2025 50 State Afterschool Network Leaders Meeting

What type of data should states be collecting to demonstrate impact?  How are they collecting, organizing, and using data for policy, research, and quality improvement?  This session will feature an in-depth look at Utah’s data collection systems providing inspiration and guidance for other states wanting to implement similar practices.  Then, New Mexico will demonstrate the maps created from their program level data collection efforts.  Finally, North Carolina will share how they used their state specific data as a powerful tool to help tell their afterschool impact stories in their Landscape Analysis.

What type of data should states be collecting to demonstrate impact?  How are they collecting, organizing, and using data for policy, research, and quality improvement?  This session will feature an in-depth look at Missouri’s data collection systems providing inspiration and guidance for other states wanting to implement similar practices.  Then, Georgia will demonstrate the maps created from their program level data collection efforts, along with reports and materials featuring their BOOST grant data.  Finally, Iowa will share how they used their state specific data as a powerful tool to help tell their afterschool impact stories in their State of Afterschool Research Report.

What Professional Development models and approaches have worked best coming out of Covid? How have the needs of the field changed and how have you been creative or thinking outside the box to respond? Two examples from Ignite: 1) In late 2023, Ignite Afterschool launched PDX (Professional Development Exchange)- a twist on typical PD design with a hybrid model that builds the capacity of afterschool site/program managers to coach, train and support their own direct service youth workers. 2) Young Nonprofit Leaders Club: a 7 month training cohort of young professionals (HS - 24) learning nonprofit management skills.

As afterschool networks, we often create or facilitate professional learning experiences and educational materials. Yet many of us do not come from a background where we were taught to design for adult learners. In this network share, we will give you a crash course into the iterative design process and how it can be used to frame professional learning and support provided by your network.

This sharing session will highlight the recent work being done in Nevada around quality, including the newly released Out-of-School Time Professional Pathways Certification, revised quality standards, and a technical assistance program.