Helping Education

Helping Education focuses on improving educational equity by providing research-supported programs and services that are free or low-cost and meaningfully advance learning for students of all ages. To promote educational equity, we focus our efforts on partnering with educators and community organizations that serve a high percentage of individuals of color and those who are economically disadvantaged. Our flagship program, HELPS (Helping Early Literacy With Practice Strategies),  is an evidence-based intervention proven to improve students' reading fluency and confidence. Reading fluency is one of five essential skills a student must acquire to become a successful reader, and is directly related to reading comprehension. Mastering this fundamental step is a significant tool in increasing student learning and closing achievement gaps. Students receive 1:1 instruction 4 times a week for 15-30 minutes from a trained tutor. The highly scripted program can easily be delivered by trained volunteers. HELPS tutors build strong relationships with their students and witness reading progress quickly with their students. More than a decade of published research supports the HELPS program’s effectiveness in improving students’ reading fluency, comprehension, and confidence.