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. 

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

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 

This blog was published in 2020 and updated on May 24th, 2023.

High-quality after-school programs serve an important purpose in our communities. Research shows they improve everything from educational outcomes and school attendance to social and emotional learning. 

The key to creating a successful grants management plan is making the best possible use of funds to set a program up for long-term success. Research is extremely important during this stage—and there are a few key things to remember:  

It’s that time of year again, Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week! We are proud to team up with the National AfterSchool Association (NAA) to celebrate the professionals at the heart of after-school programs nationwide.  

Attendance matters. In addition to being a factor in funding, it is also a major factor in student success. Studies have shown that “high attenders,” or students who attended their after-school programs (including summer sessions) nearly every day, gain more math, language arts, and social-emotional skills than 75-80 percent of their peers. Students who regularly attend their after-school programs are likely to experience the following benefits:

Even though 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (21CCLC), or after-school programs, serve a great purpose for school-aged children and teenagers, funding for these programs has been on the docket for removal several times in the last few years. That is why it is vitally important to create a sustainable program through funding diversity.

With summer coming to a close, and schools getting ready to resume the task of educating, it’s a good time to reset, reorganize, and rejuvenate. That means not only taking time to determine if your program’s current methods are helping or hurting staff, but also finding out what processes could be improved.

When the goal is to maximize the benefit K-12 students receive from after-school programs, Spending hours on complicated or monotonous administrative tasks to ensure an after school program satisfies reporting requirements and gets the funding it needs can be daunting, distracting, and at times, disheartening. These efforts take time and resource away from the more critical goal of maximizing the actual benefit students receive from after school programs.