HELPS EDUCATION FUND INC
PO BOX 6667, RALEIGH, NC 27628 www.helpseducationfund.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: WITH A FOCUS ON IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL EQUITY AND PROMOTING A MORE JUST SOCIETY, HELPSEDUCATION FUND PROVIDES EVIDENCE-BASED PROGRAMS AND SERVICES THAT ARE FREE OR LOW-COST ANDMEANINGFULLY ADVANCE STUDENT LEARNING.

HELPING EARLY LITERACY WITH PRACTICE STRATEGIES (HELPS)-TEACHERS AND READING RESEARCHERS GENERALLY AGREE THAT THE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF EARLY ELEMENTARY READING INSTRUCTION SHOULD TARGET PHONICS, PHONEMIC AWARENESS, FLUENCY, COMPREHENSION, AND VOCABULARY. HOWEVER, READING FLUENCY IS COMMONLY NEGLECTED AS A PART OF A STUDENTS CORE READING CURRICULUM AND APPROXIMATELY 40% OF ELEMENTARY-AGED STUDENTS IN THE US DO NOT HAVE PROFICIENT READING FLUENCY. A PRIMARY GOAL OF HELPS IS TO STRENGTHEN STUDENTS READING FLUENCY. AS STUDENTS IMPROVE READING FLUENCY, THEY ARE BETTER ABLE TO FOCUS ON AND IMPROVE OTHER IMPORTANT READING SKILLS, INCLUDING COMPREHENSION. THEY ALSO BECOME MORE CONFIDENT READERS. THERE ARE TWO CENTRAL HELPS PROGRAMS: ONE THAT IS IMPLEMENTED BY AN ADULT WITH ONE STUDENT (HELPS) AND ONE THAT IS SPECIFICALLY DEVELOPED FOR USE WITH SMALL GROUPS OF 2-5 STUDENTS (REFERRED TO AS HELPS-SG FOR SMALL-GROUP). NUMEROUS RESEARCH STUDIES SHOW THAT AS STUDENTS RECEIVE THE HELPS PROGRAMS, THEY SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THEIR READING FLUENCY AND COMPREHENSION. IN THE 2019-20 SCHOOL YEAR, HELPS EDUCATION FUND DIRECTLY WORKED WITH SCHOOLS AND AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT MORE THAN 450 STUDENTS IN GETTING THE HELPS ONE-ON-ONE PROGRAM. COLLECTIVELY, THESE STUDENTS RECEIVED A TOTAL OF 11,630 HELPS TUTORING SESSIONS. MANY OF THESE SESSIONS WERE PROVIDED BY MORE THAN 380 HIGHLY TRAINED COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS WHO COLLECTIVELY OFFERED APPROXIMATELY 4,500 HOURS OF HELPS TUTORING. HELPS EDUCATION FUND ALSO DIRECTLY WORKED WITH SCHOOLS AND AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT MORE THAN 75 TEACHERS TO IMPLEMENT HELPS-SG WITH MORE THAN 500 STUDENTS. OVERALL, TEACHERS RECEIVED HIGH-QUALITY COACHING IN ORDER TO USE HELPS-SG MOST EFFECTIVELY. OVERALL, STUDENTS RECEIVING THE HELPS ONE-ON-ONE AND HELPS-SG PROGRAM MADE MEANINGFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN THEIR READING.

PARENTS AND SCHOOLS TOGETHER TO ENHANCE LEARNING (PASTEL) PROGRAM- ALTHOUGH MANY PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS ENGAGE THEIR CHILD WITH READING IN THE HOME, MANY DO NOT KNOW OR HAVE ACCESS TO HOME-BASED ACTIVITIES THAT WILL BEST SUPPORT THEIR CHILDS LITERACY DEVELOPMENT. THE PASTEL PROGRAM PROVIDES PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS WITH 65 LITERACY ACTIVITIES THEY CAN EASILY USE TO IMPROVE LITERACY AND PRE-LITERACY SKILLS OF CHILDREN FROM BIRTH TO AGE 12. UNLIKE MOST READING PROGRAMS DESIGNED FOR USE AT HOME, PASTEL ACTIVITIES ARE EVIDENCE-BASED AND WERE RIGOROUSLY DEVELOPED BY HUNDREDS OF CONTRIBUTORS, INCLUDING LITERACY RESEARCHERS, CLASSROOM TEACHERS, READING SPECIALISTS, PARENTS/CAREGIVERS, AND MORE. IN THE 2019-20 SCHOOL YEAR, HELPS EDUCATION FUND FINALIZED THE PASTEL PROGRAM, BEGAN TO SYSTEMATICALLY DISSEMINATE IT FOR FREE TO PARENTS AND EDUCATORS, AND PREPARED FOR INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS TO ASSIST PARENTS/CAREGIVERS WITH USING PASTEL.

THE ACCELERATING MATHEMATICS PERFORMANCE WITH PRACTICE STRATEGIES (AMPPS) PROGRAM- THE PURPOSE OF AMPPS IS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS WHOLE NUMBER KNOWLEDGE BY TARGETING NUMERACY, OPERATIONS, AND WORD PROBLEM SOLVING THROUGH EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURED OPPORTUNITIES TO PRACTICE. WHOLE NUMBER KNOWLEDGE IS AN ESSENTIAL FOUNDATION FOR MATHEMATICS COMPETENCE AND PREDICTS PERFORMANCE OF HIGHER-LEVEL MATH SKILLS. PRESENTLY, AMPPS INCLUDES EIGHT INSTRUCTIONAL UNITS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS FLUENCY WITH WHOLE NUMBER KNOWLEDGE FOR SIMPLE AND COMPLEX ADDITION AS WELL AS SIMPLE AND COMPLEX SUBTRACTION.AMPPS IS STRONGLY ROOTED IN BOTH RESEARCH AND PRACTICE. FOR EXAMPLE, AMPSS IS ALIGNED WITH THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS INITIATIVE IN MATHEMATICS, THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE NATIONAL MATHEMATICS ADVISORY PANEL, AND GUIDANCE FROM THE INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION SCIENCES PRACTICE GUIDE ON RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION IN MATHEMATICS. FURTHER, THE AMPPS CURRICULUM WAS DEVELOPED BY EDUCATION RESEARCHERS, REFINED THROUGH ONGOING PILOT STUDIES AND FEEDBACK FROM PRACTICING EDUCATORS, AND THEN RIGOROUSLY RESEARCHED TO EXAMINE ITS EFFECTIVENESS. MULTIPLE PUBLISHED STUDIES DOCUMENT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AMPPS. DURING THE 2019-20 SCHOOL YEAR, HELPS EDUCATION FUND CONTINUED TO FINALIZE ALL AMPPS INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND CURRICULA SO THAT IT COULD BE SYSTEMATICALLY DISSEMINATED TO EDUCATORS DURING THE 2020-21 SCHOOL YEAR.

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