Nonprofit helping 6,400 schools guide disadvantaged students on path to success

Georgia’s Fulton County has joined the Los Angeles Unified School District and many others in partnering with a national college-readiness non-profit AVID to help close achievement gaps and provide students from disadvantaged backgrounds with the extra skills and encouragement they need to successfully pursue more rigorous courses, according to The Hechinger Report.AVID, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination, has a $75 million annual budget that now reaches almost two million students at more than 6,400 schools across the nation and overseas, training teachers to run a special elective that teaches organizational skills, involves at-risk students in leadership activities, and provides peer support.Though AVID has its critics, who feel that the money invested would be better spent in lowering class sizes, it does have a growing body of research to back its effectiveness, and educators say its programming is changing teachers' perceptions of disadvantaged students and giving those students a greater voice and more confidence as they gain leadership skills and pursue more challenging coursework. As many school leaders are now finding themselves with a more diverse student population and a growing number of low-income students, they are looking for ways to close achievement gaps and provide these students with the extra measure of support they need to navigate academic waters. Many students don’t have a parental support system at home through which to learn simple organizational skills that allow them to keep track of school work. Others lack the encouragement needed to tackle the more rigorous courses needed to pursue college studies.