Early reading skills are critical to student success. Students reading below grade level are disproportionately students of color and students from low-income households. These trends are seen across grade levels but are particularly alarming for the youngest learners, who are still learning to read before reading to learn.

The investment provides a six-week summer reading acceleration program for at-risk rising first-graders in Broward County Public Schools to help mitigate summer- and COVID-related learning loss. The goal of the program is for kindergarten students not meeting grade-level reading benchmarks to begin the following school year with a stronger foundation in early literacy, thus reducing the need for continued intervention and/or retention in subsequent grades. Ultimately, the program aims to close early literacy gaps for BCPS students.

Research indicates that high-achieving, low-income students are seriously underrepresented at the nation's most selective postsecondary institutions. The goal of the Elevation Scholars program is that low-income, high-achieving students secure admission to and graduate from a college that matches their academic ability. This investment supports expansion and growth of the Elevation Scholars program in five Orange County high schools. Select students receive an Elevation Scholars Award during their junior year of high school, which provides them intensive, one-on-one college readiness coaching and test-prep tutoring, as well as financial supports and coaching throughout their four years in college.

This grant provides continuation funding for two Florida Philanthropic Network programs—the College Access and Success Initiative (CASI) and the Education Affinity Group (EAG). CASI supports new organizations participating in their local college access networks and builds capacity and sustainability for existing networks. The EAG provides to Florida's education funders a space to learn from each other, work together to improve the state's education outcomes, and be a voice for Florida philanthropy on key education policy issues.

Funding supports an English Language Arts (ELA) professional learning cadre led by Impact Florida, a Tallahassee-based nonprofit organization that convenes networks of Florida school districts to recognize, support, and scale effective teaching practices. The learning cadre is a partnership with technical assistance provider The New Teacher Project. Helios's funding of the cadre supports three school districts (Hillsborough, Pinellas, Osceola) and provides technical assistance to support the implementation of high-quality instructional ELA materials focused on equity and cultural responsiveness

Funding supports a planning phase for the development of a Helios-Titans Achievement Program. The program creates clear pathways to success for Black males in Pinellas County, including: targeted recruitment and engagement of high school students; postsecondary enrollment and retention at St. Petersburg College, including summer programming, career and academic support, tutoring, and social engagement opportunities; and transition to a four-year program at St Petersburg College or a partner institution with support to reach two critical milestones—graduation and job placement into a career.

The investment supports Take Stock in Children and its 45 affiliates throughout the state of Florida over the next four years by investing in new staff positions, technology updates and enhancements, and staff and affiliate professional development and training on new technology solutions. This funding will help to ensure that low-income students participating in Take Stock in Children's programs continue to have access to the innovative technology and ongoing support that enriches opportunities for successful postsecondary education.

Funding provides operational support to Teach for America (TFA)—Miami-Dade over four years, as the organization expands its work to help all students in the communities it serves, not just those taught by a TFA corps member. Funding supports development of strategic partnerships; increase in the number of TFA leaders; cultivation of a network to raise public awareness of education in Miami-Dade and increase the number of leaders with decision-making power who support public education; and creation of a learning and innovation culture within the organization.

This investment helps students successfully transfer from state college into Florida International University, University of Central Florida, and University of South Florida. By creating strategic partnerships between the three universities and the state colleges, the Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Universities elevates transfer success by taking a unique approach to coaching, course alignment and equivalency, and student support structures.

This investment supports strategic planning, jointly led by USF and its partners in the USF Black Leadership Network, designed to develop innovative programs and practices to build, enhance, and expand the pipeline of Black students from high schools and community colleges in the six-county Tampa Bay area to the University of South Florida.

Florida College Access Network seeks to ensure that every Floridian achieves an education beyond high school and a rewarding career. This investment provides operational support to advance Florida College Access Network’s 2020-2025 strategic plan, building on its strengths in research and data as well as policy and advocacy, and supporting and growing its network of local college access networks. Funding also supports advocacy and policies designed to end equity disparities for Florida students of color. FCAN will continue to coordinate and expand the College Ready Florida suite of statewide initiatives, which build a college-going culture in Florida schools and assist transitioning high school students with navigating the college-going process.

This investment continues support of the Central Florida Education Ecosystem Database (CFEED), a project that facilitates collaborative data sharing among Central Florida public educational institutions across the full education continuum, allowing partners to identify factors that can improve outcomes for all students and use this knowledge to make data-driven policy changes and apply interventions.