Celebrating Advancement Via Individual Determination's 25 years of success.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Delaware (Mr. Castle), and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would like to take this time to recognize a tremendous and extremely valuable asset to public education in the United States that began in my city of San Diego in 1980. The Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, program has helped hundreds of thousands of underachieving middle and high school students across the United States learn the study habits and the skills needed to get into college and graduate; and for many of them to be the first in their family to go to college and to graduate.

A teacher at Clairemont High School, Mary Catherine Swanson, created AVID because she wanted to find a way to help students tap their true potential and help them achieve academic success. The program emphasizes individual achievement, while teaching sound study skills and new study habits. AVID also encourages goal setting, and works to lift self-expectations and self-esteem in students so they can rise to the challenge.

Mary Catherine Swanson recently retired, and now is the perfect time to celebrate what she accomplished for education through the AVID program. While overseeing the program for 25 years, AVID went from one classroom in San Diego to over 2,300 middle and high schools in 36 States and 15 nations abroad. Nearly 260,000 students have benefited tremendously from its ground-breaking teaching methods, encouraging time management, sound study habits, self-confidence, and hard work.

These students enroll in the toughest classes, such as AP courses, and are given the support and resources to rise to the challenge through AVID. Amazingly, over 95 percent of those who complete the AVID program attend college, and 89 percent of these students return for their sophomore year.

Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to choose from the thousands of success stories produced by AVID. The program helped U.S. Olympic athlete Joanna Hayes earn the grades and develop the study habits needed to attend UCLA. Joanna then went on to win the Gold in the 100-Meter Hurdle event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece, and she attributes her success in part to the discipline she learned from AVID.

Another great story is that of AVID student Truong-Son Vinh, who earned degrees in engineering and applied math from the University of California at San Diego after high school. Vinh came to the United States as a boy when his family fled Vietnam after it fell to the North in the 1970s, and he went on to apply his knowledge and skills working for NASA.

There are thousands of success stories. AVID students have gone on to earn advanced degrees in all key subjects and disciplines.

I want to thank Mary Catherine Swanson for having a vision and working hard to implement this vision beginning with one classroom and 32 students at Clairemont High. And I want to thank the teachers and the tutors for their dedication, and also recognize the students who had the courage to take on the rigorous academic track required by AVID, and who had the desire to go on one day and find success in college.

I want to thank my colleague, Congressman Castle, for his efforts on behalf of this resolution, and also I would like to thank Chairman McKeon and House leadership for bringing House Res. 576 to the floor today.

If we are to eliminate the achievement gap in the United States and remain competitive globally, I believe we need to build upon the programs that have proven success, encouraging and inspiring hard work in academics. AVID is clearly one of these programs, and I know it will continue its tradition of success in the years to come.

Finally, as we look at the No Child Left Behind reauthorization and how we can improve it, I believe it is more than worthwhile to look at programs such as AVID. AVID provides the strong and uniform training techniques to those who oversee it in schools across the Nation. It sets high standards for both its instructors and its students.

AVID is not about one community or one region, but a national push to encourage strong academic standards, and provides the accountability and support to back up those standards. It further gives the students the support they need both academically and socially to achieve in difficult classes.

I encourage my colleagues to support passage of this resolution today and encourage my colleagues to learn from this highly successful program.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 576) celebrating Advancement Via Individual Determination's 25 years of success, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Res. 576.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 576, celebrating the success of the Advancement Via Individual Determination program, also known as AVID.

AVID began in one classroom in 1980, and has now trained more than 98,000 educators and nearly 260,000 student alumni. Fortunately, AVID is beginning to spread to the East Coast, and has already reached five schools in my home State of Delaware.

The accomplishments of AVID extend beyond the growth and expansion of the program. AVID seeks to help underachieving students by providing them with the support they need to take challenging classes and go on to college. School officials select average students making Cs and Ds, but have the potential to do better, and then place them in honors and college-prep classes with academic and motivational support. Over the past 25 years, more than 95 percent of the almost 260,000 students who have participated in the program have gone to college.

AVID takes strong evidence of what we know to be true about closing the achievement gap and provides it for those students who not only need the assistance, but also want it. In addition to providing assistance and guidance to help students achieve, the program drives success by promoting rigorous standards, coupled with professional development not only for teachers, but also for school and district administrators. These are key components to any successful education program.

Over the course of the past several years, there has been a growing debate surrounding our high schools. There is much to do, but I am thrilled by the response from all levels of government, as well as the private sector. Some of what we have heard about the struggles in our high schools is exactly what AVID embraces, the notion that there is a silent majority, average students who do okay in ordinary classes. The fear of failure often steers them away from more challenging course work or from seeking a postsecondary degree. I commend AVID for recognizing this need 25 years ago, and I commend those school districts that have incorporated the program into their schools.

I would also like to thank the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis) for bringing this program to my attention, and I congratulate our Delaware schools and students who participate. Here is to another 25 years.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like again to thank the gentlewoman from California. It is her initiative that brings us here to the floor today to recognize this excellent program, and I encourage everyone to support it.

I yield back the balance of my time.