Data, smartly employed, can help afterschool decision-makers with everything from fairly allocating resources to improving afterschool program quality. But what information is needed? How should it be collected? And what are the best ways to put gathered information to use? A set of easy-to-read tip sheets answers these questions and more, giving city agencies, afterschool program providers, intermediary organizations and others a jump-start on making the most of data in afterschool programming.

The tip sheets cover four ways cities can use data to advance their afterschool efforts: supporting advocacy, evaluating program quality, improving accountability, and mapping programming supply and demand. An additional tip sheet examines data-sharing arrangements and strategies cities are using to see whether afterschool participation affects children’s progress in school. Links to sample documents and a reading list offer further information related to each topic.

 Points of Interest

  • As more communities try to knit together city agencies, afterschool program providers, and other decision-makers into a coordinated system, they need to be able to collect and use data effectively.
    Linking #afterschool program decision-makers in a coordinated system means collecting #data, using it effectively.
  • Timely data on afterschool programs help policymakers, funders and afterschool providers understand what effective initiatives look like.
    Timely data on #afterschool programs help policymakers, funders, afterschool providers understand what works.
  • Used to help pinpoint where afterschool services are needed most in a community and identify gaps in programming, mapping also can help refine market research and support advocacy work.
    Mapping #afterschool programs identifies where services are needed most in communities, refines market research.

 Supplementary Materials
Download all Six Tip Sheets