Local program increases both academic success and emotional support for Madison students

A recent report shows the positive academic and emotional benefits of the AVID/TOPS program, a partner program between the Madison Metropolitan School District and the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County.

The collaborative college prep course AVID/ TOPS is offered at West High School (pictured in photos), Madison’s three other high schools and 11 middle schools. (Abigail Becker/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism)

Madison students enrolled in a collaborative partnership program aimed atare graduating and attending college at higher rates, taking more advanced and honors courses and missing fewer days of school, according to a recent report. 

The collaborative partnership program consists of two parts: Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), which is run through the Madison Metropolitan School District, and the Boys & Girls Club’s Teens of Promise (TOPS) program. Together, the programs are designed to increase academic achievement, college preparation and postsecondary education for low-income students and students of color with GPAs between 2.0 and 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. 

“As we work to ensure that every child graduates ready for college, career and community, AVID/TOPS positions many of our students for success,” Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham said in a statement. “We are so grateful to all of our AVID staff and the Boys and Girls Club for this partnership, which continues to show consistently positive results for our students.”

Building on previous studies, The Wisconsin HOPE Lab released its latest analysis of AVID TOPS for the 2014-15 school year and shows continued success of the program.

Highlights from the report:

• Across the district, 73 percent of students exposed to AVID/TOPS in high school attended college compared to 62 percent of students who did not.

• Of the AVID/TOPS students who are low-income, 69 percent went to college vs. 57 percent of students not in the program.

• Black students enrolled in AVID/TOPS attended college at a rate of 68 percent compared to 57 percent of students not in the program. More male students of color, 67 percent, in AVID/TOPS attended college compared to 44 percent.

• Students in AVID/TOPS for all four years of high school were more likely to attend college (83 compared to 63 percent) and more likely to attend a four-year school than a two-year program (41 compared to 28 percent).

• Students exposed to AVID/TOPS were more likely to graduate on time. Ninety-four percent of students in the program graduated on time compared to 89 percent of students who did not. The effect was greater for low-income students students of color (91 compared to 84 percent) and male students of color (94 compared to 78 percent).

• Fifty-nine percent of AVID/TOPS students participated in AP and honors courses compared to 47 percent of students not in the program.

• Eighth-graders in AVID were more likely to have unexcused absences in 9th grade (a reduction of about 1.5 days overall, but about 2.1 days for low-income students) and earned slightly more academic credits in 9th grade (6.68 for AVID/TOPS vs. 6.36 for the comparison group overall).

View the full report here.

AVID is a national college readiness system and consists of an in-school elective class focused on organizational strategies, study skills, critical thinking and tutoring support. TOPS, which is unique to Madison, provides the full-time student coordinators, summer internships, mentors and funding for more than 40 tutors as well as college and career field trips. 

Beginning in 2007 at East High School with 28 students, the program has grown to include Madison’s three other high schools — Memorial, West and LaFollette — and 11 middle schools.  It serves 1,335 students with consistently positive results.

Students who are exposed to the program in middle school tend to take the elective class throughout high school, although admission to the course involves an application and interview process at both levels, according to West High School students in the program.  

In addition to the academic support that AVID/TOPS provides, course instructors at the junior and senior level focus on the college application process and schedule time to work on personal statements and the application itself. 

Cerxio Guerrero, a senior at West High, said the in-class time filling out the applications and writing personal statements is a timesaver and would be more difficult to accomplish outside of school. He also credits the class with expanding his knowledge about what college options are available to him. 

“It’s thanks to AVID that I’m so well informed (about) all I have to do to get into college and all the college options that are out there because honestly before AVID, all I really knew of was UW–Madison,” Guerrero said. He is in his fourth year of the program.

West High School freshman Shamya Gilmore describes the AVID/TOPS class as an extra support system in school. (Abigail Becker/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism)

“There’s just always that help, the peer support and the teacher support,” Guerrero added.

More students exposed to AVID/TOPS in high school attended college – 73 percent – compared to 62 percent of students who were not participants. Of students enrolled in AVID/TOPS throughout all four years of high school, 83 percent attended college.

Cohorts of AVID/TOPS students develop close friendships throughout high school, the result of taking one class with the same group of people four years in a row. 

Shamya Gilmore, a West High School freshman, calls her fellow classmates her “AVID brothers and sisters” and says the class becomes like a family inside and outside of school. Gilmore has been enrolled in AVID/TOPS since she was an eighth grader at Cherokee Middle School and even took a pre-AVID class in the sixth grade.

She credits the support and accountability of her “AVID family” with her success in school.

“My favorite part (about AVID/TOPS) is the support because a lot of students in high school don’t have support or they have it to a certain extent. But AVID, they really push you and even if you’re not on task with your stuff, they are,” Gilmore said.

West High junior Chanteria Dixon asks Amy Cassiday, the 11th grade AVID/TOPS teacher, a question during the elective period. (Abigail Becker/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism)

Langston Evans, who oversees the TOPS program, said setting high expectations for students in an environment where they feel comfortable will garner positive results. Program leaders expect AVID/TOPS students to take at least one AP or honors course before high school graduation and many take more — 59 percent of AVID/TOPS students take advanced classes compared to 47 percent of other students.

“When you build a safe space for people to learn and to fail, you can push kids further,” Evans said.

The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism contributed reporting to this story.