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ABOUT US: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is Computers for Youth (CFY)?
Where in the United States does CFY currently operate?
What is meant by the "Home Learning Environment"?
How does CFY select the children and their families for its program?
How does a school apply to be a part of CFY's program?
Why does CFY start with sixth graders?
What educational content is provided to the families CFY serves?
Where do CFY's computers come from?
How is CFY different from other organizations focused on middle-school children?
How many families have benefited from CFY's program?
What impact does CFY have on the families it serves?
What is CFY's Affiliate Network?
Who are some of CFY's most prominent donors?
What are the CFY Tech Leadership Awards?
CFY is a national educational non-profit organization launched in 1999 that is dedicated to helping low-income children do better in school by improving their learning environment at home. To achieve this goal, CFY operates high-impact interventions and works to shape public policy on the importance of expanding educational priorities to include learning in the home. CFY’s direct-service operations are designed to help educators strengthen the school-home connection and provide families with the key ingredients required to improve their Home Learning Environment -- a home computer loaded with selected educational software; online family learning services; information about affordable broadband options; and hands-on training designed to help parents become more effective learning partners. Studies confirm that CFY’s programs have significantly improved students’ test scores and class effort and have increased parents’ confidence in themselves as learning partners. CFY’s efforts to shape public policy include advising policymakers and opinion makers, and leading an Affiliate Network of more than 30 organizations in more than 20 states and the District of Columbia.
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CFY has operations in New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. CFY also leads an Affiliate Network of more than 30 organizations in more than 20 states and the District of Columbia.
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The Home Learning Environment refers to educational resources in the home (such as books, educational software, and educational TV-programming) as well as parent-child interaction around learning at home.
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CFY does not select children and their families one-by-one, but rather selects a community of learners. CFY selects public schools with high poverty statistics (more than 75 percent of students must be eligible for the federal free or reduced lunch program) and offers all the sixth graders and their parents/guardians the ability to participate in the CFY program. Our goal is to return to selected schools year after year, thereby saturating the entire community of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders and their families.
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CFY has an application process for schools that are interested in participating in our program. The process includes a formal request, a site visit, and an interview. CFY selects schools based on poverty criteria (more than 75 percent of students must be eligible for the federal free or reduced lunch program), a commitment to involving families in children's education, and a vision for how to use technology as a tool to empower students as learners.
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CFY focuses on sixth graders in order to intervene just as children's disengagement from family and school begins. Research shows sixth grade is right when parents begin to feel less capable of helping with increasingly complex homework assignments and when there is the steepest decline in academic achievement.
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All CFY computers come with engaging educational software titles in math, English, social studies, and science. These titles have been identified by CFY software experts and tested by CFY students and CFY's panel of education executives from school districts across the country. CFY also provides families with access to educational web content at MyHomeLearning.com, plus free one-year subscriptions to engaging math and reading sites worth more than $500 per family.
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CFY views the hardware we provide as "content delivery vehicles" and carefully selects the most appropriate and cost-effective hardware to promote learning in the home. In some of the cities in which CFY operates, we purchase refurbished computers fully loaded with our image. In other cities, CFY solicits donations of computers primarily from major corporations. We rely on donations of 30 or more computer systems at a time so we can equip an entire classroom of families with the same hardware to take home. Once computers are received, CFY's technical staff turn them into robust educational tools by pre-loading them with CFY's software image.
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Programs that improve the home learning environment of low-income children during the vulnerable middle school years are virtually nonexistent. Research shows that parenting practices account for up to 25 percent of the achievement differences between higher- and lower-performing students, but school systems spend less than two percent of their budgets in this area. To meet this need, CFY brings learning home—the place that receives the least attention from policymakers and educators, yet holds the greatest
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Since beginning operations in 1999, CFY has served more than 23,000 families.
CFY is now in the midst of an even more rapid expansion. During the next two school years (2010-2012), CFY will directly serve more than 35,000 families, and its Affiliate Network members will serve thousands more.
A key driver of this unprecedented growth is CFY’s receipt of two U.S. Department of Commerce grants for the “Sustainable Broadband Adoption” portion of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). These grants, totaling $23M, give CFY a hard-won stamp of approval and will have wide-reaching effects across the country.
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CFY has achieved positive outcomes in the following areas:
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CFY's Affiliate Network is a diverse national coalition of independent non-profit organizations united by a common commitment to improve the Home Learning Environment of low-income families. Network members provide direct-service programming in their localities and help shape public policy and spread the word about the importance of expanding educational priorities to include learning in the home. We currently have Network members in every region of the United States and plan to expand the Network to all 50 states. Expanding the network’s geographic footprint is crucial for enhancing the Network's ability to influence national and local education policy.
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CFY receives contributions of cash, computers, software, and services from individuals, foundations, corporations and local governments. Some of CFY's most prominent financial supporters include Advanced Network & Services, Goldman Sachs Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Lone Pine Foundation, New Profit, Picower Foundation, and the Starr Foundation. CFY's corporate computer donors include Goldman Sachs, Time Warner, Prudential Securities, NASDAQ, Clifford Chance, and CIBC World Markets. CFY's software donors include Digital Directions International, Microsoft, Riverdeep/Houghton Mifflin Learning Technology, Scholastic, and Thinkronize.
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The Tech Leadership Awards is an annual fundraising event hosted by CFY that recognizes the best family learning software of the year, entrepreneurship and innovation in digital leadership, and social responsibility among IT executives. Members of the Student Software Team are on hand to demonstrate the software titles nominated during CFY's Education Executives Day. The 2010 Tech Leadership Award recipients were John Seral, Chief Information Officer and Vice President, GE Energy, who received the CIO of the Year Award and Jason Liebman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Howcast Media Inc., who was awarded the Digital Leader of the Year Award. The winner of the 2010 Family Learning Software Award was
return to top
Where in the United States does CFY currently operate?
What is meant by the "Home Learning Environment"?
How does CFY select the children and their families for its program?
How does a school apply to be a part of CFY's program?
Why does CFY start with sixth graders?
What educational content is provided to the families CFY serves?
Where do CFY's computers come from?
How is CFY different from other organizations focused on middle-school children?
How many families have benefited from CFY's program?
What impact does CFY have on the families it serves?
What is CFY's Affiliate Network?
Who are some of CFY's most prominent donors?
What are the CFY Tech Leadership Awards?
What is Computers for Youth (CFY)?
CFY is a national educational non-profit organization launched in 1999 that is dedicated to helping low-income children do better in school by improving their learning environment at home. To achieve this goal, CFY operates high-impact interventions and works to shape public policy on the importance of expanding educational priorities to include learning in the home. CFY’s direct-service operations are designed to help educators strengthen the school-home connection and provide families with the key ingredients required to improve their Home Learning Environment -- a home computer loaded with selected educational software; online family learning services; information about affordable broadband options; and hands-on training designed to help parents become more effective learning partners. Studies confirm that CFY’s programs have significantly improved students’ test scores and class effort and have increased parents’ confidence in themselves as learning partners. CFY’s efforts to shape public policy include advising policymakers and opinion makers, and leading an Affiliate Network of more than 30 organizations in more than 20 states and the District of Columbia.
Where in the United States does CFY currently operate?
CFY has operations in New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. CFY also leads an Affiliate Network of more than 30 organizations in more than 20 states and the District of Columbia.
What is meant by the "Home Learning Environment"?
The Home Learning Environment refers to educational resources in the home (such as books, educational software, and educational TV-programming) as well as parent-child interaction around learning at home.
How does CFY select the children and their families for its program?
CFY does not select children and their families one-by-one, but rather selects a community of learners. CFY selects public schools with high poverty statistics (more than 75 percent of students must be eligible for the federal free or reduced lunch program) and offers all the sixth graders and their parents/guardians the ability to participate in the CFY program. Our goal is to return to selected schools year after year, thereby saturating the entire community of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders and their families.
How does a school apply to be a part of CFY's program?
CFY has an application process for schools that are interested in participating in our program. The process includes a formal request, a site visit, and an interview. CFY selects schools based on poverty criteria (more than 75 percent of students must be eligible for the federal free or reduced lunch program), a commitment to involving families in children's education, and a vision for how to use technology as a tool to empower students as learners.
Why does CFY start with sixth graders?
CFY focuses on sixth graders in order to intervene just as children's disengagement from family and school begins. Research shows sixth grade is right when parents begin to feel less capable of helping with increasingly complex homework assignments and when there is the steepest decline in academic achievement.
What educational content is provided to the families CFY serves?
All CFY computers come with engaging educational software titles in math, English, social studies, and science. These titles have been identified by CFY software experts and tested by CFY students and CFY's panel of education executives from school districts across the country. CFY also provides families with access to educational web content at MyHomeLearning.com, plus free one-year subscriptions to engaging math and reading sites worth more than $500 per family.
Where do CFY's computers come from?
CFY views the hardware we provide as "content delivery vehicles" and carefully selects the most appropriate and cost-effective hardware to promote learning in the home. In some of the cities in which CFY operates, we purchase refurbished computers fully loaded with our image. In other cities, CFY solicits donations of computers primarily from major corporations. We rely on donations of 30 or more computer systems at a time so we can equip an entire classroom of families with the same hardware to take home. Once computers are received, CFY's technical staff turn them into robust educational tools by pre-loading them with CFY's software image.
How is CFY different from other organizations focused on middle-school children?
Programs that improve the home learning environment of low-income children during the vulnerable middle school years are virtually nonexistent. Research shows that parenting practices account for up to 25 percent of the achievement differences between higher- and lower-performing students, but school systems spend less than two percent of their budgets in this area. To meet this need, CFY brings learning home—the place that receives the least attention from policymakers and educators, yet holds the greatest
untapped
potential for improving children's academic and life-long success.How many families have benefited from CFY's program?
Since beginning operations in 1999, CFY has served more than 23,000 families.
CFY is now in the midst of an even more rapid expansion. During the next two school years (2010-2012), CFY will directly serve more than 35,000 families, and its Affiliate Network members will serve thousands more.
A key driver of this unprecedented growth is CFY’s receipt of two U.S. Department of Commerce grants for the “Sustainable Broadband Adoption” portion of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). These grants, totaling $23M, give CFY a hard-won stamp of approval and will have wide-reaching effects across the country.
What impact does CFY have on the families it serves?
CFY has achieved positive outcomes in the following areas:
Academic achievement
- CFY's research study with ETS showed that CFY's program had a positive and statistically significant impact on students' math test scores. This study, which used logistic regression, also found that the students actively and regularly used their computer and the Internet for learning.
- A comparison study showed that the CFY program helped arrest the typical performance slide in 7th grade writing -- scores for implementation students decreased less over time than scores for comparison students.
Student engagement
- A comparison study showed that students put more effort into their English classes after participating in the CFY program, as measured by teacher ratings. This outcome was statistically significant.
- A study found that nearly two-thirds of students reported working harder in school because they had a CFY computer.
Parental involvement
- A multi-year study found that more than 90% of parents felt more confident in helping their children learn and more than 90% reported feeling more connected to their child's school.
What is CFY's Affiliate Network?
CFY's Affiliate Network is a diverse national coalition of independent non-profit organizations united by a common commitment to improve the Home Learning Environment of low-income families. Network members provide direct-service programming in their localities and help shape public policy and spread the word about the importance of expanding educational priorities to include learning in the home. We currently have Network members in every region of the United States and plan to expand the Network to all 50 states. Expanding the network’s geographic footprint is crucial for enhancing the Network's ability to influence national and local education policy.
Who are some of CFY's most prominent donors?
CFY receives contributions of cash, computers, software, and services from individuals, foundations, corporations and local governments. Some of CFY's most prominent financial supporters include Advanced Network & Services, Goldman Sachs Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Lone Pine Foundation, New Profit, Picower Foundation, and the Starr Foundation. CFY's corporate computer donors include Goldman Sachs, Time Warner, Prudential Securities, NASDAQ, Clifford Chance, and CIBC World Markets. CFY's software donors include Digital Directions International, Microsoft, Riverdeep/Houghton Mifflin Learning Technology, Scholastic, and Thinkronize.
What are the CFY Tech Leadership Awards?
The Tech Leadership Awards is an annual fundraising event hosted by CFY that recognizes the best family learning software of the year, entrepreneurship and innovation in digital leadership, and social responsibility among IT executives. Members of the Student Software Team are on hand to demonstrate the software titles nominated during CFY's Education Executives Day. The 2010 Tech Leadership Award recipients were John Seral, Chief Information Officer and Vice President, GE Energy, who received the CIO of the Year Award and Jason Liebman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Howcast Media Inc., who was awarded the Digital Leader of the Year Award. The winner of the 2010 Family Learning Software Award was
