A bill expanding the Advancement Via Individual Determination program to fourth- through eighth-grade students is being considered in the California Assembly.
Assembly Bill 447, introduced by Cathleen Galgiani, D-Merced, would focus on schools that ranked in deciles 1 to 3 as part of their Academic Performance Index scores.
“Right now it is going through the appropriations process,” said Phill Britton, AVID Region VIII coordinator. “Hopefully, there will be funding provided.”
Deciles are a state ranking of schools from 1 through 10, with proficiency achieved at schools with a decile score of 5 or above.
A school with a decile score of 1 or 2 is considered well below average for schools with similar characteristics. A school with a score of 3 or 4 is considered below average for schools with similar characteristics.
“We are doing supplemental program implementation for schools in the lower deciles and will continue to do so,” Britton added.
Along with the expansion, the AVID program would be required to provide standard-based instruction aimed at meeting the California high school exit exam graduation requirements and satisfying admission requirements to the California State University or University of California systems.
According to the Budget Act of 2006, the State Department of Education appropriates $9.035 million to support the AVID program.
“I hope that additional funding from the expansion will filter out to the school sites and actually get to the staff,” said Mike Sears, Arroyo Grande High School world literature and AVID teacher.
The Lucia Mar Unified School District Board of Trustees recently voted to allow the voluntary expansion of the AVID program to sixth-grade students.
Schools that have decided to do so are Grover Beach, Dana and Oceano elementaries. Judkins and Mesa middle schools offer two AVID sections for seventh- and eighth-graders, while Paulding Middle School offers one section.
“Our goal is to get all to kids to the proficient level and above,” Sears added. “For 27 years, the AVID model has shown a track record of success.”
Sears has worked for Lucia Mar since 1978 and served as its superintendent from 2003 to 2004.
The AVID program was founded in 1980 at Clairemont High School in San Diego with one class and 32 students.
July 29, 2007
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lORI SYLVIA wrote on Jan 20, 2009 11:09 AM: