JAG-K Releases 2023 Annual Report
Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas (JAG-K) has published its annual report for the 2023 Fiscal Year. An in-depth look at program data and highlights from the previous year is now available on the JAG-K website.
Click to view the 2023 JAG-K Annual Report
The evidence-based program helps students prepare for post-secondary education and employment opportunities. For the 2022-2023 school year, JAG-K programs numbered 104 in 48 school districts across the state, serving 5,566 students.
Student achievement data listed in the 2023 Annual Report represents information collected for the graduating class of 2022, which concluded a year of follow-up by JAG-K in July of 2023. That cohort reported a graduation rate of 93% and an 83% positive outcomes rate (which means 83% of JAG-K graduates are either in post-secondary education, military service or in the workforce full-time one year after graduation).
“The Class of 2022 felt the full impact of COVID school closings that resulted in loss of academic progress, disengagement, and mental health issues,” said JAG-K President and CEO Chuck Knapp. “Despite those challenges, an overwhelming majority of our students are prepared for post-secondary success, whether that be a full-time job, college, or vocational training.”
JAG-K celebrated its 10th year in 2022, the year that it became the fastest state affiliate to expand to 100 programs. For the ninth consecutive year, the Jobs for America’s Graduates national organization announced that the Kansas affiliate earned the organization’s highest award – the 6 of 6 award – bestowed upon those JAG programs that meet or exceed performance measures in six categories: graduation rate, employment rate, full-time employment, total full-time positive outcomes, connectivity rate, and continued education rate for the graduating class of 2022.
JAG-K is a multi-year, in-school program for students in grades 6-12 that offers tools to successfully transition students into post-secondary school, the military, or directly into the workforce with marketable skills. Participants in the program face multiple barriers to success that their JAG-K Career Specialist helps them overcome through a nationally-accredited, evidence-based model.
JAG-K participants in the 2022-2023 school year included:
- 67% eligible for free and reduced lunch
- 54% students of color
- 50% who lived in single-parent homes or separate from their parents
- 49% who were in the bottom 25% of class rank
JAG-K, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, is a state affiliate of the national JAG program network which operates in 38 different states and territories. It is primarily funded through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant to the State of Kansas administered by the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF). In addition to school districts and DCF, JAG-K partners with the Kansas Department of Education. Other JAG-K funding sources include ADM, AT&T, EagleU, Evergy, Goldstein Charitable Trust, the JB and Anne Hodgdon Foundation, John Deere, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Kansas Gas Service, the Kansas Insurance Department, the Kansas State Bank Commissioner, Royals Charities, Synchrony Financial, the Taco Bell Foundation, the City of Topeka, United Way of the Plains and Walmart.
To learn more about JAG-K, visit www.jagkansas.org, ‘Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas’ on Facebook, and on Twitter at @JAG_Kansas.