The CFY Digital Learning Program

CFY’s Digital Learning Program is a whole school/community initiative that helps students, teachers, and families in low-income areas fully harness the power of digital learning. CFY launched the Digital Learning Program more than ten years ago, and we have continually improved the program based on our experience working with over 50,000 students, along with their parents and teachers, in more than 100 schools across the nation.

Components of the Digital Learning Program

The four components of CFY’s Digital Learning Program are all designed to drive student engagement, student self-directed learning, and academic achievement. These components are:

• Support for school leaders in driving new instructional approaches and developing deeper school-home connections
• Professional development for educators, consisting of hands-on workshops, in-school coaching, and online tools, to help them to adopt blended learning strategies within the classroom, extend learning beyond the classroom, and engage families in the learning process
• Innovative Family Learning Workshops in which families and children learn together about a wide range of digital learning activities and experience a learning partnership model that they can continue in the home
• Home technology support for families, consisting of a home learning center (a refurbished home computer loaded with educational software) that is the family’s to keep, free online subscriptions to additional educational software, 24×7 bilingual help desk support, and information about affordable broadband options (including special broadband discounts where available)

As part of the Digital Learning Program, CFY leverages its free digital learning platform, PowerMyLearning, funded by the Gates, Broad, and Kellogg Foundations. PowerMyLearning offers more than 1,000 of the best digital learning activities from all over the web tagged by subject, grade, and the Common Core. The innovative features found on PowerMyLearning enable educators to use these activities to meet the specific learning needs of their students and to help students and families discover fun and engaging activities that reinforce classroom learning and spark new areas of interest.

Program Results

Research has demonstrated the Digital Learning Program’s significant positive impact on student achievement, student engagement, and parental confidence. CFY’s past research results are available here.

Selecting Partner Schools

CFY’s regional offices select CFY Partner Schools through a rigorous competitive process. To be eligible, a school must be a public school, either traditional or charter, serving students in grades six through eight, with at least 75% of students on free or reduced lunch. The school also must have a demonstrated interest in adopting digital learning, extending learning beyond the classroom, and involving families in the learning process. Once selected, CFY Partner Schools dedicate significant staff time to program implementation and contribute a portion of the program cost.

Find out more about how your school can become a CFY Partner School.