Lee Morgan
University of Northern Colorado
Dr. T. Lee Morgan is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Northern Colorado. Previously, he was the manager of the office of Social Emotional Learning at Denver Public Schools where he led a team of central office leaders in consulting with school teams to develop and implement the tools, resources, and relationships necessary to employ a whole child approach to education. Dr. Morgan has experience as a teacher, ans school leader in private, charter and public schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels across the United States. He also has experience serving students and family from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Dr. Morgan is an educator that is passionate about integrating the curriculum in meaningful ways to support the whole child. He earned his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, his M.Min. from Cincinnati Christian University, and his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Denver. Professor Morgan specializes in social emotional learning, social justice leadership, culturally responsive pedagogy, and school improvement.
When educational systems operationalize inclusive practices, traditionally underrepresented populations access the advantages gained through attaining college credentials at a greater rate. This study examined participation in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program and the corresponding outcomes related to college enrollment, persistence, and graduation. We sought to understand the impact of participating in AVID along with understanding the predictors that led to AVID participation.
For many years, there has been a steady gap in the achievement between White and minoritized students. Although the disparities have been slightly reduced, there remains a considerable amount of work to be done in closing the opportunity gap. The opportunity gap can be observed in several measurable factors including standardized test scores, grade point average, dropout rates, and college enrollment, persistence and completion rates. Although there are examples of schools closing the opportunity gap, these same results have not been realized to scale across all schools.
Among the pre-college variables that are related to postsecondary success, student characteristics, performance, and intense coursework are the most potent predictors. One reform effort that has been recognized through research to assist in closing the opportunity gap is the AVID program. The AVID program’s primary goal is to close opportunity gaps by developing students’ critical thinking, literacy, and math skills across all content areas. The AVID program aims to foster positive attitudes about school and higher education, helping students become more knowledgeable about college, developing study skills, and supporting students in and encouraging them to take honors and advanced placement courses
The study dataset spanned six years from 2008/2009 through 2013/2014 and contained demographic characteristics, course enrollment, and college outcomes including enrollment, persistence, and graduation. This dataset contained information on 1464 students. These data allow for the examination of immediate enrollment, persistence, and graduation from a post-secondary institution. The primary analytic technique was logistic regression.
The current study found a positive relationship between engaging in AVID and High Rigor Coursework participation in high school and college enrollment, persistence, and graduation. Results indicated that, even after controlling for student demographics of gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status, and high school grade point average as measures of prior academic performance, students with engagement in AVID three or more years in high school outperformed their peers and had better post-secondary outcomes. The results of the current study add to the body of literature on the efficacy of AVID program within the public-school setting.
