The purpose of the study was to examine how four different high schools within one school district implemented the AVID program. The researcher used a comparative case study model to examine the different sites' programs and how the program and program implementation varied by site. The research questions answered how the AVID program was implemented by site, whether the program was implemented with fidelity, and if there were factors that impacted program implementation. The AVID district coordinator, site administrators and site coordinators were surveyed to gauge the understanding of the AVID program, program implementation, and how AVID implementation impacts the program fidelity by site. AVID research suggests that the program works to address the needs of students from underserved populations and aims to help them access advanced academic classes and achieve more success within those college prep courses and school overall. This study may help school districts, school administation and AVID personnel better understand how site implementation impacts overall program success and to see how barriers impact the implemenation process at school sites. Findings included, some school-based administrators and site coordinators did not feel they implemented the AVID program with fidelity, site administrators' involvement with the AVID implementation was inconsistent, most site administrators knew nothing about the specific rating of the AVID Coaching and Certification Instrument (CCI) or the measurement overall. Other findings were AVID site coordinators completed the AVID CCI and coordinated all aspects of the process and AVID implementation at the sites, site coordinators perceived that they implemented the AVID program with the most fidelity possible within their respective "means" but not with fidelity. Further, schools implemented the AVID Domains with varied degrees of fidelity according to the AVID CCI and each site had a unique implementation of the AVID program. / Doctor of Education / Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is an educational program that aims to help underserved students learn how to successfully access classes that helps prepare them for college. The AVID program is offered in some schools to aid students in the academic middle through instruction, tutoring, and structures to learn how to be successful in honors courses within the middle and high school levels. School leaders need to understand how well AVID programs are being implemented within their school to ensure that the program can be the most successful to reach the students well. This research study looked at four AVID schools to see how well they implemented the AVID program in comparison to how it should be done, the role school administration had in the implementation, and how implementation differed at schools. The study used information from the AVID Coaching and Certification Instrument (the AVID report card), to see how the school scored and each AVID site administrator (building principal) and AVID site coordinator (the person who runs the AVID program at the school) were interviewed and asked several questions to better understand the program at each school, the role the site administrator and site coordinator played in running the program and how well the AVID staff understood how well the school did with the program at their school. The study found that schools implemented their programs differently, that the AVID principals did not feel they ran the program as it should be, and that most of the AVID principals did not know what the AVID CCI was or how their school scored. The AVID site coordinator was responsible for running AVID at the school, they ran the AVID program as well as they could but not as it should be.

The Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program is designed to provide resources and strategies to enable underrepresented minority students to attend four-year colleges. Research indicates that the success of the students enrolled in AVID depends on the strict adherence to the AVID components. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the principal and administrator's understanding of, commitment to and involvement in AVID accounted for the difference in student achievement between a successful school and one that is not. AVID is a program with demonstrated results, however it is costly. Building principals have to be willing to use a teaching position to staff the AVID coordinator/teacher position, and school districts have to employ tutors for the twice-weekly tutorial sessions. In these difficult fiscal times, districts are looking for places to make adjustments. AVID's demonstrated effectiveness for students in an individual building, as well as district-wide, will be the key to keeping AVID from falling subject to budget cuts. Some of AVID's 11 essentials are instructionally based, such as Cornell Notes and WICR, which directly impact what occurs within the walls of the classroom. Others are more leadership-based, such as staffing and policies for student selection. Yet a third set consists of things which are not actually essentials or may be less tangible, but still have a great impact on AVID, such as the perception of AVID students by peers, the perception of AVID students by the school community in general, and the understanding and oversight of the program within the building. This study focused on the essentials that are leadership based as well as those which are less tangible. It is essential to know what factors in a school make AVID implementation meet with the greatest success. A comparative case study methodology was used. The study used Grade Point Averages to determine two focus schools, and then interviews with principals and AVID administrators was conducted and analyzed. This study demonstrated that the key person in any site is the administrator who directly oversees the program. This individual must be thoroughly trained in all aspects of AVID so that program essentials can by implemented according to AVID guidelines and decisions regarding student success are based on accurate information. Assessment of program implementation is a multi-level process. In order to get an accurate picture of a program implemented in multiple schools, it is essential to first be sure that implementation is uniform within a specific building. Schools that have more than one teacher implementing a program must be monitored to be sure that there is a uniform practice within the building. Those involved with program oversight need to start there, especially if grades are being used as a basis of comparison. / Ed. D.

Denna uppsats är en undersökning och en jämförelse av redigeringsprogrammen Avid Media Composer och Final Cut Pro X. Utgångspunkten i analysen är användbarhet och användaren. Saker som tas upp och diskuteras är teknikutvecklingen och konkurrensen mellan redigeringsprogrammen. Den historiska aspekten presenteras och förklaras för att lägga en grund till hur det ser ut i dagsläget. Några av de sakerna som jag kommer fram till är att teknikutvecklingen ofta sker på användbarhetens bekostnad och att användaren ofta måste anpassa sig efter tekniken. Konkurrensen mellan programmen påverkas av den växande marknaden för hobbyredigering och det leder till annorlunda utveckling.

This study focuses on at-risk students entering 9th grade in Cambridge, MA and ways to increase their connectedness and science learner identity. At-risk students were invited to participate in a research-based, summer intervention program called Rise Up for four weeks prior to entering 9th grade in the fall. Students were grouped into three categories, at-risk students who participated in the program, Rise Up Participants (RUPs), at-risk students who were Eligible Non-Participants (ENPs), and students who were not considered at-risk based on their 7th grade MCAS scores, Proficients. The study found the RUPs were performing lower on standardized tests compared to the ENPs prior to the intervention. Secondary measures of academic success such as attendance and behavior showed no significant difference. By the end of the first semester freshmen year, the RUPs were statistically the same as the ENPs in terms of grades. RUPs’ attendance and behavior records were found to fall in between the higher-achieving Proficients and the lower-level ENPs. Science grades for RUPs during the first semester were higher than the ENPs but any degree of higher achievement was diminished by the end of the year. RUPs demonstrated consistent to increasing degrees of academic connectedness from the summer through freshmen year. ENPs and Proficients showed decreased academic connectedness from the beginning to the end of freshmen year. One posited explanation for the RUPs steady connectedness scores may be adjusted expectations for freshmen year. This theme emerged from the focus group interviews with RUPs and ENPs in the fall and in the spring. All three groups, RUPs, ENPs, and Proficients, showed a strong correlation between academic connectedness and science learner identity. Similar to attendance and behaviors, RUPs started freshmen year demonstrating science learner identity in between the Proficients and the ENPs. RUPs with higher scores than ENPs diminished throughout the course of freshmen year. Other demographic variables were investigated. Science learner identity in the fall showed no significant difference based on race regardless of participation in the summer intervention. However, by the end of freshmen year, interest in science showed stratification between overrepresented and underrepresented populations. Grades showed a widening divide between Proficients and at-risk groups throughout freshmen. Possible causes and recommendations are discussed.

This study investigates the phenomenon of internal communication, which is a mainstay of successful companies. Good internal communication has many positive effects, one of them is employee engagement. Previous international research supports the importance of internal communication for employee engagement, but it is still a relatively unexplored area in Sweden. This study therefore aims to fill this knowledge gap, and by using the AVID framework investigate whether there is a relationship between perceived good internal communication and employee engagement in Sweden. The questions that the study answers are as follows:  Is there a correlation between customized information and the feeling that the individual work effort contributes to the success of the organization, and increased employee engagement? (Alignment)  Is there a correlation between employees' ability to make their voice heard, and increased employee engagement? (Voice) Is there a correlation between employees' understanding the company's future goals and vision, and increased employee engagement? (Identification)  Is there a correlation between employees whose company encourages dialog, and increased employee engagement? (Dialogue)  All questions are based on the AVID framework, which is a theoretical framework for achieving good internal communication within organizations. The framework is based on four dimensions that are linked to each question, indicated in parentheses after each question. These dimensions are alignment, voice, identification and dialogue. Additional theories discussed concern the importance of internal communication, the importance of good internal communication and its link to employee engagement. The study is based on a quantitative survey study that includes 114 answers. The results of the survey have been analyzed in relation to theory and previous research and show that there is a connection between the first question linked to alignment in the AVID framework, and increased employee engagement. There is also a strong correlation between the second question, which is linked to voice, and increased employee engagement. However, the results do not show a correlation between the third question linked to identification. Nor does the fourth question linked to dialogue have a connection with increased employee engagement according to the results of the study. The conclusion is that we cannot draw a general correlation between all dimensions of the AVID framework and employee engagement, due to the different results of the study. However, we can note that two of the four elements of the framework have a clear correlation with increased employee engagement. Regarding the two remaining parts where it is not possible to discern a correlation, it is important to keep in mind that engagement depends on many different aspects and thus the importance of identification and dialogue for engagement in a larger context is not excluded. / Denna studie behandlar fenomenet internkommunikation, vilket är en grundpelare för framgångsrika företag. God internkommunikation har många positiva effekter, en av dem är medarbetarengagemang. Tidigare internationell forskning som gjorts stödjer internkommunikationens betydelse för medarbetarengagemanget, men det är ännu ett relativt outforskat område i Sverige. Denna studie syftar därför till att fylla denna kunskapslucka och med hjälp av AVID-ramverket undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan upplevd god internkommunikation och medarbetarengagemang i Sverige. De frågeställningar som studien besvarar är följande: Finns det ett samband mellan att information anpassas samt känslan av att det enskilda arbetet bidrar till organisationens framgång, och ökat medarbetarengagemang? (Alignment) Finns det ett samband mellan de anställdas möjlighet att få komma till tals på arbetet, och ökat medarbetarengagemang? (Voice) Finns det ett samband mellan de anställdas förståelse för företagets målsättningar och framtida planer, och ökat medarbetarengagemang? (Identification) Finns det ett samband mellan anställda vars företag uppmuntrar till dialog, och ökat medarbetarengagemang? (Dialogue) Samtliga frågeställningar är formulerade utefter AVID-ramverket, vilket är ett teoretiskt ramverk för att uppnå god internkommunikation inom organisationer. Ramverket bygger på fyra dimensioner vilka är kopplade till varsin frågeställning, angivna i parentesen efter respektive fråga. Dessa dimensioner är alignment, voice, identification och dialogue. Ytterligare teorier som tas upp berör internkommunikationens betydelse, vikten av god internkommunikation samt dess koppling till medarbetarengagemang. Studien är baserad på ett empiriskt material från en kvantitativ enkätstudie som inkluderar 114 respondentsvar. Resultaten av enkätstudien har analyserats i relation till teori och tidigare forskning och visar att det finns ett samband mellan den första frågeställningen kopplad till alignment i AVID-ramverket, och ökat engagemang. Det finns även ett starkt samband mellan andra frågeställningen, som är kopplad till voice, och ökat engagemang. Däremot visar resultatet inte ett samband mellan den tredje frågeställningen kopplad till identification, och ökat engagemang. Inte heller den fjärde frågeställningen, kopplad till dialogue, har ett samband med ökat engagemang enligt resultatet i studien. Slutsatsen är att vi inte kan dra ett generellt samband mellan alla delar i AVID-ramverket och medarbetarengagemang, på grund av studiens skilda resultat. Däremot kan vi konstatera att två av fyra delar i ramverket har ett tydligt samband med ett ökat medarbetarengagemang. Vad gäller de två resterande delarna där det inte går att utläsa ett samband är det däremot viktigt att ha i åtanke att engagemang beror av många olika aspekter och därmed utesluts inte betydelsen av identification och dialogue för engagemanget i en större kontext.

Low income and under-represented minority students face multiple kinds of barriers that limit their access to higher education. In the interest of increasing access to college, pre-college bridge programs exist throughout the United States to serve students from low socio-economic status families. This study examines teaching by women in the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) program. AVID is a middle school and high school intervention program that helps middle-achieving low income and under-represented minority students with college access. Critical Portraiture methodology is used to examine the ways that female AVID teachers teach students more than just academic skills that increase access to higher education: the framing of student success, the negotiation and justification of upholding the myth of meritocracy in the classroom, the internalization of parental roles with students, and the navigation of race. / 10000-01-01

The problem in a suburban school district in a northwestern state is that fewer socioeconomic disadvantaged and minority students are graduating high school and attending post-secondary education than their White and economic middle-class counterparts. The disparity continues to expand the achievement gap between minorities and Whites within the education system and continues a cycle of poverty for the poorest and minority students. Bandura’s self-efficacy theory guided the study. The purpose of this bounded qualitative exploratory case study was to explore the advancement via individual determination (AVID) instructional strategies high school graduates used in their transition to post-secondary education. The research questions addressed which instructional strategies the AVID graduates learned and how they used the strategies in post-secondary education. The participants were 13 AVID high school graduates from a suburban northwestern school district who entered post-secondary education in 2014–2018. Data collected through one-on-one interviews were analyzed thematically using descriptive and axial coding to allow themes to emerge using the constructs of the framework. AVID students suggested that focused notetaking, collaboration, and self-regulatory behaviors assisted them in their academic success. Based on the findings, a 3-day professional development was created for high school teachers to design content area lessons featuring student collaborative groups, self-reflection, and notetaking strategies. This endeavor may contribute to positive social change when administrators provide teachers with grouping, social emotional, and instructional strategies for AVID enrollees, which may result in increased AVID graduates and post-secondary students.

This was a causal-comparative study the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) Program on middle school student academic achievement and attendance. There were two major research questions, which were presented. They were as follows: Is there a statistically significant interaction among gender (males, females), race/ethnicity (blacks, whites), and group membership (Talented and Gifted, AVID) with respect to Stanford 9-TA Partial Battery Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) achievement total scores after controlling for initial differences in socioeconomic status and, Is there a statistically significant interaction among gender (males, females), race/ethnicity (blacks, whites), and group membership (Talented and Gifted, AVID) with respect to attendance after controlling for initial differences in socioeconomic status? These questions were analyzed using two three way ANCOVAS with 2 x 2 x 2 factorial designs, with a .05 alpha level employed to test for statistical significance. The researcher analyzed standardized testing and attendance data collected on the 1996-1997 eighth-grade student cohort within one mid-sized socioeconomic diverse urban school district. Data were collected on 398 students beginning with the 1994-1995 school year and concluding with the 1996-1997 school year. Data for eighth grade students not enrolled in the Gifted and Talented, or AVID programs for that length of time, neither were used. The collected data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, 1995). Threats to the internal and external validity of this study may be that students have relocated or were not present during test administrations and their Stanford 9-TA Partial Battery Achievement Test data were not available. Test data for students neither blacks or whites, or in AVID or the Talented and Gifted programs for the indicated three-year span were not analyzed. Students missing attendance data were also not included. The creators of AVID, profess that students participating in the AVID program will attend school and achieve academically as well as other groups of children. The researcher's analyses of the data does not substantiate this claim. The data yielded that AVID students produced lower achievement scores on the Partial Battery of the Stanford 9-TA Achievement Test in all areas. It was also found that gender, race/ethnicity and group membership were significant factors. / Ed. D.

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, schools and school districts have come under increased pressure to demonstrate student proficiency and success at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Each state is required to use standardized test data as evidence of student proficiency. The data is collected by each state and reported to the federal government to demonstrate progress. In Florida, the exam used to record proficiency is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). At all three levels, the FCAT is administered annually and the results are used to create school grades ranging from A-F. Florida high schools fall in the lowest 10% in the nation for graduation rates, graduating less than 60% of high school students. The pressure created by these high stakes tests have led to a growth in Florida secondary schools implementing the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program. AVID seeks to offer a rigorous curriculum with additional support to underserved students. However, some literature demonstrates that schools with AVID improve the success of not only AVID students, but the overall population as well. This is commonly referred to as the "AVIDization" of a school. This study used an independent t-test to compare middle schools in eleven Florida county school districts with AVID to non-AVID schools in the 2007-2008 school year in six main areas; a) FCAT Math scores, b) FCAT Reading scores, C) overall FCAT scores, d) frequency of disciplinary incidences, e) attendance rates, and f) overall FCAT scores with controlled data. In this study, 85 middle schools had AVID and 179 middle schools were non-AVID. In comparing AVID to non-AVID students in the six areas, the t-test demonstrated that schools with the AVID program did not outperform non-AVID schools in the three FCAT tested areas. Also, the data shows that AVID schools were more likely to have higher reported rates of disciplinary incidences then non-AVID schools.

This study was designed to explore perceptions and lived experiences of avid adolescent male readers, in order to better understand their development as readers. This study explored: (1) how previous reading experiences influence the development of the avid adolescent male reader and (2) how the reading habits and preferences of avid adolescent male readers are socially constructed. Rosenblatt's (1978) Transactional Theory of Literary Work forms the theoretical framework of this study. Rosenblatt (1978) argued that as readers engage with texts, they bring an individual schema to these literary transactions. This prior knowledge and experience are the lens through which the individual reader understands the content of the text. Even when reading the same text, readers respond to the text in individual ways, based on their individual schema. Through the use of a naturalistic inquiry design, data was generated through a series of interviews with the participants. Data analysis was qualitative and iterative, triangulated with multiple interviews, interview mapping, thematic tables, dialogic memos, and researcher field notes. Data analysis led to a better understanding of the development of the avid adolescent male reader, including: (a) the role of family culture on reading identity, (b) peer group influence on reading habits of avid adolescent male readers, and (c) transactional responses of avid adolescent male readers both in and out of educational settings. Data generated during interviews illuminated the complex, individuated and interwoven nature of the elements present in the development of the avid adolescent male reader. Finally, this study gives insight into how understanding the development of these readers may provide teachers with instructional strategies and reading opportunities that support all developing readers. / Ph. D.