Receiving government funding for your after-school program is contingent on how well a 21st Century Community Learning Center’s (21CCLC) data is organized and reported. Reporting inaccurate data can cost after-school programs hundreds of thousands of dollars and put them in jeopardy of having funding withheld. However, there are many ways to keep important data organized, helping after-school programs ensure continued funding, and possibly even help programs receive future funding increases.
Even though many ways to organize and track data exist, not all of them are effective, and some may even allow costly mistakes to be made. Currently, 21CCLC programs are required to keep certain records for reporting purposes, including enrollment, expenditures, sources of funding, and more. This does not include the less tangible outcomes that after-school programs are looking for, such as student improvements. It can be difficult to track these measurables using spreadsheets, and can also increase the probability of mistakes being made.
There are several important areas in which responsible data management helps to create strong after-school programming, and it’s helpful to find one software system that allows staff the ability to easily manage all of them.
Analyze data for continuous program improvement
Program staff inevitably end up spending a significant amount of their time manually compiling and entering data into a spreadsheet or other type of document in order to keep record of various program aspects.
When staff members are relieved of this type of menial task, they are able to quickly and reliably see how they are performing. This can help them identify shortcomings, needs, and successes for their program. For example, through these analytics, a program manager may be able to identify the need to re-evaluate the offering of a tutoring service because the grades of student who use that service are not improving.
Submit programmatic results for 21APR compliance
When it comes to submitting data to the federal 21st Century Community Learning Center Annual Performance Report (21APR) portal, even the smallest of errors, such as a transposed number, can have a potentially negative impact on future funding. When manual calculation is taken out of the equation, it can greatly reduce the number of errors in submitted reports. Additionally, it can help ease the burden of trying to hastily summarize or tabulate spreadsheet-based data when it comes due, especially for busy staff members who might not have time to fully organize and manually input data daily or weekly.
Collect data required for 21APR compliance
Since each section of the 21APR has different requirements, it can be challenging to know if each section is receiving the correct information from staff. A software system can remove the guesswork and ensure a correct report, thereby helping to secure future funding for enrichment programs. It can also help prepare staff for monitoring from a State Education Agency (SEA), as well as evaluation.
For each piece of data that needs to be sorted, filtered, reported, and tracked for future funding needs, an after-school software program can be an invaluable resource and tool for program staff.
