Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the K 12 Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Urbana SD 116 touts AVID expansion as tool to close opportunity gaps
Summary
Jesse Bradford, the district AVID director, told the board that AVID is being expanded across Urbana SD 116 (elementary through high school) to strengthen Tier‑1 instruction and increase college‑and‑career readiness; the presentation outlined WICOR strategies, peer tutorials and plans to track enrollment and outcomes.
Jesse Bradford, the district’s AVID director, told the Urbana School District 116 board that AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is being scaled across the district to help close opportunity gaps and prepare students for college and career pathways. “AVID’s mission is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college and career readiness and success in a global society,” Bradford said.
Bradford described AVID as a school‑wide framework built on four domains — instruction, systems, leadership and culture — and centered on WICOR strategies (writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization and reading). He said AVID is already in place at Urbana Middle School (about five years), the sixth‑grade center (school‑wide implementation), and Urbana High School (elective classes now in 9th and 10th grade with plans to add juniors and seniors in coming years). Bradford said DPW is piloting AVID Elementary with a coach supporting fifth‑grade implementation.
The presentation emphasized peer‑led tutorials and site teams aligned to school improvement plans. Bradford said AVID elective classes target students who need support to succeed in rigorous courses, that electives use weekly lesson plans called “weeks at a glance,” and that two days a week are reserved for student tutorials. He described data the district will track — AVID elective enrollment, whether AVID students are enrolling in rigorous courses, grade checks and senior‑year outcomes such as college enrollment and scholarship dollars — and noted the district will submit that information to the AVID organization for benchmarking.
Board members and student ambassadors asked for longitudinal metrics showing the program’s effect on AP/honors enrollment and college outcomes. Bradford said the district will collect and share AVID enrollment and course‑rigor data and senior outcomes over time. “We have to track that information and turn it into AVID so we can share that with you,” he said.
The district also raised recruitment and retention as priorities: Bradford said it plans promotional outreach to families and to build waiting lists so AVID becomes a sought‑after elective. The board did not take any formal action; Bradford said more detail and data would be provided in future study sessions.
