S4 E22 BONUS: Coaching, Teaching, & Classroom Management Strategies Sparked From My Conversation with Tracy Baynes (❤️Olivia Wahl)

College Prep That Actually Works: AVID & STEP's Proven Success Formula

In this bonus episode, I explore two transformative educational programs - AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and STEP (Student Expedition Program). Building on my S4E22 conversation with Tracy Baynes, I break down how these programs are revolutionizing college preparation and achieving remarkable success rates among students.

Discover how AVID and STEP are closing the opportunity gap by preparing students for college success through academic skill building, relationship development, and systemic change in schools. Learn about their approach to equity in education, the importance of student-driven learning, and how these programs are helping educators create sustainable change in their classrooms.

Whether you're an educator, administrator, or caregiver, this episode offers valuable insights into proven strategies that help students thrive academically and beyond. From elementary school foundations to college graduation success, learn how these programs are transforming education one student at a time.

Key Insights: 

• STEP's impressive 96% college graduation success rate in Arizona
• AVID's reach: 8,000 schools and 2 million+ students
• Essential academic behaviors taught starting in elementary school:
  • Note-taking strategies
  • Organization skills
  • Time management
  • Critical thinking
  • How these programs transform teacher-centered instruction to student-driven learning

Want to learn more about STEP? Check out my full interview with Tracy Baynes (https://youtu.be/d0grSKM3exQ).

New episodes are released every Monday, with a bonus solo episode on Fridays featuring research-backed coaching and teaching strategies you can apply right away to better serve the children in your care.

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When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Transcript

Olivia: [00:00:00] Hi there. I'm so happy you're here. Your time is precious. And because of that, I want to let you know right away what you'll gain by listening to the very last second of this episode. My conversation with Tracy Baynes focused on her Student Expedition Program and how they are supporting Arizona's low-income students to achieve a 96 percent success rate with college graduation.

Olivia: In this bonus episode, I offer my insights about the power of STEP and another program that I'm familiar with, AVID. It's the Advancement Via Individual Determination program. Both AVID and STEP are educational programs that focus on closing the opportunity gap by preparing students for college success through a combination of academic skill building, relationship development, and systemic change in schools.

Olivia: By listening to this conversation, you'll learn the fundamental academic behaviors and [00:01:00] soft skills students need to begin honing starting in elementary school. You'll learn how AVID supports schools with shifting from teacher-centered instruction to student-driven learning, and how AVID works systemically for sustainable change.

Olivia: Stay with me. I'm so happy to have you as a listener today. This is Schoolutions: Coaching and Teaching Strategies, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that offers educators and caregivers strategies to try right away and ensure every student receives the inspiration and support they need to thrive.

Olivia: I am Olivia Wahl and this is a bonus episode. It's an accompaniment to my conversation with Tracy Baynes: Season 4, episode 22, where Tracy presented the STEP college prep program that she created and it's incredible 96 percent success rate when it [00:02:00] comes to their participants’ college graduation success.

Olivia: In this bonus episode, I wanted to highlight AVID. AVID is an acronym for Advancement Via Individual Determination. I first learned about the AVID program when my oldest son was in eighth grade and getting ready to go into high school. His high school and middle school were offering different presentations around what the AVID program was, yet a lot of caregivers didn't really understand what the intent of the program was who best fits as a participant. So I thought it would be helpful to illuminate some of that for you as listeners and get to know what AVID can do for your student, what it can do for you as an educator. So what I thought would be helpful is to draw some parallels between the Student Expedition Program that Tracy [00:03:00] spoke to during our conversation, with AVID.

Olivia: Tracy's program is focused on in Arizona, and as she said, so much of the work is on the ground supporting low-income Arizonian students to not only get into college, but also graduate. AVID has a bit of a wider reach where they are in 8,000 schools and more than 2 million students are benefiting from the program.

Olivia: I speak from experience that when schools partner with AVID, they receive professional learning, resources, and ongoing support because this cannot just be one more thing to do. AVID emphasizes that the work, their work with schools has to align with their goals to accelerate and enhance the work that's already happening.

Olivia: So many of the beliefs that Tracy articulated are also shared by the folks at AVID. The logo for AVID is so [00:04:00] beautiful. It's arms outstretched, reaching to thrive. And AVID's mission is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college and career readiness and success in a global society.

Olivia: They focus on equity, teacher effectiveness, leadership, and student learning. Under the umbrella of equity, AVID poses questions that I think are really important to consider: Do your advanced classes truly reflect your student population? Just as Tracy articulated, if a student wants to apply to a university and has never taken an Advanced Placement class, they have less of a chance, often, of being accepted.

Olivia: So what STEP does, what AVID does, they open access and provide students with the tools to be successful. They also know that high expectations are everything and that we have to alter the beliefs on what [00:05:00] educators and students believe is possible. I also appreciate that STEP as well as AVID acknowledge that teachers sometimes come from a different background than their students, and that there is a need for practical training so that teachers can more authentically connect with their students.

Olivia: If we get smarter about leveraging kids’ backgrounds, their experiences, it will help them master content in a more personal way. I want to shine a light on some of the academic behaviors and soft skills that AVID focuses on. Beginning at the elementary level, AVID students get to hone their academic skills like notetaking, organization, time management, and critical thinking.

Olivia: So let's just pause there. How many students in middle and high school still need work on notetaking, organization, time management, critical thinking. These are skill sets that AVID helps [00:06:00] to begin exploring with children at a young age, so it becomes more and more natural for them to have these skills instilled by the time they're in middle and high school.

Olivia: STEP and AVID both also focus on the investment in relationships. I so appreciate they do not force a pre-packaged, one-size-fits-all curriculum on educators. Instead, they offer strategies for how material that is already in schools can be taught. They honor teachers’ expertise, they honor teachers’ agency, and they provide flexibility.

Olivia: And what do we need now more than ever of our students to be able to do and learn? It's how to think critically, ask questions, and collaborate to create solutions. That's exactly what AVID focuses on, nurturing student-centered teaching. That requires teachers to pivot from being in an instructor's stance to a [00:07:00] facilitator's stance.

Olivia: So thank goodness, AVID offers strategies to help teachers design learning opportunities that challenge students and help them see the role they play in changing their classrooms and owning their learning. And we know leaders have to be catalysts for transformation. We also know that so much of their time is spent on tasks that don't actually make an impact.

Olivia: But that's where AVID is invaluable because it helps principals involve both teachers and counselors in examining student data, which then everyone can challenge existing paradigms and address the roadblocks to both student opportunity and success. Tracy spoke in our conversation to that idea that students of low-income backgrounds or non-traditional backgrounds; they often are not exposed to higher level, rigorous classes.

Olivia: [00:08:00] Both STEP and AVID support staff in identifying procedures that limit students access to the rigorous courses and help them move beyond this idea of remediation and intervention to change the culture, to change the pedagogy. And AVID also recognizes that for the goals to be aligned, principals need support with master schedules, instructional approaches, curriculum, and classroom observations.

Olivia: And these programs also recognize that practices like higher-level questioning, active learning, use of academic language are the norm rather than the exception. That the power of parallel practice is real. So how are our principals modeling and infusing engaging practices into their faculty meetings?

Olivia: How are teachers then using them with students? How are students using these with each other? And AVID asks the question: [00:09:00] Do your students control their educational destiny? We want our students to thrive in the world that awaits them. For students to thrive, there is so much research to support that our students need to be reflective.

Olivia: They need to question while they're mastering content way above and beyond just repeating and memorizing like the days of yesteryear. Our students need to work together. They need to problem-solve to change the level of discourse in the classroom as they prepare. And when it comes to student learning, AVID has some key phrases: Let students drive, lead more, talk less. Remove barriers to learning and let kids be kids. So what does it mean to let students drive? Drive their own learning experience. Well, they've got to be able to reflect and question. There's got to [00:10:00] be space held for that while they're learning. We need to move away from that, just repeating and memorizing content.

Olivia: Our kids have to work together. They need to problem-solve. They need to have discourse in the classroom. Tracy articulated our students need to know when they don't know. They have to ask for help. That's the mindset. And so how can we teach our students to articulate what they don't understand and so then they can learn how to seek out the resources they need?

Olivia: This is critical thinking, inquiry, and self-advocacy. And when it comes to step and avid educators, they are empowering students to do their own learning. Lead more, talk less. Well, that has to also hold space for student centric problem-solving. That's moving away from teachers holding all of the answers.

Olivia: It's moving away from teachers [00:11:00] standing and lecturing. We know when it comes to learning, the people doing the work are learning the most. When teachers shift from being instructors to facilitators, that is where the opportunity opens up and where students can engage and master content through inquiry and collaboration, instead of lecture and filling in guided notes.

Olivia: And what does it mean to remove barriers to learning? Well, it means that we have to believe that all students need to learn how to learn. So those skills I mentioned earlier, notetaking, studying, organizing assignments, these are all skills that must be taught and practiced over and over and over again to perfect.

Olivia: But they're not often explicitly taught in schools. So starting at elementary, AVID coaches educators on how to teach students to master [00:12:00] these skills and other academic behaviors that will directly support them with success in school and life. And I love this the most. This is a perfect way to wrap this episode.

Olivia: Let kids be kids. And this is a quote right from the AVID site: “Students would rather talk, move around, and ask questions than sit still and be quiet. Humans are wired to construct knowledge through action. AVID classrooms promote motion, communication, and team-building through activities such as Socratic Seminars, collaborative study groups, peer tutoring, and philosophical chairs. These activities honor the way students learn best.”

Olivia: I cannot encourage you enough to explore AVID, continue to explore Tracy's Student Expedition Program. These are programs out there in the world, in the nation, that are [00:13:00] helping our students thrive with skill sets that they will need the rest of their lives.

Olivia: Thanks for tuning into this bonus episode. I cannot wait to see you next week. Schoolutions: Coaching and Teaching Strategies is created, produced, and edited by me, Olivia Wahl. Thank you to my older son, Benjamin, who created the music playing in the background. You can follow and listen to Schoolutions wherever you get your podcasts or subscribe to never miss an episode and watch on YouTube. Now I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com. Let me know how step or avid or another program like them have benefited you or your community. Tune in every Monday for the best research about coaching and teaching strategies you can apply right away to better the lives of the children in your care.

Olivia: And stay tuned for my bonus episodes every Friday, where I'll share how I applied what I learned from the guests in schools that week. [00:14:00] See you then!