The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21CCLC) program awards grants to programs to fund after-school enrichment. Research overwhelmingly shows that after-school support, particularly for underprivileged kids and those who would otherwise be alone at home, offers numerous benefits. These programs provide more equitable access to educational resources, support learners who may be struggling, improve engagement with the day school, and may reduce problem behaviors. For some children, after-school programs are a primary or even sole source of support outside of school.
Administrators of OST (out of school time) programs that receive 21CCLC funding must submit data to the federal 21APR to be eligible to reapply for funding at the end of the term. While 21CCLC data provides critical information about program performance, the process of compiling, submitting, and tracking data taxes administrative resources and may take staff away from core duties. The right 21CCLC data management tools can improve outcomes, support student success, and provide resource flexibility.
21CCLC Data Management Tools: The Basics
All grantees under the 21CCLC program must gather and provide data on their program. Some of the reporting requirements include the following:
- At the beginning of the grant period, grantees must cultivate a list of goals and outcomes and a plan for measuring and tracking goals and sharing key data with stakeholders.
- During the three-to-five-year grant cycle, grantees must engage in a self-assessment process.
- Grantees must gather demographic and performance data on the student populations they serve and outcome measures. For example, a program designed to reduce after-school delinquency must establish protocols for measuring this outcome.
To continue receiving funding, grantees must promptly and accurately report data in compliance with the program’s requirements. Additionally, after-school programmatic data plays a central role in informing program decisions. Measuring outcomes helps administrators develop new programs, address areas of need with existing services, and focus their efforts on the most successful resources their program offers.
How 21CCLC Data Management Tools Empower Student Success
The data on 21CCLC is compelling: Across numerous measures of success, after-school programs are making a difference in students’ lives, and in so doing, they are helping communities thrive. The right 21CCLC data management tools support an after-school program in its mission to help students achieve great things by:
- Standardizing reporting and summarized data: Data standardization, and a solution that simplifies the entering and validation of data, enables program staff to spend more time with students. It also means less time spent compiling and reporting data, and more time spent supporting better student outcomes.
- Providing data on what works well with other programs: The 21CCLC program compiles data across the nation, allowing programs to draw on other administrators’ experiences.
- Reducing reporting-related stress: Looming deadlines, endless data compilation, and re-copying data across numerous spreadsheets and files can be exhausting and stressful. The right tool reduces this burden for administrators and staff. 21CCLC data management tools allow site staff to focus on implementing programs by reducing the burden of complex reporting and record keeping.
- Increasing the footprint of programs with the most significant impact: After-school programs define their own success measures, so accurate and accessible data allows them to see whether they are living up to their desired outcomes and adapt their programs accordingly.
- Sending support to struggling programs: Quality data helps after-school programs decide when an initiative needs more support and resources, and when their efforts should continue going toward an already successful initiative.
How AfterSchool21 Fosters Better Student Outcomes
AfterSchool21 can help the communities served by after-school programs thrive by supporting program staff and administrators to help students to achieve more inline with established program goals. AfterSchool21 empowers programs to:
- Monitor student outcomes and achievement: Monitoring progress allows after-school programs to act on this information to prioritize the best programs and the programs with the greatest need.
- Track enrollment trends: Keeping an eye on enrollment trends helps measure the community reaction to an after-school or OST program, informing future programming decisions.
- Identify and target specific student needs and goals: In addition to tracking broad trends, after-school programs can monitor demographic shifts and shifts in outcomes across socioeconomic status, assessing how these trends comport with project goals.
After-school programs are vital community assets, and tracking data that measures progress helps a program focus its success efforts. The right data can make out-of-school-time more valuable and empower programs to better serve students. To learn more about how AfterSchool21 can simplify programmatic data reporting and to see this valuable tool in action, schedule a demo!