Browsing by Subject "college readiness programs"

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    Narrowing Achievement Gaps: An Examination of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) -- Grade Eight
    (2018-11) Ramseth, Paul
    Abstract This formative program evaluation and research study uses multiple methods and mixed paradigms to describe and evaluate the eighth grade Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program in a suburban middle school in Minnesota. The problem motivating this study is the persistent achievement gap among student groups as defined by racial, cultural, and socio-economic differences. This study provides a close look at how a suburban middle school is addressing its diversity challenges and supporting and assisting low-income and underachieving students earlier than the ninth grade. This evaluation explores the extent to which AVID, a popular college readiness program, affects positive achievement and attitudinal outcomes among marginalized students during the critical transition year of eighth grade. The study compared the performance of AVID eighth graders with a corresponding control group relative to achievement measures, attendance, and the completion of enrichment classes. Also, the evaluation studied the perceptions of AVID students, their parents/guardians, and non-AVID eighth grade teachers, asking those stakeholders to describe the program’s effects on student participants and on school-wide climate. Finally, the study examined the correlations among students’ attitude toward school, attitude toward self, and college aspirations and the extent to which variations in those three response variables could be explained by predictor variables of constructive school habits, learning skills and affinity for AVID as well as the control variables of race, gender and years in AVID. Despite the mixed results of achievement measures and attendance, the study concluded that progress was made and that most academic risk factors were eliminated. AVID students’ average eighth grade GPA was 2.91, compared to the control group average of 2.81. This small positive difference can be magnified by the knowledge that AVID students’ GPA results were achieved with coursework that presented greater academic challenge (AVID students completed appreciably more enrichment classes than the control group). AVID students’ growth in Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) math scores and their completion of enrichment classes were particularly praiseworthy, while AVID group regression in MCA reading scores and attendance were surprising, but mostly attributable to the impact that outliers had on the small sample size. It became clear to the researcher during the conduct of this study that the objective to narrow or eliminate achievement gaps is a developmental process calling for an instructional intervention that is sustained over a number of years. A one-year study can only realistically produce evidence that progress toward the narrowing of achievement gaps has been made. The perceptions of AVID’s effectiveness expressed by AVID students, their parents/guardians and non-AVID eighth grade teachers were predominately positive. AVID students had internalized the importance of college, and the belief that they were “college material” had been instilled. Students declared that their attitude toward school and attitude toward self improved and that grades were more important to them. Most AVID students felt successful at school, felt important when they succeeded in school, felt they needed to do well in school in order to accomplish their goals, and thought they had become better students since joining AVID. Parents/guardians adamantly agreed with all survey questions related to positive changes they had perceived in their children since joining AVID. They applauded the positive attitude changes and improved learning skills in their children and affirmed the observable indicators of emotional and social maturity. The non-AVID eighth grade teacher perceptions of the program’s effects were important, but not conclusive due to the low response rate. However, it is important to note that all teacher respondents used AVID methods in their regular classrooms and concluded that AVID had a positive effect on school-wide climate. The study found that AVID students’ school sentiment scores, self-concept scores, and college aspiration scores were strong and proved that there is an association among those three variables, lending confidence to the conclusion that the probabilities of high school graduation and college admission were heightened for the eighth grade AVID group.