Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Education, Ed.D.

Department

Education

First Advisor

Patricia Morrell

LC Subjects

Education, Elementary; Educational evaluation

Abstract

AVID is a college-readiness program that supports students in the academic middle to be successful in rigorous academic coursework needed to be prepared for college. At the elementary level, school-wide instructional strategies, organizational tools, and college-going school culture support students’ socio-emotional and academic development. Focused on building students’ growth mindset, mastery goal orientation, and academic self-efficacy, AVID aims to prepare students for the next level. The purpose of this study is two-fold: to evaluate the impacts of the AVID program at the elementary school level on students’ growth mindset, self-efficacy, and goal orientation and to determine principals’ and teachers’ perceptions on the initial implementation of AVID Elementary. The study included elementary students (N=316) who were enrolled in three treatment schools that implemented AVID Elementary with students for the first time and two comparison schools in the same school district. Students were given a pre-survey at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year and post-survey at the end of the fall academic term to measure growth mindset, goal orientation, and academic self-efficacy. Principal, teacher, and student interviews were conducted to determine individual perceptions on the AVID program.

The outcomes of this study demonstrated that the organizational tools and instructional strategies used by teachers as part of the AVID Elementary program positively impacted students’ self-perceptions of academic self-efficacy. Students interviewed displayed mastery goal oriented thinking and growth mindsets when discussing difficult coursework. Teachers saw students develop greater independence in their learning and improved academic outcomes as a result of students increased academic self-efficacy. No statistically significant effects were found on growth mindset, academic-efficacy, and goal orientation between treatment and comparison schools. However, differential interaction effects were found between White and non- White students and between fifth and sixth grade students on growth mindset and between special education and non-special education students on performance-avoidance goal orientation.

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Copyright for this work is retained by the author.

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