachiever.”