Education Research

35 percent of children in our community entering fourth grade are not reading on grade level — and those who aren’t are four times less likely to graduate on time.

We conduct research and analyze survey data that allows us to spend our charitable dollars where they are most needed, lifting up children who need a little extra help. 

National Assessment of Educational Progress

These one-page snapshot reports provide an overview of key findings and multi-year trends in South Carolina’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results.

National Assessment of Educational Progress | Scores for South Carolina

USC Parent Engagement Study

In order to build on the efforts of the Midlands Reading Consortium (MRC), a landscape survey of family engagement practices to support youth academic success at the level of school districts (4) and schools (12) was completed. Both qualitative and quantitative survey methods were used to establish a picture of current family engagement practices that can be used to guide future programmatic and investment strategies.

USC Parent Engagement Study (PDF)

South Carolina Self-Sufficiency Standards

How much does an individual or family need to earn to live without public or private assistance in South Carolina? The Self-Sufficiency Standard answers that question and more.

This report presents and analyzes The Self-Sufficiency Standard for South Carolina 2016. This measure calculates how much income a family must earn to meet basic needs, with the amount varying by family composition and where they live. The Standard presented here is a tool that can be used in a variety of ways—by clients of workforce and training programs seeking paths to self-sufficiency, by program managers to evaluate program effectiveness, and by policymakers and legislators seeking to create programs and pathways that lead to self-sufficiency for working families.

SC Self-Sufficiency Standards