Florida Grade-Level Reading Campaign awarded 2021-2024 sustainability & collective impact grant from Helios Education Foundation

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Grade-Level Reading Campaign (FGLRC), an initiative of the Florida Alliance of Children’s Councils and Trusts (FACCT), was recently awarded a 36-month grant from Helios Education Foundation. Priority projects within this grant will build on the established work of FGLRC since its inception in 2015, focusing on school readiness, attendance, summer learning, family engagement and healthy children.

“FGLRC is guided by the essential project principles of equity, data and research, strategic engagement, and public policy to ensure maximum sustainability of quality system components that improve third grade reading outcomes,” says Jenn Faber, Director of Engagement, Networks and Membership at FACCT. “By engaging stakeholders, state and local governments, school districts, early educators, families, business leaders, and philanthropic partners in our comprehensive Campaign work, this collaborative will continue to improve statewide coordination, resources, and alignment, resulting in significant progress in third grade reading proficiency.”

New grant support will allow FGLRC to further progress made benefitting children in 36 Florida Campaign counties by strategically leveraging and coordinating the contributions of partners at the state and local levels. Additionally, targeted projects through 2024 will document impact and validate programs suitable for scaling and replication, while simultaneously growing and strengthening strategic partnerships, and informing public policy. These strategic efforts include:

• the development of a repository of local and state resources, research, and best practices that support improved reading outcomes
• technical assistance to targeted GLR communities to cultivate evidence-based literacy interventions, and
• focused evaluation of summer learning innovations to guide replication and inform state system improvements.

“FACCT is pleased that it can continue to build upon Helios’s prior commitment to this work with additional targeted investments aligned to services funded by Florida Alliance of Children’s Councils and Trusts,” stated Michele Watson, CEO of FACCT. “It is through this enduring synergy that the FGLRC has been able to demonstrate such substantial statewide impact and alignment to Helios’ Five-Year Impact Plan.”

To support early grade success, FGLRC serves as a critical nexus between community and state system efforts by partnering with key early literacy stakeholders and supporting technical assistance, business and civic engagement, public policy, and community campaign development. The Campaign is the hub for Florida’s early grade success efforts, building synergy and connection across the state through collaborations, shared learnings, best practices, and identified opportunities for state system improvements.

Before third grade, children are learning to read; after third grade, they are reading to learn. Without the ability to read and comprehend their studies, children not reading proficiently by the end of third grade struggle to learn more complex subject matter in later grades. Reading proficiency by third grade is the single most important predictor of school and career success. However, according to the Florida Department of Education’s 2021 Florida Standards Assessments Grade 3 English Language Arts Report, more than 56% of Florida’s economically disadvantaged third graders are missing this critical milestone. FGLRC was launched to reverse this potentially catastrophic trend.

About FACCT:

The Florida Alliance of Children’s Councils and Trusts is the member organization comprised of Children’s Services Councils and Trusts statewide. This non-profit organization promotes best practices and professional standards and influences state policies related to the health, well-being, and education of Florida’s children, youth, and families.