Partners
“We are deeply grateful to our partners for their generous contributions – all of which allow us to serve the more than 389,000 students who attend public pre-K to postsecondary schools in Orange and Osceola counties”
A first-of-its-kind joint venture
The Central Florida Education Ecosystem Database (CFEED) is a first of its kind joint venture that includes the University of Central Florida, Valencia College, the Orange County Public Schools and School District of Osceola County, with funding from the Helios Education Foundation, and strategic direction and analytics from Midtown Consulting Group.
Together, CFEED successfully leverages our resources to build a model of collaborative data sharing among Central Florida pre-kindergarten through university public educational institutions. Through this collaboration, we identify factors that inform decisions and interventions to increase success, outcomes, and opportunities for all students. Each of our partners plays a critical role in bringing this vision to life. Valencia College leads the project and works directly with the Helios Educational Foundation, the project funder.
OCPS and SDOC assist in governance and research to help CFEED reach its goal to increase the number of students graduating from high school and earning a post-secondary credential. Ashton Terry, Sr., M.Ed. is the Senior Manager for the Central Florida Education Ecosystem Database (CFEED). He also works with the Research, Evaluation, and Accountability Department for SDOC. Terry has created several pilot programs and attends conferences, sharing research.
University of Central Florida and Valencia College are both located in Orlando and have a long history of working closely together to promote transfer success. In 2006, they created a 2+2 transfer program called DirectConnect to UCF, which guarantees Valencia students entry into a bachelor’s program at UCF. UCF, in turn, provides staff on Valencia campuses to help DirectConnect students onsite with advising, admissions, financial aid, and academic support. Faculty from both institutions teach on each other’s campuses and work together to tune course objectives and teaching methods to ensure that common methods and course learning objectives are used.
Funding and Strategy
Funding is provided by the Helios Education Foundation with strategic direction and analytics from Midtown Consulting Group.
Helios Education Foundation exists to support postsecondary attainment for Latino students, Black students, and students from low-income backgrounds in Arizona and Florida. Driven by our fundamental beliefs of community, equity, investment, and partnership, Helios has invested more than $324 million in partnerships and initiatives focused on improving third-grade reading, college-going, and postsecondary attainment in the two states we serve since 2006.
Midtown Consulting Group (MCG) is a diverse team of experts committed to delivering modern end-to-end data solutions that extend, predict, and prescribe organizations’ potential.
MCG’s partnership provides 700+ high-quality metrics on the student experience from the School District of Osceola County (SDOC), Orange County Public Schools (OCPS), Valencia College (Valencia), and the University of Central Florida (UCF).
The data looks at courses taken, the level, rigor, sequence, and grades achieved. Factors such as course failures, repetitions, and subject performance in honors or AP classes can predict readiness for higher-level coursework, leveraging this information to guide students and to address course deficiencies. These insights have helped CFEED refine its vision, which now emphasizes student readiness over defining college success.
You must be logged in to post a comment.