Wicor after High School: Avid Graduates' Perceptions of and Experiences with the Curriculum

• Other Authors: Fitch, Jack Camp (author)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Education
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/2018_Sp_FitchIII_fsu_0071E_14444

College access programs like Upward Bound, GEAR UP, and AVID have long histories in education. Each of these have been thoroughly researched. This research shows mixed results on their effectiveness to improve the college-going nature of their respective participants. Most of the research on these programs is focused on academic outcomes rather than the curriculum taught in them and how that curriculum serves students once they graduate. There were three goals of this comparative, sequential, mixed methods study. The first goal was to determine the usefulness of the WICOR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading) components of the AVID Curriculum to graduates of the program from the research district. The second goal was to discern differences in responses between AVID graduates who matriculated into post-secondary institutions and AVID graduates who did not matriculate into post-secondary institutions. The final goal was to find any suggestions for improvement the AVID graduates may have regarding the program. The findings of the study show that AVID graduates from the research district use the WICOR components to varying degrees. The findings also show that there is no discernable difference between the responses of AVID graduates who matriculated and those who did not. Finally, the findings indicate that AVID graduates would like to see the curriculum be differentiated in the later years of the program. Themes emerged from the research including the importance of the role of the AVID Coordinator and the community that is created within the AVID classroom. Implications for practice include ensuring program requirements are met, revisiting the WICOR components, and the need to cultivate community in the AVID classroom. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. === Spring Semester 2018. === March 22, 2018. === AVID, Community, Coordinator, Curriculum, Relatedness, WICOR === Includes bibliographical references. === Linda Schrader, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Robert Schwartz, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Jeannine Turner, University Representative; Toby Park, Committee Member; Patrice Iatarola, Committee Member.