Align classroom practices with student experiences.
No items found.
What's New
Survey Portal Coming 2026–2027
Starting in the 2026–27 school year, AVID partners will have access to a new AVID Agency Survey Portal. This portal will allow partners to:
- Self‑serve and access surveys based on their own needs, goals, and implementation plans
- Access reports, data, and aligned resources in one centralized place
This expanded access is designed to empower partners to use agency data more intentionally and flexibly throughout the year.
Who Can Access the Portal:
- AVID site and district leaders
- AVID Site Coordinators
What Are the AVID Agency Surveys?
The AVID agency surveys measure both student agency and collective educator agency. These tools help schools identify strengths, guide instructional decisions, and monitor progress in implementation and outcomes. Survey results can contribute to staff conversations about where students and educators are excelling or may need more support.
The surveys are a free resource for AVID schools to use with all students and educators. Each survey takes approximately 5 minutes or less for a student or educator to complete.
AVID measures agency through two surveys:
This survey helps district and school leaders monitor how students are developing the ability to build relationships, persist through obstacles, and apply academic and social awareness skills. Educators can use it to reflect on how well instruction supports and strengthens students' ownership of learning.
This survey helps district and school leaders understand how AVID is strengthening shared beliefs and practices across the campus. It can be used to reflect on expectations and identify growth opportunities in insisting on rigor, breaking down barriers, aligning the work, and advocating for students.
With AVID's agency surveys, schools will be able to:
Most importantly, this work advances our shared commitment to ensuring that every student gains the skills, mindset, and belief in themselves to take charge of their future.
What Is Agency and Why Does It Matter?
Preparing students for college, career, and life requires more than academic knowledge. Students must develop the confidence, skills, and resilience to make informed choices, persist through obstacles, and take purposeful action toward their goals.
Within the AVID College and Career Readiness Framework, agency sits at the core of this development. It reflects the connection between students taking ownership of their learning and educators working together to create environments where all students can succeed.
Student agency develops when educators create the conditions for relational capacity, so that students feel safe and supported in taking academic risks. As educators strengthen alignment and support systems, students experience greater consistency in their learning environments, increasing trust and connection as a basis for building agency and owning their learning. As students grow in confidence and independence, educators deepen their collective practice as well.
Helping Students Take Charge of Their Learning
To be college and career ready, students must develop three essential outcomes that prepare them for success beyond high school: rigorous academic preparedness, opportunity knowledge, and student agency. Together, these outcomes ensure students build the skills, confidence, and direction needed to design their futures.
Student agency grows when educators create learning environments that prioritize relational capacity and skill development, so students are equipped to build relationships, persist through obstacles, and apply their academic, social, emotional, and professional skills. Agency equips students with the mindset and capabilities needed to adapt, persevere, and take ownership of their learning and their future.
Hear powerful stories of student agency from AVID alumni and explore more in our alumni book.
Student agency is evident when students:
- Understand how they learn.
- Set goals that matter to them.
- Make informed decisions about their learning.
- Recognize that effort leads to growth.
Educators strengthen agency by:
Offering opportunities for student voice and choice
Modeling reflection and goal setting
Creating structures that support ownership and growth
This helps students:
Strengthening Impact Through Shared Practice
Collective educator agency is about shared beliefs and coordinated actions across a school campus. When educators have a common understanding of and genuinely believe in supporting and improving student success, collective educator agency develops. By insisting on rigor, breaking down barriers, aligning their work, and advocating for students, expectations are clearer, collaboration deepens, and opportunities for success expand across classrooms and grade levels.
Watch collective educator agency come to life at Olive Elementary School. Read the full case study to learn more.
Collective educator agency is evident when educators:
Align around shared goals for student success.
Use common instructional practices that increase rigor and engagement.
Reflect collaboratively on evidence of student learning.
Take intentional action to expand opportunity for all students.
This collaboration helps schools:
Strengthening collective educator agency through AVID implementation is associated with improved teacher retention and lower staff turnover.
How Agency Develops Through AVID Implementation
Student agency and collective educator agency develop through intentional, schoolwide implementation of the AVID College and Career Readiness Framework.
Through rigorous learning with support, collaboration, and structured opportunities for reflection and goal setting, students develop confidence and ownership of their progress. At the same time, AVID professional learning helps educators align expectations, share responsibility for student success, and implement common strategies that increase engagement and expand access.
Over time, this coordinated approach strengthens relational capacity across the school community. Trust, connection, and shared purpose help sustain learning environments where high expectations are paired with meaningful support.
As agency develops, schools need clear insight into how students experience their learning and how educator practice continues to evolve.
