While many American families are looking to turn the nation’s increasing freedom from the coronavirus into summer vacations or other steps toward normalcy, state and local education officials are facing the challenge of how best to commit vast sums of federal Covid-relief aid to education over the next three years.
To help them make the best possible use of the unprecedented infusion of federal education funding—nearly $190 billion—FutureEd has assembled a Covid Relief Playbook, a compilation of 18 evidence-based practices that have delivered improvements in instructional quality, school climate, student attendance, and academic achievement. We explain the rationale for each intervention, summarize and rate the strength of the supporting research, and provide insights into implementation.
We have also distilled into a single spreadsheet the plans that 34 state education agencies have submitted to the U.S. Education Department for how they plan to spend their portion of the federal largesse (up to 10 percent of each state’s funding). Encouragingly, there are some innovative ideas in the plans.
FutureEd Senior Fellow Nora Gordon drafted a helpful summary of the various levels of research evidence that meet the federal government’s expectation that a portion of relief aid be spent on “evidence-based interventions.” And Anu Malipatil, the director of the education program at the Overdeck Family Foundation, suggested ways for philanthropy to amplify the impact of the federal relief funding.
FutureEd Senior Fellow RiShawn Biddle argued in The New York Times for keeping a remote learning option next school year, especially for Black and Latino families who are reluctant to send their unvaccinated children to school.
Bryan Hassel, co-president of Public Impact and Greg Lippman, CEO of ACE Charter Schools, outlined a new method of measuring how well schools serve highest-needs students, a key task post-pandemic. We explored the rationale for the new measurement system with educators in a webinar we co-hosted with Public Impact.
Lauren Morando Rhim, executive director of The Center for Learner Equity, proposed ways the charter school sector can better serve students with disabilities. And FutureEd Policy Analyst Brooke LePage shared recommendations with the U.S. Education Department for changes in federal Title IX rules concerning sexual harassment and assault on school and college campuses.
We continue to update our list of Biden administration appointees to the U.S. Education Department, and The Churn features the latest leadership changes in the education sector. In The Horizon, we compile upcoming in-person and virtual education events. Send your future events and leadership announcements to [email protected], and we’ll be happy to post them.
Best wishes for an enjoyable summer.
Tom
Thomas Toch
Director, FutureEd
McCourt School of Public Policy
Georgetown University [email protected]
@thomas_toch
