Nita Lowey 21ST CCLC Monitoring and Technical Assistance

Since 2014, The Tactile Group has worked closely with the U.S. Department of Education’s Nita Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Center’s (21st CCLC) community through the design, development, and support of 21APR data collection. In 2021, The Tactile Group expanded their work with this program through the 21st CCLC Monitoring and Technical Assistance contract. The Tactile Group’s project team, which includes Project Management professionals and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), provides ongoing monitoring and compliance support along with technical assistance to the Department of Education (the Department) and the 54 State Education Agencies (SEAs) the program serves.

Compliance Monitoring Support

Compliance monitoring is a critical part of the Department’s management of the 21st CCLC program. To support the Department with these efforts, the project team coordinates and supports Biannual Check-Ins with each SEA, working with the Department to develop agendas for the meetings that reflect the specific and current needs for monitoring of programmatic and fiscal topics with SEAs. In addition to these ongoing Check-Ins, each year, the Department selects a number of SEAs to undergo full Monitoring Reviews. These reviews are multi-day events where each aspect of the SEA’s program is reviewed as it relates to the applicable laws, regulations, and statutes. The project team supports the logistics and coordination for these events, and also provides ongoing assistance to both the SEA and the Department in preparation for the monitoring event. This preparation support includes gathering, cataloging, reviewing, and summarizing SEA-submitted evidence relating to each applicable programmatic and fiscal requirement being monitored. The team also leads the drafting of an official report, which includes both findings of non-compliance and recommendations for the SEA.

Technical Assistance

Tactile provides support through both targeted and nation-wide technical assistance. In partnership with the Department’s program team, our approach to these training opportunities is to craft a variety of responsive and intentional events. Through these strategies, SEAs are better served in strengthening their understanding of program requirements, opportunities to serve their grantees, and ultimately, benefit the students who participate in local programming. Tactile creates targeted sessions with a single SEA to tackle a specific challenge the SEA is facing. These working meetings are outcome and goal driven, with the Tactile team helping the SEA navigate learning goals, while creating tangible results through collaborative virtual work time. The team also leads the creation of national level sessions for SEAs and their staff, including webinars as well as sessions at the Department of Education’s Winter and Summer SEA Conferences. To determine topics, the team considers themes found in the data collected in monitoring events while also balancing emergent issues, such as combatting COVID-19 learning loss through summer programming.

Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting

The project includes an expert research team who collects and maintains ongoing data throughout the year, with a focus on driving continuous improvement. This includes the development of the annual Monitoring Trends Report, which analyzes and synthesizes data collected across both Monitoring Reviews and Biannual Check-Ins, identifying themes, lessons learned, and actionable next steps. Continuous improvement is an ongoing focus throughout the year, including data reviews, the analysis provided by the Monitoring Trends Report, as well as Ad Hoc Reports developed throughout the year.