Program prods average students toward college
College. College. College. That's the mantra hammered into students' minds by AVID teachers in 2,300 middle and high schools across the county.
AVID teachers are trained to make the mediocre student excel. They take on the sometimes forgotten middle achievers -- those sandwiched between the gifted and special-education students -- and boost them into honors courses and toward college.
"They started talking about college the first day in sixth grade," said Teryndi Bellinger, an eighth-grader in Englewood's Janis E. Dismus Middle School. "Every year we go on at least two or three field trips to a college."
Englewood, Montclair and Hoboken are among the 15 New Jersey districts using AVID. The program focuses on kids who otherwise might not attend college and promotes the philosophy that they can, and will, go on to higher education. Through AVID, many low-income, minority and other children have been among the first in their families to attend college.
"These kids are not particularly discipline problems, and they're not the brightest kids in the class," said AVID's executive director, Jim Nelson. "They make the B's and C's and D's and just float through school. Often, the [teachers] don't know who they are."
According to AVID, that's not the fault of the teacher, it's the responsibility of the student. The students are taught to sit up front, nod when the teacher makes eye contact, chat with teachers after class and rattle off their exact GPA when asked. They learn the behaviors and habits that the best students know instinctively.
In middle school, the students give up art and music in order to take the daily "AVID elective." There, they learn study skills like two-column note-taking and Socratic debate exercises. As early as sixth grade, they learn how to keep a daily planner, cultivate "study buddies" and budget for college.
The boot-camp-like atmosphere can be rough at first, but students said they soon embrace the discipline.
At the weekly "binder check" ritual, students swap binders and gleefully add and subtract points as they check how schoolwork is organized and if their classmates have the required pens, dictionary and ruler. AVID starts with basics, one of which is a student cannot succeed if they don't have the required supplies and know exactly where every piece of paper is.
On a recent school day, Englewood sixth-grader Robert Fisher looked increasingly solemn as AVID teacher Charissa Richardson combed through his binder with the hawk-like intensity of a detective.
A broken pen spilled ink inside, and Robert's work sheets were not three-hole punched or arranged by subject. He had not listed any "study buddies"; and where were his pocket dictionary and ruler?
Fisher scrambled to pull them from his backpack.
Richardson said she will call Robert's mother over the weekend.
Robert looked distressed, but his teacher wouldn't accept passivity.
"Don't be sad," she said. "You can do what?"
"Fix it?" Robert piped softly.
"Yes, you can fix it," Richardson said. "This is practice. Next week it counts."
AVID teachers continually push their students to take responsibility for their progress and identify their resources.
"I ask students that they keep a record of all their test scores," said Carol Moore, the middle school's AVID supervisor. "There are no surprises. It's not the teacher who 'gave' me this grade at the end, I earned this grade."
Sixth-grader Nicole Tobon sidled up to Richardson and asked if she had any reinforcement tabs. Richardson turned the questioning around. "Am I your mother?" she asked the curly haired girl.
"No," Nicole said.
"Who are my children?" Richardson continued.
"Um, I forgot their names."
"Zoe and Jeffrey," Richardson said. "So, who do you need to ask?"
"My mom," Nicole said, and returned to her seat.
Before students can enter AVID, they must sign a contract promising to do their homework and prepare for college. Parents must also sign, promising a place at home to do homework and to speak about college with their children.
After the binder check, Richardson asked her students: "At the end of high school, where are you going?" she asked.
In unison, the students sang out: "College!"
AVID teachers don't just talk ceaselessly about college, but spend year after year discussing SATs, Advanced Placement courses, financial aid and other requirements for making college a reality.
"Many of the students, their parents have never gone to college," said Englewood's high school AVID supervisor, Maria Iglesias. "They do not have the dinner conversations of what college was like."
Nathalie Martinez's parents did not attend college, but she said she got focused after starting AVID in ninth grade.
"Freshman year, it's tempting to cut classes and stuff, but when I got into AVID I started doing better," the sophomore said. "I don't just want to have any job, I want to have a future."
E-mail: feibel@northjersey.com
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What is AVID?
• Advancement Via Individual Determination started in San Diego in 1980 after a court-ordered integration of the city's schools.
• AVID is an academic support program for Grades 5-12. The goal is to place academically average students in advanced classes and prepare them for college.
• AVID provides a daily elective during the school day to teach average students the study skills and organization they need to succeed in Advanced Placement, honors and college-prep courses. AVID is a non-profit educational program offered to 2,300 schools nationwide.
• For more information, visit avidonline.org