The African American Male AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) Initiative: A Study of Implementation and Impact on Student Aspirations and School Performance

• In Event: Roundtable Session 111
  In Roundtable Session: Rethinking Adolescents at Risk

Abstract

This study the African American Male Initiative (AAMI) illustrates how five high schools recruit and retain African American males in the AVID program to prepare them for four-year college acceptance and success, and how they began to transform the culture of their schools. Interviews, focus groups, surveys, and academic transcripts provided sources of data. Student transcript data revealed low enrollment and/or low grades in rigorous coursework, but students with higher aspirations as evidenced by the survey tended to have higher grade point averages and were enrolled in more rigorous coursework. Characteristics such as African American male mentoring and advocacy, raised expectations, and forming a “brotherhood” emerged from focus group data across schools.

Authors

• Karen M. Watt, The University of Texas - Pan American

• Jeffery J. Huerta, The University of Texas - Pan American

• Jennifer Butcher, Lamar University

• Patricia Reyes, The University of Texas - Pan American