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Fostering High-Quality Education for All

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During these unprecedented times, Fostering High-Quality Education for All is honored to support underserved and underrepresented students in Central Florida, help close learning gaps, and provide vital services to elementary, middle, and high school students. We have positively impacted and served over 3,000 students, including exclusive partnerships with sixteen private schools and three after-school programs that primarily serve students of color from low-income areas. Our programs utilize Appreciative Inquiry, which does not analyze the causes of problems and determine who is to blame; it focuses on identifying what is working well and doing more of it. We do not focus on the issue; instead, we examine what is working in the current situation, what has been achieved, and the conditions that made those successes possible. New ideas and possibilities appear that would never have been found by delving deeper and deeper into the problem. Most of the students we serve are underperforming, but there have to be some aspects that are working well. We strive to find out what those are and do more of them more often, and their performance is guaranteed to improve. We will identify the conditions for success and implement them more widely, increasing the success frequency. 

We are committed to supporting remediation and literacy programs to keep our students from falling behind due to the year and a half of academic learning loss from digital learning and school closures during the pandemic. In addition, we provide brand-new books to underserved students and schools serving low-income African Americans and students of color, thereby creating classroom libraries. Most importantly, we also offer high-impact and high-dosage tutoring to provide targeted tutoring to our struggling population of students who might be struggling more in one subject area than another, along with High-Quality Materials and Supports for intensive outside-the-school-day learning opportunities and summer enrichment programs that will help close learning gaps and address students' academic and youth development needs. Our tutoring and enrichment programs will impact our students' academic and youth development needs. Our programming will focus on literacy, science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and civics, supported by data-driven analysis of assessment results. The personalized attention our students will receive will help pinpoint the root causes of their struggles while bridging gaps that will set them up for a future of academic success, ultimately leading to the goal of improving grade-level reading by the end of our programming. Our literacy programs will incorporate research-based practices and implement literacy-rich schedules for identified students who benefit from these additional supports. In addition, our tutors will utilize high-quality materials and practices to ensure every student understands phonics, basic reading skills, vocabulary, spelling, reading comprehension, word meaning, critical thinking skills, and other identified needs. 

Our College Prep program focuses on College-Going Culture, which refers to the environment, attitudes, and practices in schools and communities that encourage students and families to obtain the information, tools, and perspective to enhance access to and success in postsecondary education. We play a crucial role in supporting and preparing our students with resources to achieve their postsecondary school vision, goals, and dreams. While it is the student's responsibility to complete the work, we take on the responsibility of helping them navigate the complex process of preparing for and entering higher education, the military, trade schools, or direct hire opportunities. We also focus intently on career planning as a process for postsecondary graduation planning and aligning post-graduation career plans with the chosen institution to help students reach their goals quickly with minimal investment and the greatest return. We also engage in Career-Aligned Educational Activities, aligning career aspirations and educational programming that efficiently prepares students for postsecondary goals. Our test preparation programs have been highly successful. The SAT and ACT are essential, but due to systemic and cultural challenges, many of our students lack the GPA or test scores required to gain admission to a four-year university; we must also provide options for them. That option includes preparation for the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (PERT) and tutoring necessary to enter community colleges. PERT tutoring has been crucial because over 60% of the students we serve can only gain admission to a community college, and failing the PERT will result in them wasting money and resources they do not have, as they will have to take a high number of preparatory courses that do not count as college credit. We are helping students earn an AA or AS degree in 2-3 years, whereas many of those students, if they do not drop out, would typically need to take 2-4 semesters of preparatory courses alone and complete them in 4-5 years for a two-year degree. Along with free PERT, SAT, and ACT testing preparation, study guides, and tutoring, complimentary breakfast and lunch are provided during tutoring sessions. Additionally, students receive scientific calculators, up to five free college books for their first semester of college, gas cards, paid college application costs, and ACT/SAT waivers. Our high school program will develop critical thinking skills in our students to support their future higher education and post-high school career endeavors.

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