Data & Evaluation
What is
North Hartford Ascend?
North Hartford Ascend is a prenatal-to-career initiative to ensure children living in the North Hartford Promise Zone – which includes the Clay Arsenal, Northeast, and Upper Albany neighborhoods – have the support they need to reach their full potential. Whether it’s school help, health services, job training, or parenting support, Ascend connects residents to what they need to thrive.
Ascend is evaluated through 3 pillars of data:
(Click below to learn more about each data pillar)
Who Does Ascend Serve?
All students who attend the five full-service North Hartford Promise Neighborhood community schools: S.A.N.D & Wish Elementary Schools, MLK & Milner Middle Schools, Weaver High School.
Residents who live in the North Hartford Promise Zone (Northeast, Clay Arsenal, Upper Albany neighborhoods.)
Community-Level Data
Data about residents living in the North Hartford Promise Zone (NHPZ) and students attending the five full-service community schools is used to understand characteristics of the population (such as age, gender, and ethnicity) and evaluate the extent to which key outcomes (such as school attendance, graduation rates, health, and safety) improve for the NHPZ neighborhoods and schools as Ascend evolves.
The Data and Evaluation team for Ascend obtains community-level data from the Connecticut State Department of Education, American Community Survey (Census Bureau), School Climate & Culture Survey (Hartford Public Schools), and Community Well-Being Survey (DataHaven).
- Demographics: Information about the residents in the community, such as their age, gender, ethnicity and income levels.
- How the children are doing in school: School readiness, school attendance, academic proficiency, graduation rates and enrollment and completion of post-secondary programs.
- Health: Health and overall well-being of the community members.
- Community conditions and safety: Information about challenges people in the community may face, such as crime rates, housing conditions, or poverty.
Community level data helps us understand the collective needs and strengths of our community. It also allows us to evaluate the extent to which Ascend (as a system) is associated with improvements in conditions and outcomes for the community over time.
Program-Level Data
All programs, services and resources affiliated with Ascend submit data on how many NHPZ residents enrolled, participated, and successfully completed their program. They also submit data on referrals to other programs, program successes, and the trends and challenges they experience while supporting members of the NHPZ community. This data is collected and reported quarterly and annually.
Program-level data allows us to assess the impact and reach of programs within the community by tracking enrollment, participation, and completion over time. It provides insights into who is being served—across age groups and service areas—and highlights trends in program access and engagement.
This data also helps understand how well a program is working, who it serves, and where improvements may be needed.
Individual-Level Data
Information that is collected about individuals and families in the NHPZ who participate in programs, services, and/or resources affiliated with Ascend and about students who attend the five full-service Promise Neighborhood community schools.
Individual-level administrative data refers to information collected and maintained about individuals and families who live in the NHPZ and have participated in programs affiliated with Ascend.
This data is collected with consent from individuals and with strong data security measures to protect privacy and the identity of participants. This data is collected, stored, analyzed and reported according to all federal and state regulations.
With permission from individuals or their legal guardians, program and educational data can be linked to evaluate whether participation in Ascend-affiliated programs, services, or resources is associated with improved outcomes for youth—such as kindergarten readiness, academic success in Math and English Language Arts, and high school graduation.
This linked individual-level data also helps to identify potential barriers, and gaps in services, or and opportunities to enhance the impact of Ascend’s efforts.