D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 - Executive Summary: Informing Learn24

Oct 15, 2026

Executive Summary introduces Learn24 as the District of Columbia’s network of afterschool and summer out-of-school time (OST) programs supported by the OST Office. It explains how the OST Office and OST Commission developed a system for strategic planning, coordination, and data analysis while ensuring parent and youth voices inform the approach. Survey findings are based on parent input (pre-K to grade 8) and youth input (grades 6 to 12) collected March through July 2018.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages49

Reading Time2 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Informing Learn24: Voices of Parents and Youth

Parent Perspectives on OST

Youth Perspectives on OST

Recommendations for Learn24

Appendix A: Parent Survey

Appendix B: Parent Survey Frequencies

Appendix C: Youth Survey

Appendix D: Youth Survey Frequencies

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 Christina A. Russell Tandra T. Turner Alisha Butler Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................................ i INFORMING LEARN24: VOICES OF PARENTS AND YOUTH................................................................................................ 1 PARENT PERSPECTIVES ON OST ....................................................................................................................................................4 YOUTH PERSPECTIVES ON OST...................................................................................................................................................... 7 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEARN24........................................................................................................................................... 9 Appendix A: Parent Survey Appendix B: Parent Survey Frequencies Appendix C: Youth Survey Appendix D: Youth Survey Frequencies Over the last two years, the District of Columbia has aligned policy, resources, and research to strengthen its network of out-of-school time (OST) services. OST programs include afterschool, before and summer programs for children and youth. In 2017, the District of Columbia (D.C.) Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME) launched the Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes (OST Office) . The OST Office was created by the Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes Establishment Act of 2016 to manage strategic planning, implementation, and data analysis to build the quality, and increase the coordination, of OST programs across D.C. In 2018, the DME and the OST Office introduced the Learn24 network of afterschool and summer programs supported by the District of Columbia. The network is designed to ensure that children and youth have access to high-quality educational and enrichment activities outside of the school day. In addition, the Commission on Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes (OST Commission) is charged with drafting a strategic plan to ensure equitable access to programs, developing recommendations and policies to achieve the strategic plan, and overseeing the OST Office. The OST Office and OST Commission committed to ensuring that the voices of parents 1 and youth were represented in informing the development of a system of OST services. In a collaborative effort in 2018, Policy Studies Associates (PSA) developed survey instruments and analyzed data collected by the OST Office and by Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE) . These surveys are part of a comprehensive needs assessment and build on an October 2017 report by the D.C. Policy Center that examined the supply and need for OST programming capacity in D.C.2 This report summarizes survey findings and presents recommendations based on the analysis of data collected from parents of children in grades pre-K-8 and from youth in grades 6-12, from March through July 2018. The goal for both parent and youth surveys was to collect feedback across the eight D.C. Wards and across grades. An aim was also to include the voices of families both currently engaged and not engaged in the D.C. OST system. PSA worked collaboratively with the OST Office and PAVE in the design and administration of parent and youth surveys. PSA researchers developed and supported the administration of the parent and youth surveys 1 Parents and guardians of children in elementary and middle school were invited to complete the survey. For simplicity, this report references parents. 2 Taylor, Y. S. & Zickuhr, K. (2017) . Needs assessment of out-of-school time programs in the District of Columbia. Washington, DC: D.C. Policy Center. and analyzed the results. PAVE administered the parent survey. The OST Office coordinated the administration of the youth survey and ente

FAQs

What is Learn24 in the report?

Learn24 is the District of Columbia network of supported afterschool and summer out-of-school time (OST) programs designed to provide children and youth with access to high-quality learning and enrichment activities outside the school day.

How were parent and youth voices incorporated?

The report describes a collaborative survey effort in 2018 where Policy Studies Associates developed survey instruments and analyzed results, with PAVE administering the parent survey and the OST Office coordinating the youth survey and entering responses into an online database.

What time period and grade ranges do the surveys cover?

The findings summarize data collected from parents of children in pre-K to 8th grades and from youth in 6th to 12th grades, collected between March and July 2018.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn Holloway