Test scores and teacher observations have documented the pandemic’s ill effects on student achievement, with millions of students falling behind where they should be academically. The impact hits particularly hard among the most vulnerable students, such as those living in poverty, dealing with disabilities, or homeless. The American Rescue Plan requires local districts and charter schools to devote at least 20 percent of the relief aid they receive to evidence-based practices for addressing learning loss.
More than half of the districts and charters in the Burbio sample are planning to Covid-relief spend money on expanded learning, either through summer learning, afterschool programs, weekend classes or longer school years. In many cases, they are receiving grants from state education agencies, which are required to spend at least 1 percent of the state’s total on summer learning and 1 percent on extended day programs. Many places are planning to spend their dollars on tutoring programs, academic assessments and instructional materials to help students catch up.
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Read about research and best practices for:
More resources:
- State Guidance for High-Dosage Tutoring
- The Covid Relief Playbook
- The Attendance Playbook
- Present Danger: Solving the Deepening Chronic Absenteeism Crisis
- National Student Support Accelerator
- Education Department: Covid Handbook
- Education Department: Text Messaging to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism
- Education Department: Strategies for Using APR Funding to Address Lost Instructional Time
- Education Department: Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4-9
- NCTQ: Advancing Early Literacy
- National Student Support Accelerator
- ERS: Using ESSER Funds for High-Dosage Tutoring
- ERS: Using ESSER Funds for Small-Group Instruction for Early Literacy
- ERS: Getting Real About Tutoring
- ERS: Using Covid Relief Funding for Multi-Tiered Systems Through Early Warning Systems
- TNTP: Learning Acceleration Guide
- EdResearch for Recovery: Improving Teaching Practice With Instructional Coaching
- EdResearch for Recovery: Voluntary Academic Summer Learning Programs