Lessons with Lynsey Wood Jeffries and Nyasha Rusununguko

This episode features a conversation with Lynsey Wood Jeffries and Nyasha Rusununguko from Higher Achievement. Lynsey is CEO and Nyasha Director of Program Operations for the 45-year-old, Washington DC-based nonprofit serving middle-school age youth in the out-of-school-time space with a blend of academic enrichment, mentoring, and community-building, culminating in high school and ultimately college preparation. Higher Achievement serves students in communities in and around Washington, DC, Baltimore and Richmond. 

Lynsey, Nyasha and Jason talk about the history and program model of Higher Achievement, emphasizing literacy, social and emotional learning, and high school readiness. They look at the results the organization is seeing in terms of student academic and other outcomes. They delve into the ways Higher Achievement staff and mentors deliver a meaningful student experience, the changes they had to make during virtual programming amid the pandemic, and which of those they will keep. And they discuss what the pandemic showed about the essential role out-of-school-time programs have in education going forward.

Additional Readings and Resources:

• Higher Achievement
  • Staying On Track: Testing Higher Achievement’s Long-Term Impact on Academic Outcomes and High School Choice
  • Aiming Higher: Assessing Higher Achievement’s Out-of-School Expansion Efforts, MDRC, 2000
• Achieve 3000 Literacy
• Social and Emotional Learning
• William T. Grant Foundation