GPRA Reporting Updates Challenge Data Collection for OST Programs

    

After-school and out-of-school-time (OST) program directors faced a considerable challenge with changes to the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) in July of 2021. GPRA requires that 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21CCLC) grant-funded programs update their regular reporting to provide more precise and diverse performance measurements and reporting intended to capture a clearer picture of how well they serve students. The GPRA also requires grantees to evaluate their program’s effectiveness and submit progress reports annually. Performance data is shared with Congress, federal managers, and the public.

This blog summarizes the high-level requirements for responding to GPRA, as well as actionable next steps for after-school programs.

AfterSchool21 time

What happened in July of 2021 with GPRA reporting? 

The changes in reporting requirements affected the cadence of progress reports, involvement of teacher surveys, and the collection of student performance data. States are required to:

  • Measure the attendance of students who attend 30+ days each reporting cycle.
  • Report a percentage of Grades 4-8 students who demonstrate growth in reading, language arts, and math on their state assessments.
  • Measure GPA improvements in Grades 7-8 and 10-12 students.

Why Use AS21 for GPRA Reporting Amendments? 

Collecting additional data, managing analysis, and submitting more frequent reports will tax time and resources without an online data management solution like AfterSchool21 (AS21). Program administrators will have more demands on their time trying to manually piece together information from different sources and combine it all into a single spreadsheet. Compiling raw data into the format required by GPRA requires a skill set in analysis and Excel which many programs might not have in-house.

AS21 has been used by over 11 State Departments of Education and hundreds of after-school programs for over 20 years to manage federal reporting requirements.

How AfterSchool21 Helps with Changes to Reporting Requirements as a Result of GPRA

The AfterSchool21 reporting and data management solution is continually updated for GPRA-related data collection and reporting changes. Current subscribers to AfterSchool21 already have access to an easy-to-understand data-collection process in AfterSchool21 which includes:

  • Collect data on student outcomes with automated teacher surveys
  • Submit data in a simple, easy-to-understand data collection screen
  • Integrate directly with SIS systems where applicable
  • Report on year-over-year outcomes
  • Access hundreds of out-of-the-box reports based on outcomes, demographics, sites, and more. 
  • Create custom dashboards to view the data that is most important to your program

AfterSchool21 is uniquely positioned to support transitions in federal requirements because of the development team’s long history of supporting federal compliance. The AS21 team facilitated the transition from the PPICS platform to 21APR for five statewide customers in 2015. We were also the first to successfully automate the transfer of APR data to 21APR in 2019 for the states of Kentucky and Nevada. Since then, our team has worked to get signed Interconnection Security Agreements and data bridges in place between AS21 and 21APR for eight states, reducing the data submission and validation time for those states from days or weeks to hours.

Schedule a Demonstration or watch the video below to see why more 21CCLC programs use AS21 more than any other after-school program data management software.

Phillip Smith

About The Author

Phillip leverages his extensive software and education industry experience to share innovative solutions for many of our valued TransAct customers and partners. As leader of AfterSchool21 and OutOfSchoolTime-Tracker sales, he helps support after-school program administrators in parent pay management and accurate 21APR reporting. Phillip also leads the ActPoint KPI team and the Council of Great City Schools (CGCS) partnership. ActPointKPI supports district and state business leaders nationwide in their efforts to manage costs and drive resources back to where they belong–the classroom.