cfy logo

Impact on Families

CFY’s programs have a tremendous impact on the families we serve. Read about our impact on student engagement, student performance, and parental involvement below.

Student Performance

  • A study with ETS found that CFY’s program had a positive and statistically significant impact on student math test scores. More specifically, this study, which used logistic regression, found that students’ engagement and computer use, particularly their home Internet use and computer use for self-regulated learning, explained 14% of the variance in their 2006 math test scores over and above 2005 scores (CFY-ETS Impact Study).
  • A comparison study found that CFY’s program helped arrest the typical performance slide in 7th grade writing. This study used pre- and post-writing prompts similar to those used in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Scoring was done by independent teachers. Overall, writing scores for CFY students decreased less over time than did scores for comparison students (FY03-04 Comparison Study).

Student Engagement

  • Students actively and regularly used their computer and the Internet for learning (CFY-ETS Impact Study).
  • Students participating in CFY’s program increased their class effort, while a comparison group of students did not. Effort was measured by teachers using pre- and post-ratings and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (FY03-04 Comparison Study).
  • Across multiple years, 70% or more of the students in CFY’s program said that having a computer-based Home Learning Center helped them become more curious and feel more confident (FY05-06 Impact Study, FY04-05 Impact Study, FY03-04 Comparison Study).

Parental Involvement

  • More than 90% of parents participating in the CFY program felt more confident that they could help their child learn; the biggest increase was in math with the lowest-educated parents experiencing almost twice the gains in confidence as higher-educated parents (2008-09 family workshop evaluation).
  • More than 95% of parents said the CFY program enabled them to see more potential in their child to learn, and more than 90% said they felt more connected to their child’s school as a result of the CFY program (2008-09 family workshop evaluation).

Broadband Adoption

  • ~90% of CFY families in NYC reported having broadband within three months of the training, up from an initial survey of ~45% prior to the start of the program. The result is that students gain support from their parents and 24×7 access to PowerMyLearning and teacher-assigned playlists.