Advancement Via Individual Determination: Method Selection in Conclusions About Program Effectiveness

The authors present results of a 2-year mixed-methods evaluation study of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID; 2006), an academic intervention initiative supported by the Advanced Placement (AP) Incentive Pro-ram that targets middle-achieving students who have been underrepresented in advanced classes and 4-year colleges and that aims to increase their AP course and college enrollment. Results of the evaluation provide a mixed review of program effectiveness by year of implementation and method of inquiry, with highlights including universal stakeholder support and statistically significant differences between AVID and comparison students on a number of academic variables. The authors discuss implications of findings and suggestions for data triangulation.