On June 12, 2024, the Central Florida Education Ecosystem Database (CFEED) will participate in the Florida Education Funders Meeting, an event hosted at the Bonnet Springs Park, GiveWell Community Foundation Nature Center in Lakeland, Florida. This meeting is a significant gathering for education funders who are dedicated to fostering a culture of high expectations and success for students at various academic checkpoints in Florida.
The agenda for the day is robust, featuring discussions on Florida-specific educational issues and strategies for shared advocacy and deeper funding collaborations. One of the highlights of the meeting will be a presentation by Ashton Terry, Sr., a CFEED Senior Manager from The School District of Osceola County, FL, and Michael Holt, a CFEED Technical Partner from Midtown Consulting Group. Their session, scheduled for 1:00 PM, titled “CFEED’s Journey from Ideas to Insights to Impacts,” will delve into how CFEED’s insights have influenced educational policies and practices through comprehensive data analysis and collaboration efforts.
The presentation will explore the transformative effects of CFEED’s work in leveraging detailed K-University data to enhance student outcomes and support education pathways. This session will also discuss the application of these insights in real-world settings, demonstrating the practical benefits of data-driven decision-making in education.
Prior to this session, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a site visit to Academy Prep in Lakeland. This visit will provide insights into the school’s commitment to addressing educational equity by supporting low-income students through intensive, holistic educational programs. Academy Prep’s model is an exemplary approach to eliminating generational poverty through education, emphasizing both academic and social-emotional support to ensure students not only enroll in college but also graduate.
The Florida Education Funders Meeting is expected to be a dynamic platform for networking and sharing research-based best practices with the potential to foster programmatic learning and funding collaborations. The discussions will cover a range of topics including innovative approaches to education in Polk County, the impact of data on education in Central Florida, and legislative expectations for the upcoming year.
The event is also an excellent opportunity for stakeholders to gain insights into the collaborative approach to educational support that characterizes Polk County’s strategy, which includes initiatives like Academy Prep that have shown remarkable success in boosting college enrollment rates among the academy’s graduates.
CFEED’s participation in this meeting highlights its dedication to improving student outcomes and accessibility across the state of Florida, while also sharing these valuable insights across Florida. Through recounting its journey from initial concepts to tangible impacts, CFEED seeks to encourage other educational leaders and funders to adopt data-driven strategies for enhancing student success.
For more information, please contact Diana Pienaar, CFEED Director at Valencia College, via email at dpienaar@valenciacollege.edu. You can also visit our website at http://www.cfeedhome.com or follow our updates on LinkedIn.
About CFEED
The Central Florida Education Ecosystem Database is a collaborative data sharing project including Orange County Public Schools, The School District of Osceola County, Valencia College, and University of Central Florida. CFEED has developed a database with front-end analytic capability that compiles historical and ongoing data from all partners allowing us to conduct research and identify insights about student success, course pathways, and other trends via data analysis and reporting tools.