AVID Community Newsletter

We recently unveiled some exciting news: AVID and Packback have launched their partnership, allowing AVID to provide an award-winning AI writing tutor for students and an AI grading assistant for teachers.

Harnessing the power of instructional AI to elevate students' critical thinking and writing capabilities, this new service helps students develop their unique voice and the WICOR^® (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, Reading) skills needed to succeed. Functioning as an AI-enabled coach, Packback supports students in building confidence, fostering inquiry, and refining writing mechanics. As a result, teachers can dedicate more attention to nurturing content, ideas, and higher-order skill development.

AVID has developed ready-to-use materials that seamlessly integrate with Packback. These resources prioritize gradual rigor in getting started with Packback lessons, offer explicit instruction on inquiry and connections to Costa's Levels of Thinking, and provide flexible guidance for implementing Packback to complement various AVID strategies.

With Packback, AVID is providing teachers of the AVID Elective for grades 9–12 and the AVID Excel Elective for grades 7–8 with access to Packback through June 30, 2024. AVID partners who wish to use Packback in additional classes or even school- or district-wide can take advantage of special pricing.

Visit our webpage to learn more about this exciting new offering!

AVID is revising its WAG curriculum for grades 6–12 to align it to our newly revised AVID Elective Standards (to take effect in 2024–2025 school year), add content, and offer additional formats. The new WAG will be restructured into four terms, and the first term is rolling out this month! Learn all the details about this exciting new era of WAG.

The current WAG will remain available on MyAVID during this transition period to ensure partners have the option of both WAG curricula and experience minimal disruption in instruction for the AVID Elective.

The WAG units for Terms 1 and 2 will roll out onto the new WAG website monthly during the fall of 2023. The remaining terms will be available during the 2024–2025 school year:

WAG Term 1: Available August 1 and September 1, 2023
WAG Term 2: Available October 1 and November 1, 2023
WAG Term 3: Available fall 2024
WAG Term 4: Available winter 2025

To help partners navigate new WAG terms as they roll out, we have provided recommendations based on AVID educator experience level for how to begin implementing the new WAG content. Read about this exciting new era of WAG in our one-pager or on our new WAG site.

Just In! New AVID Schoolwide Advisory Content Units
We’ve also added new AVID Schoolwide Advisory content units designed to engage students across various subjects:

Financial Literacy Units in Partnership With EVERFI
- We’ve partnered with EVERFI to equip students with crucial money management and smart economics skills.
  - Financial Literacy (Grades 9–12)
  - Smart Economics (Grades 6–8)
Exploring Computer Science
- We've partnered with Amazon Future Engineer to leverage the power of computer science to unlock college and career opportunities for students.
Relational Capacity
- Build trust and safety among teachers and students while fostering direct connections between students.

Join passionate educators who are reshaping advisory experiences and harnessing AVID's transformative potential.

After AVID’s incredible summer of learning, we’ve decided to keep the spark going with an AVID Ignite Special Fall Edition event on October 4–5! This is a great opportunity to leverage the remaining Ignite registrations from your 2023–2024 AVID Agreement to prepare for the school year ahead, train educators hired after the last professional learning season, and kick off the school year by preparing staff and strengthening their AVID strategies and best practices.

What Makes It Special?
While AVID Ignite is typically a summer offering, we're bending the rules to bring you an exceptional fall edition. Condensed into 2 days to fit your busy schedule, this event is still packed with all the expertise and impact you expect from AVID's unmatched professional learning experiences.

Experience 12 hours of learning in your choice of 32 Communities of Practice. Plus, attend exclusive AVID Ignite educator agency sessions to equip your team with valuable resources they can apply campuswide throughout the school year.

Don’t Miss Out!
The next opportunity to use your 2023–2024 AVID Ignite registrations won’t occur until next summer and will expire in December 2024! Used all the Ignite registrations reflected in your AVID Agreement? Don’t worry—you can add registrations through MyAVID. Don’t miss this chance to train more educators in AVID strategies and refresh or deepen the knowledge of your AVID-trained educators. It’s a great way to discover actionable insights for the 2023–2024 school year and receive expert recommendations on how to pave the way for AVID implementation in 2024–2025!

APLMs are 90-minute professional learning sessions. These modules can be presented in two 45-minute sessions or one 90-minute session in virtual, blended, or face-to-face environments. APLMs can be used independently for a short professional learning opportunity or assembled to create a full-day or multi-day professional learning event. These modules aim to support AVID program staff and District Directors in implementing the AVID College and Career Readiness System with fidelity and depth.

Whether you’re a veteran educator, have partnered with AVID for years, or are new to AVID, WICOR, or teaching, the new APLM pathways provide a guided list of APLMs that can support deeper AVID Schoolwide implementation at sites. Check out the APLM overview for instructions on utilizing these pathways and resources. To find them, log in to MyAVID, select “Resources,” then “AVID Professional Learning Modules.” Or, click the button below.

Don't miss out on the educational conference of the year! Registration for AVID National Conference 2023 opens Tuesday, August 15, so be ready to visit the NatCon webpage and secure your ticket with Early Bird pricing! Save the dates from Tuesday, November 28 to Thursday, November 30, to gather in San Diego to share knowledge, inspire, and lead the charge for transformative change. AVID NatCon is back, and this year we're bringing you an experience like no other!

What's New?
We've redesigned the schedule to match our new dates and are thrilled to announce the return of the incredible Dr. Manny Scott as our esteemed keynote speaker. Prepare for a moving session from an original Freedom Writer whose story of resilience has touched millions worldwide.

That's not all! Get ready for:

The opportunity to attend three different pre-conference sessions on November 28, offering valuable insights and discussions.
Two new networking forums on November 28, providing networking opportunities and targeted learning sessions for leaders and AVID educators:
- Leadership Forum
- AVID Elective/Excel Elective Teacher Forum
A powerful closing general session on November 30 to leave you inspired and equipped with strategies to drive change in your educational community.

Stay tuned for more in-depth information about these sessions on our NatCon webpage!

Unlock your potential, gain invaluable tools, and discover groundbreaking approaches at AVID NatCon 2023. Experience the power of community and elevate your teaching to new heights. Let's forge a path toward excellence, empowerment, and endless possibilities together.

We are encouraging schools and districts to participate in the fall administration of the AVID Collective Educator Agency Survey and the AVID Student Agency Survey. Sign up your campus or district to be contacted with next steps.

The AVID Collective Educator Agency Survey takes approximately 5 minutes to complete and provides insight into the extent to which educators on a campus take intentional actions based on shared beliefs and trust that, together, they can increase opportunity and measurable success for all students and each other. The Student Agency Survey takes approximately 6–7 minutes to complete and helps educators understand the extent to which students build relationships, persist through obstacles, and activate academic and social-awareness skills. AVID Center will provide participants with a school-level summary report that includes an overall summary of national findings.

Participation in these surveys will provide information that is directly aligned with several Indicators of the Coaching and Certification Instrument. Site Teams can use these data to inform targeted efforts to increase their implementation fidelity.

We encourage you to review the user guide for each survey by clicking the links below:

Please direct any questions to Jeff Huerta, Research Analyst, at jhuerta@avid.org.

AVID and Packback Partner to Help Educators Improve Student Writing

AVID Weeks at a Glance (WAG) Revision Project Update: Term 1 Is Rolling Out!

New to AVID Schoolwide Advisory? Visit Our All Things Advisory Resource Page!

AVID Ignite Special Fall Edition Coming This October! Registration Open Now!

AVID Speakers Bureau

New Pathways for AVID Professional Learning Modules (APLMs) Now Available

Early Bird Registration for AVID National Conference Opens August 15

Fall 2023 Collective Educator Agency and Student Agency Surveys

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