21CCLC Blog

Student data collection requirements are mandatory to fulfill when securing funds for grant-based programs. For those that are unaware, grant coordinators collect data to maintain the federal funds when their after-school program participates in the U.S. Department of Education's 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative. 

Teachers participating in teacher surveys who are reporting on their students' academic progress can filter and view a list of completed surveys. 

Teacher surveys can now be distributed with an email and a single link to a Teacher Portal inside AfterSchool21 (AS21), streamlining and centralizing your collection and reporting on student progress.

TransACt's AfterSchool21 (AS21) software supports after-school programs at the state and local levels in submitting compliant data for their annual performance report, 21APR.  

AfterSchool21 (AS21) software supports after-school programs at the state and local levels in submitting compliant data for their annual performance report, 21APR.  

Identifying and fixing incorrect or missing program outcomes data in the Annual Performance Report (APR) process is easier for out-of-school-time (OST) programs and district administrators now, thanks to enhancements in AfterSchool21.

TransACT's AS21 software supports OST programs, funded by 21st Century Community Learning Center grants, at the state and local levels in submitting compliant data for their APR. The AS21 October software development release (effective Oct. 26) flags specific students with missing APR data and users have additional instructions for how to check that data. Previously, admin users had more time-consuming manual steps to conduct these checks and make updates.

Manual data collection for the 21APR is time-consuming because programs need to update their prior methods for data input as part of the new Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) reporting requirements. Programs have to submit additional performance data. However, the United States Department of Education (USDE) gives each state flexibility in how to report and track year-to-year changes in student performance metrics across six categories:

• Math assessment scores
• Reading/language arts assessment scores
• Grade point average
• School attendance
• In-school suspensions
• Student engagement in learning

Small policy changes implemented by the United States Department of Education (USDE) mean state departments of education and individual out-of-school-time (OST) programs can report the outcomes of state assessments in various ways. 

TransACT's AfterSchool21 software supports OST programs at the state and local levels in submitting compliant data for their annual performance report. In July 2021, the government introduced new reporting requirements as part of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).   

The USDE gives each state control over how they want to track year-to-year changes in student performance metrics across five categories (math, reading/language arts, grade point average, school attendance, and in-school suspensions). The AS21 September software development release (effective Sep. 23) gives subscribers more flexibility to collect and report program data.  

After-school programs must track programmatic data if they want to accessfederal funding sources, such as the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative.

The AfterSchool21 (AS21) and Homeless Information Management System for Students (HIMSS) August software development release (effective Aug. 24) gives administrative users greater flexibility to quickly and easily add custom fields to their online enrollment forms. Program admin users can create numerous custom fields instead of being restricted to the fields their state requires.  

Admin users can now fine-tune their data by:

• Configuring the form to set which fields they want to include
• Select fields of various types (drop-down, multi-select, short text, long text, numeric or date fields)
• Determine if the fields are enabled or required 

• Create reports based on areas specific to their district 

Out Of School Time (OST) program admin users will now have fewer duplicate enrollment records, more accurate payment records, and more flexibility when submitting 21APR data in the newest AS21 software development release.