Dr. Jessie L. Douglas
AVID/College Board District Coordinator
jdouglas@bcps.org

Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID)
and College Board Preparing All Students for College

In 2000, under the leadership of Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston, Baltimore County Public Schools commenced a partnership with College Board.  Then in 2002, he launched the AVID initiative.  These two initiatives were in response to Dr. Hairston’s goal to improve student achievement for all students as indicated in the Blueprint for Progress, June 2007, the foundation document for improving student achievement.   All high schools in BCPS are implementing the AVID program. 

AVID
AVID is an acronym for Advancement via Individual Determination.  As a college preparatory program, AVID targets those students who are in the middle,
underachievers, and/or students with limited or no exposure to college preparatory information.  AVID helps students with organizational, time management, critical thinking, reading and writing skills. 

College Board
College Board is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity through it programs and services such as PSAT, SAT, AP, SAT Online, and CollegeEd.  It is recognized as the leading organization in helping students transition from high school to the academic rigor of college.  (See the College Board website, www.collegeboard.com, for more information.)

Academic Rigor
AVID and College Board include academic rigor as an integral component in preparing students for college success.  AVID describes “rigor as the goal of helping students develop the capacity to understand content that is complex, ambiguous, provocative, and personally or emotionally challenging.”  College Board defines “rigor as critical thinking, reasoning, and problem solving skills.”  Students are expected to analyze evaluate, critique, synthesize, communicate and create new knowledge as well as manage and direct their own learning.”  In Baltimore County Public Schools, the focus is to have rigor in each teaching and learning opportunity.  (See the National AVID website, www.avidonline.org, for more information.)