What makes AVID work?
Motivated students. Students are selected with good attendance and low- to high-average grades. Some programs, like Federal Way’s and Bellevue’s, start in middle school; others, like Shoreline’s, start in ninth grade. All are multi-year commitments. “We select kids using a complete battery of assessment information: teacher recommendations and advice from counselors as to who best fit the profile,” says Linda Gohlke, AVID district director for Shoreline. “AVID is not a remedial program,” adds Michelle Hood, middle-school AVID teacher at Bellevue’s International School. “It’s a support program.” Study skills. AVID students learn time-management and organizational, test-taking strategies, as well as the Cornell note-taking system, to help them distill and organize information. Accountability. AVID focuses on bonds of mutual responsibility between students and teacher. Student binders are checked frequently. AVID teachers maintain contact with their students’ other teachers and check up o
