The Among The Avid Program

Minority serving institutions have been an integral part of the education system in the United States since before the Civil War (LeMelle, 2002). Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have, for much of their existence, been criticized for the level of academic rigor, political context, and their social agenda have created controversy for generations. With that being said, HBCUs hold a valuable place in the landscape of US higher education institutions. The culture, history, and perspective that is taught and shared are unparalleled and cannot be replicated at a predominately white institution (PWI).

Young, Gifted and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African-American Students includes sections from three educators turned authors that discuss specific issues that affect educational performance of Blacks in America’s educational system while also assigning potential practical solutions to these problems. In a debate over their lack of success in education, this book is integral because it provides readers with viewpoints from the eyes of the students who make up the category of “low achieving Black students” as well as those who fully support these students.

Today, we know integration has a positive effect on almost every aspect of schooling that matters. We also know integration matters for all students. Both minorities and whites are disadvantaged by attending racially isolated schools, although in somewhat different ways. Predominantly minority schools as a whole had inadequate and unfair educational opportunities. First, these schools tend to serve predominantly poor students. Due to poor situations at home and by the student's friends and sometimes relatives these schools routinely had lower rates of achievement than students in mostly average income schools. This holds true regardless of a student's race or socioeconomic status. More importantly, predominantly poor and minority schools find it extremely difficult to attract and retain high-quality

I became part of the AVID program in eighth grade, I had no clue what the program was about; most of the time we worked on subjects that we needed help on, learned how to be organized, and practiced public speaking by having small socratic seminars. In a way, the tactics that my eighth grade AVID teacher taught me helped me become successful for my college preparation it helped improve my grades in the classes that I was struggling in and pushed me to take challenging courses. In my sophomore, junior, and senior year of high school, I spent my time reviewing different schools around the state and out-of-the state browsing through the financial aid assistance, majors and minors, location, and diversity to choose from. Junior year was the best

For example seeing that Southeast Asians have the highest high school dropout rate (Le, 2011), we find it is due to the lack of resources available. This Summer Bridge program will address the issue of how the model minority myth that exists is actually not true and provide opportunities for Southeast Asian Americans in their college decision process. Furthermore, the Summer Bridge program will specifically help high school students who are in junior or senior year standing to get into four year universities. The program will start in the summer going into their junior year. They will direct target high schools that come from low socioeconomic backgrounds and have the lowest graduation rates and have the most Southeast Asian American backgrounds. The Summer Bridge program will be made up of three pathways, which will be counseling, outreach, and internship

While overall college enrollment and graduation rates have risen for all minority groups, there continues to be concerns for this segment of the population, particularly for African American students. Even

After conducting the interviews and analyzing the data I have to come to the conclusion that it takes every stakeholder, parents, teachers, and administrators, to be involved for African American students to be successful. We can no longer point the blame at one party. Teachers can not blame parents and parents can not blame teachers, we all have to work together. There has to be an open line of communication between home and school. We have to all remember it is about the student, the child, and we have to do whatever is necessary to ensure they are successful.

Kanno & Kangas, 2014), rigorous college preparation begins in middle school, when students must take the prerequisite classes to advanced high school courses. By the time students reach high school, advanced placement courses may be out of reach for those who have not taken the preparatory classes (Kanno & Kangas, 2014). Given that a rigorous secondary school curriculum seems to predict college success (Flores et al., 2012), ensuring that former ELLs enroll and succeed in high-level classes is integral to promoting equitable college readiness. Indeed, students who take advanced coursework tend to develop more higher-level thinking skills, analytical abilities, and positive attitudes than students who take basic courses (Kanno & Kangas, 2014). Most recently, Flores et al. (2012) analyzed student data from Texas and found that taking high-level and dual-credit courses is a strong predictor of immediate college enrollment for all students regardless of ELL

Anthony Mize Jr., born and raised in Dayton, OH, is currently the Coordinator in African American Programs and Services at Northern Kentucky University. He is a graduate of Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science in Communications and a graduate of Northeastern University with a Masters of Higher Education Administration. As a first generation college student and despite the numerus obstacles against him; Anthony was an academic scholar, hard working as he was employed with multiple jobs to pay his way through college and was affiliated in up to thirteen different organizations such as Golden Key International Honour Society, TSU Honors Program, ABC Crew, Founder of the M.A.C.H.O. Project, TSU SGA/SEC/SUBG, Generation of Educated

There are several Black male initiatives on college campuses around the United States that focus on supporting the high school to college matriculation and retention of African American males. Furthermore, these initiatives are designed to support Black males as they navigate through their perspectives institutions (Palmer & Gasman, 2008). Support can come in many ways. For the purpose of this section, I will highlight some of the programs that focus on the success of African American males; Penn GSE Grad Prep Academy, Sam Houston State University, The Ohio State, and UCLA.

The male student of color is one of many college and universities around the country most at risk population. Institutions around the country are looking for innovating ways to keep this population engaged and enrolled. In order to improve retention and success rates of the male of color, administrators at Cuyahoga Community College created the Minority Male Initiative to provide high quality student support services to this population. The Minority Male Initiative at Cuyahoga Community College was created in the summer of 2010 to improve graduation rates, retention and overall success of males of color. Through a national search for additional financing and through the involvement of the system’s board, this program has been viewed as one

The article presented an overview of African-American Student Success, as well as incoming statistics and graduation rates for 2008 CHEER and Non-CHEER students. The article also addressed how programs such as CHEER can be put

School curriculum and academic programming is the third most commonly referenced effort to ameliorate the negative impact of racial isolation in hyper-segregated White high schools.Through multicultural materials, foreign language programming, and discussions about the history and culture of minority groups in the United States and throughout the world, hyper-segregated White high schools identify a myriad of academic programming designed to educate students about racially diverse individuals and communities.

August 16th,2017 was my first day being in Avid, I was kind of nervous because I never heard of this class. When I went to sign up for school I seen it on my schedule and I was really confused on what type of class it was. After I left from signing up for school I went home and searched Avid up. I was actually interested in everything I seen so I thought to myself that this would be a great class for me. When I first started the class I was taking quizzes and I really didn’t pass those quizzes. At first I was having a hard time with my work but then we started to have tutorial groups and I started to get a better understanding.

Diversity and Global Development, EL 7095, challenged me to complete a research project based on diversity and global development within the school setting. Using prior research in EL 7156 Comprehensive Planning and Program Evaluation, facilitated by Dr. Kelley Probst, I continued my research of the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) as a school reform model. AVID is currently being used in the middle schools and high school of Asheboro City Schools. After an interview with former superintendent, Dr. Diane Frost, I became even more interested in the reform model. Under Dr. Frost’s leadership, the AVID program was introduced in the 2007-2008 school year to a select seventh-grade cohort. The program proved to be an effective option and assisted the district in their goal to close the achievement gap of minority and economically disadvantaged students. After hearing Dr. Frost’s passion and confidence in the program, I realized the program must have some merit. I completed a small literature and data review of published materials focusing on the AVID program. Through my research, I became intrigued by the lack of negative reviews. Most research on AVID is positive.