2014 Summer in the City: Outcome Highlights

Background During the summer of 2014, the United Way of Central Iowa coordinated, funded and supported summer programs provided to students in Polk and Dallas counties. While each program was unique, programming sought to prevent the “summer slide” providing opportunities for central Iowa children and youth to maintain their academic abilities over the summer months and develop needed skills. Over 1500 students and over 500 adults were served through the Summer in the City programs portions of fruits and vegetables were made available for families; 2,430 healthy backpacks went home with students.

Program Locations The Starfish Academy at: King Elementary School (Des Moines), Crestview Elementary School (West Des Moines), Perry Elementary School/Middle School Eight DMPS 21 st Century Grant middle schools Karen Acres Elementary (Urbandale) Hartford Upper Elementary (Carlisle) Martin Luther King Park Youth Program Refugee Summer Enrichment Program 2014 Oakridge Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) 2014 Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) EMBARC Summer Program (materials support) Corinthian Jump Start African American Leadership Forum- Evening Activities for year olds

Outcome Highlights Starfish Academy: 86% of summer school students maintained or increased their reading level 23% of summer school students increased their reading level by one level or more.

Outcome Highlights Crestview Data: Cumulative growth in reading, between Spring 2014 and Fall 2014 was 16 levels. A gap of 25 reading levels now exists between those who participated in the program (who made gains) and those who did not (who experienced a “slide”).

Outcome Highlights Martin Luther King Park Youth Program 62% of students demonstrated maintenance or growth during the summer program 38% of students served experienced summer learning loss. 50% of students had at least 20 points growth on the SRI.

Outcome Highlights DMPS 21 st Century Middle School Program Scholastic Math Inventory (SMI) % of students who participated in the program experienced maintenance or growth in math skills (i.e., prevention of summer learning loss). This compares to 47.31% of students not participating in the program. Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI), 64.86% of participants experienced maintenance or growth in reading skills (i.e., prevention of summer learning loss). This compares to 64.35% of students not participating in the program.

Outcome Highlights Refugee Summer Enrichment Program The DMPS ELL students showed maintenance and/or growth in their SRI scores by 72%. The total number of students in the program was 632 with 21 days of programming provided and average daily attendance of 90%. Corinthian Jump Start comparison of test scores showed growth. Teacher analysis of both the math and reading test scores showed 100% of the students either maintained or improved their performance on the DMPS SMI (math) and SRI (reading) tests. The proposed range for is 80% up to 100%. Twenty-seven (27) students out of 32 completed the program at a rate of 84%.

2014 Oakridge Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) Recap 100% of participants earned between $7.25/hour and $10.00/hour. 90% of youth who began the 2014 Youth Summer Employment Program (YSEP) successfully completed the 10-week program 82% of participating youth reported an increase in academic engagement based on pre and post assessment results 87% of participating youth reported an increase in employment skills and knowledge based on pre and post assessment results 92% of participating youth reported an increase in community and civic responsibility based on pre and post assessment results 100% were involved in service learning which included the development of a photo/audio exhibition entitled Voice and Views: Check Out Our Hood.

2014 Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP): At the beginning of the SYEP, students took an ETO Work Readiness Assessment as a benchmark to help determine areas where they needed additional training. Overall, 50% of the scores improved from last year.

2014 Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families Summer Youth Employment Program (cont.): The National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) was administered to participants towards the end of the program to track the improvements from the initial ETO assessment. This year there were a total of 18 certificates awarded: 12 bronze and 6 silver, an 84% and 17% increase respectively over last year. At summer’s end 90% of the students completed the SYEP program from start to finish which is an increase of 10% over last year.

Summary In our first year of SITC, there were a variety of programs offered with customized curriculum to meet the neighborhood and student population needs. Parents were also involved and benefited from instruction, distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables, and content specific to their needs. In most programs with pre and post data reported, significant improvements were noted. Future efforts can provide rich and robust data, and more expansive evaluation will be implemented next summer. Learning for next year: o Be very clear about evaluation expectations o Require use of ScoreCard