AVID is a proven education investment in helping students succeed

TOO many schools aim academic improvements toward students at the bottom, leaving average-performing students to muddle along or move forward with lackluster grades.

Credit then the few schools working hard to boost academic performance for all children, not just the students who could get them placed on the federal failing-schools list.

One program has been around long enough to provide a recipe for success. Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, is described by Times education reporter Linda Shaw as equal parts study hall, motivational seminar and time-management training.

AVID targets students with low B or C averages. No magic in what comes next: hard work that includes college-prep courses and one to two hours of homework each night. Students are taught how to listen for key information, take notes and ask the right questions.

All basic but incredibly important stuff, underscoring that most students can learn anything once they understand how to learn.

AVID is used in 4,500 schools around the nation, including 128 Washington state middle and high schools. In the Bellevue School District, AVID has helped narrow the district's gap in achievement between middle-class students and those from poorer families.

The program's teachers have been asked to give other Bellevue teachers pointers on getting more from their students, moving the program's effectiveness beyond AVID students.

This kind of intervention isn't cheap — about $18,000 to $20,000 per year per school plus initial startup costs. That fact shouldn't overshadow the program's impressive return on investment. Nearly 80 percent of its seniors are accepted at four-year colleges.

The Bellevue Schools Foundation raises money to help pay for AVID. Most districts scramble to pay for the program in similar ways.

State education-reform policies ought to include a focus on successful efforts in local districts. Instead of adopting new programs, spending priorities ought to include programs like AVID.