21st Community Learning Center Manager, Jasmine Coombs, reports on the evaluation results for year 3 of the grant.
In many ways, Lana started from scratch in Year 3 of the grant after moving away from an implementing partner. Our evaluation results for the confirm that we made incredible strides in setting up the 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) program for success this year and in the future!
Improvements we made
Staffing plan: We adjusted our staffing plan to ensure the best quality programming for the students. We hired a new site coordinator with a background in teaching. They were responsible for designing and implementing quality lessons. We also hired an intern from a local university to provide additional support to the students.
Shifted focus: During the 22-23 school year, we noticed that we lost a lot of student attendance due to spring sports. For the 23-24 school year, we shifted our recruitment strategy to focus on student athletes.
Forming relationships: We built crucial relationships with the athletic department including the athletic director and the coaches. We also created a partnership with the new college and career coordinator to recruit seniors.
New schedule and curriculum: Programming was offered 3 days a week. It was divided into two sessions: college and career readiness and tutoring and enrichment. Consistency was key in gaining the students trust and attendance.
Systems focused: We developed new systems to improve efficiencies. These included using an electronic sign in sheet, an online enrollment form, and weekly planning meetings.
Our hard work and forward thinking paid off! Below are some of the evaluation results from our external evaluator.
Grant Objective Results
Additionally, we looked at program attendance and student satisfaction.
Program Attendance Results
The 21st CCLC program served 74 students during the school year and 29 students during summer 24! The school year participants attended programming between 1 and 58 days, with an average of 15 days. This is an increase from the 22-23 school year, in which the days attended ranged from 1 to 25 with an average of only 8 days.
OSSE currently defines regularly attending participants in high school programs as those that attended at least 20 days of programming. This year nearly a third of participants (32%) met this threshold, compared to only 2% during the 22-23 school year.
Student Survey Results
Overall satisfaction:
Lana Learn participants were generally satisfied with the program with 92% responding “Yes” or “Mostly Yes” to whether they have fun at the program. Similarly, 91% indicated they can find things that they like to do and 91% liked coming to the program.
Program Experience:
When asked about the time spent in the Lana Learn program and their opportunities for goal-setting or challenge, students were most positive about improving in something! 75% said it was “completely true” that they worked hard in the program to get better at something and 17% said it was “mostly true.”
“I say [financial literacy] is my favorite because that’s not taught everywhere. So for us to have it in an afterschool program, we are blessed to have that because it is not always taught.” – Student participant on financial literacy lessons
Relationship with Staff:
“I say they’re definitely motivators above all. They’re definitely encouragers. They find, they’re determined to find a way out of any situation or problem.” – Student participant
Program Impact:
When asked about the areas in which the program has helped them, participants agreed with nearly all of the statements, to some extent. Students were mostly likely to ”agree a lot” that coming to the program helped them to “feel good about myself”. They also said the program help them “do better in school” (73%). Students were least likely to report that the program helped them make new friends. Only 27% ”agreed a lot” with that statement. This might be due to many students participating as part of a sports team, where they already have established a friend group.
College and Career:
Lana Learn focused exclusively on college and career readiness during the first hour of the program in which they worked with seniors. The staff also incorporated college and career readiness lessons into the tutoring portion of the day with student athletes. In surveys, 82% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that they understood college admission requirements, the steps to apply, the costs of college, and their post-secondary options. They were less knowledgeable about applying for financial aid, with only 64% agreeing they understood those steps.
As one school staff member noted, “One of the best parts of the program is the postsecondary support. The students who received postsecondary support from Lana Learn were able to get intensive support on their personal statements as well as supplemental essays.”
In conclusion
We are beyond proud of our program participants, our staff and the progress we made towards our grant objectives. We hope our students continue to achieve their goals! Lana Learn looks forward to when we can return as a partner at Cardozo Education Campus.
