Question Everything - The Rise of Avid As America''s Largest College Readiness Program

Meet the people who've been quietly turning hundreds of thousands of underserved students into college-bound high achievers The Advancement Via Individual Determination program--otherwise known as AVID--is the nation's largest college preparatory program. Once a school adopts AVID teaching strategies, student performance improves campus-wide. Yet for more than three decades, AVID has been largely ignored in the dialogue about improving student outcomes and closing the achievement gap. What's going on? Question Everything outlines the time-tested AVID program beginning with its creation in the 1980s by classroom teacher Mary Catherine Swanson. Filled with illustrative examples of how the AVID system has been applied successfully in real-world classrooms to help all students excel in college and in life, the book explores the central tenets of AVID:

• All students take rigorous courses
• Students are taught note-taking strategies that foster understanding
• Focus shifts to inquiry-based learning
• Trained tutors meet regularly with students
• Applying for college is integral to classroom activities
• Teachers and students are part of a free-thinking family

Award-winning education journalist Jay Mathews takes us behind the scenes to witness how this rigorous college-readiness program was formed against all odds. He shows us how AVID not only helps students learn to absorb new information, but also trains them to continually ask questions that get to the conceptual root of each lesson. Most of all, Mathews illustrates how AVID equips students with the personal management skills they'll need in college--and the world beyond.

Sommario

Introduction 1
Taking AVID Home 7
Tortuous Journey of a Teacher's Idea 15
Boise Schools Changed by Love 29
"Prove to Me You Got an A in Everything" 35
Showing America How to Take Notes 43
Teachers Afraid of Tough Courses 47
Asking Rather Than Answering Questions 59
Bringing the Power of Tutoring to El Cajon High 71
Santa Barbara Rejects AVID 79
"Our Teacher Said We Couldn't Take the Test" 87
AVID on 60 Minutes II 91
Changing the Mess at Bell Gardens High 99
Three Days at the Summer Institute: A Crash Course in AVID 105
"I Don't Care If I Have to Haul You Down There Myself" 117
Losing It in Atlanta 125
Inside Tutoring 129
"Don't Give Me That, Akila" 135
Looking for More Mr. Searcys 141
Struggles of an Average AVID Program 147
A Friend, a Teacher, a Mentor 161
Checklist for AVID Greatness 167
All Students Need More of a Challenge 173
Taking AVID to the Other Side of the World 181
New York Site Team's Philadelphia Adventure 189
 "Precious Is Making a Big Mistake" 195
Escaping Death, Making AVID Cost-Effective 201
Research Results: Slow Groups Make You Dumb 205
Surprise Leader Creates Giant AVID District 211
Up and Down in Chicago 215
From 7-Eleven to AVID 223
Spreading AVID to Elementary School and College 231
A Veteran Superintendent Becomes AVID Leader 239
McKay Wins One in Madison, Indiana 245
Conclusion 251
About the Author 255
Acknowledgments 257
Index 259

Info autore

JAY MATHEWS is an award-winning education columnist. He writes for the Washington Post and is the author of nine books. Creator of the annual America's Most Challenging High Schools ratings, published on washingtonpost.com. Mathews has won numerous awards including the Upton Sinclair Award as "a beacon of light in the realm of education" and the Eugene Meyer Award for distinguished service to the Washington Post.

Riassunto

How AVID levels the playing field, helping underserved students come out ahead In Question Everything, award-winning education writer Jay Mathews presents the stories and winning strategies behind the Advancement Via Individual Determination program (AVID).

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Mathews, J Mathews, J. Mathews, Jay Mathews, Mathews Jay
• Editore: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 02.06.2015
• EAN: 9781118438190
• ISBN: 978-1-118-43819-0
• Pagine: 272
• Categorie: Scienze umane, arte, musica > Pedagogia > Istruzione; EDUCATION / General, Education, Education / Educational sciences / Pedagogy