Our Work

Leveling the Education Playing Field for Disadvantaged Youth

Purpose:

To level the education playing field for disadvantaged youth (Organizational Mission).

Method:

We will focus all available J2W resources (capital and people) toward increasing access to, and improving the quality of, the early childcare and out-of-school time systems within our service areas (Program Strategy).

End State:

Economically-disadvantaged youth demonstrate measurable improvements in 3rd grade literacy and attendance to improve the likelihood of future on-time high school graduation, college and/or career readiness, and long-term earning potential (Impact Measurement).

Problem Statement Pathway for Low-Income Students Economically-disadvantaged students generally perform worse in school than their higher income peers

J2W Programming Framework Build partnerships to identify gap areas, develop solutions, and test concepts while bridging grade bands

J2W Foundation Program Theory of Change

Strategy to Achieve Theory of Change Work to ensure more access to quality early childhood education programs, coupled with supplemental after-school/summer programs throughout elementary school, to better ensure students are on-level by 3rd grade. Students on-level by 3rd grade regularly attend school, feel connected, and have higher on-time graduation rates.

Community-Level Impact Measures of Performance

For more information, please see Data Analysis section at the bottom of the page

Data Analysis

  1. Goal: To demonstrate community-level academic and social emotional learning impact in all three geographic service areas.
  2. Method: From 2021-2031, evaluate key academic and social emotional learning indicators within the entire elementary school (pre-kindergarten through 5th grade) student body for each district.
  3. Results:
    1. At the end of school year 2023-2024, we have now been able to assess the key indicators within each of our service area school districts. From 2020-2023, much of the data was considered baseline data coming out of COVID-19 and its associated (and expected) learning loss. From SY 23-24 and beyond, we are now using this data to help inform our partners on developing strategies to address growth.
      • For kindergarten readiness, we assessed using the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program (VKRP) testing in Virginia and Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) testing in Maryland. Beginning in SY 24-25, we believe new assessments will be used and will update as more information becomes available.
        • Dorchester improved overall kindergarten readiness from 32% in the spring of 2023 to 39% in the spring of 2024. While this reflected positive growth, we still coded this “red” for a health score as the results remain overall very low for the county.
        • Winchester’s PALS-K score actually dropped from 80% in the spring of 2023 to 75% in the spring of 2024. This could be the result of a number of factors and, while there was some decrease, the overall assessments were still generally high. Thus, we coded this “yellow” for a health score.
        • Fairfax County’s PALS-K score improved from 79% in the spring of 2023 to 80% in the spring of 2024. We coded this “green” for a health score.
      • For 3rd grade on-level reading, we analyze Standards of Learning (SOL) testing and the Maze reading assessment in Virginia and the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) and DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) testing in Maryland. There may be a new literacy assessment in Dorchester County beginning in SY 24-25 and we will update this information as soon as more details are known.
        • Dorchester County saw a drop in 3rd grade MCAP reading scores, from 34% in the spring of 2023 to 32% in the spring of 2024. We coded this “red” for a health score.
        • Dorchester did show a moderate increase in reading DIBELS readiness, moving from 37% to 39% meeting benchmarks. This is an additional 2-point increase from the year before. Thus, there is continued growth over time with this assessment, but still too low to be coded anything other than a “red.”
        • Winchester demonstrated significant growth in 3rd grade reading SOL meeting benchmarks, jumping from 54% in the spring of 2023 to 67% in the spring of 2024. We coded this “green” for a health score.
        • Fairfax County held steady with a strong 3rd grade SOL reading assessment score of 78%, same as the previous school year. We coded this “green” for a health score.
      • For 3rd grade on-level math, we analyze SOL testing in Virginia; and MCAP and iReady testing in Maryland.
        • Dorchester County demonstrated growth in MCAP readiness, moving from 23% readiness at the end of school year 22-23 to 28% in the spring of 2024. Even with the growth, we coded this “red” for a health score.
        • Dorchester County did reflect somewhat stronger growth in the iReady math assessment, increasing from 28% in the spring of 2023 to 36% in the spring of 2024. We coded this “yellow” for a health score as that is two straight years of steady growth.
        • Winchester demonstrated significant growth in 3rd grade math SOL meeting benchmarks, jumping from 50% in the spring of 2023 to 70% in the spring of 2024. We coded this “green” for a health score.
        • Fairfax County noted a slight increase in 3rd grade math SOLs, moving from 75% in the spring of 2023 to 76% in the spring of 2024. We coded this “green” for a health score.
      • For elementary school attendance, we measure chronic absenteeism rates, hoping to see reductions in loss of school time. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of the school year (equaling 18 or more days in year) and includes both excused and unexcused absences.
        • Dorchester County did see a drop in chronic absenteeism, moving from 36% in the spring of 2023 to 31% in the spring of 2024. While that is a 5-point reduction in absenteeism, the overall percentage is still high enough to earn a “red” health score.
        • Winchester reported 17% chronic absenteeism rate in the spring of 2023 and noted a 1-point drop to 16% in the spring of 2024. This was coded as a “green” health score.
        • Fairfax County reported 17% chronic absenteeism rate in the spring of 2023 and reduced that by 4 points to 13% in the spring of 2024. This was a significant improvement and thus resulted in a “green” health score.
    2. While improvements may be very slight in many assessments, and in some cases significantly below what we would hope, there have been strong signs of improvement across Winchester and Fairfax County. As these strategies and growth goals are based on a 10-year horizon, we will continue to use data to drive decisions and grantmaking moving forward to help create solutions that will last and be high-impact.