Leverage funding, gain ROI for your literacy investments (Part 1)
This two-part editorial series is designed to help educators maximize their funding and make the most out of their Tier 1, 2, and 3 literacy programs this year. A child’s learning time is too precious to squander. Read on, and we’ll show you how to make the most of their time and your time—and get the ROI you’re looking for in your phonics investment. [Note: Originally published in September, 2023, we have updated ESSER III details with the current deadlines and spending extension information.]
Optimize your ESSER funding to reduce the need for intervention
Achieve literacy success for all your students
Since the start of the pandemic, schools across the country have seen a massive influx of relief dollars under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund. Congress has provided close to $200 billion to states and local school districts to help with pandemic recovery efforts. A critical deadline to commit those funds is approaching fast on September 30, 2024, followed by new extensions.
The goal of this 2-part post is to clarify where the current funding deadlines and extensions stand, how we got here, and how we can make the best use of funds to support evidence-based reading solutions, reduce the need for interventions, and support students who require interventions.
Let’s start with a little background on ESSER.
The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding for pandemic relief was released under three different acts, starting with ESSER I in March, 2020 under the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act). ESSER II funds were released under the CRSSA Act (Coronavirus Response & Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act) In December of 2020, and ESSER III funds were disbursed under the ARP Act (American Rescue Plan act) in March of 2021. ESSER III is also known as ARP ESSER.
The ESSER fund allocations made to each state are based on Title I (part A) funds. Title I funding is a complex system. Title I funding targets school districts and schools with a high percentage of children from low-income families “to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards.” Originally created in 1965 by the US Department of Education under President Lyndon B. Johnson under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Title 1 has been reauthorized several times—in 2002 with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and in 2015 with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). You can read more background on ESEA, NCLB, and ESSA here. And to learn more about how the Title 1 formulas work, Sarah Reber and Nora Gordon will take you on a “A deep dive on how Title I funds are allocated” on the Brookings Institute website.
The current deadline and extensions
K-12 DIVE in an August 2024 post, “Education Department approves all requests to extend ESSER spending deadlines” explains the spending extension. Here’s a brief summary:
States and districts are required to commit ESSER III funds (the third round of funds) by September 30, 2024, followed by a deadline on January 28, 2025 to spend the money unless they have a spending extension. States and districts with ARP spending extensions have until March 30, 2026, to liquidate their allocations. States or districts cannot enter into new contracts after September 30 unless they receive a spending extension from the Department of Education. Any unspent money gets returned to the US Treasury.
How districts have spent funds to date
The past four years have seen an unprecedented level of federal investment in K-12 schools. With the allocation deadline for ESSER III looming, school leaders need to consider how best to leverage these funds to help students recover the serious learning loss many have experienced and how to make sure their investments are sustainable for the long term.
It can be challenging to get an accurate picture of how states and districts have spent ESSER funds—requirements for reporting of expenditures lag behind the allocation commitments, with some states and districts better at reporting than others. The U.S. Department of Education released a report in December, 2022 detailing how ESSER relief funds were spent in Fiscal Year 2021 (covering from the beginning of the pandemic up to June of 2021). And in June of 2024, they released the report for Fiscal Year 2022. According to the Fiscal 2022 report, “There is roughly a two-year span between when activities occur in schools and classrooms and when their resulting data are publicly available through the Annual Performance Report.”
The Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University has created the ESSER Expenditure Dashboard where you can track and analyze your district ESSER spending—the dashboard tracks CARES ESSER I, CRRSA ESSER II, and ARP ESSER III expenditures that districts have submitted for reimbursement. (Check it frequently because data is updated constantly.)
Identify the biggest outcome to commit your funds
As school leaders look to allocate and invest funding received to accelerate student achievement that was impacted during the years of the pandemic, we think this is a critical step: focus first on providing excellent Tier 1 instruction. No matter what other steps you take, you should always put the most emphasis here first.
With strong, evidence-aligned, core Tier 1 instruction, we should meet the needs of at least 80% of our students. This prevention-oriented approach ensures fewer students require intervention in Tiers 2 and 3. We can’t intervene our way out of a Tier 1 problem.
Laura Stewart
Provide the best Tier 1 instruction possible
Why start with Tier 1? The most inexpensive and most impactful instruction that can be delivered at a school site is one teacher to many students. It is also the most gratifying.
To ensure the most effective use of your funds, start by focusing on providing the best Tier 1 instruction possible—with the right high quality, evidence-aligned instructional resources, we should be able to address the needs of 80-85% of our students, and reduce the need for additional Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports significantly.
Jo. Anna Grant, principal at Bailey Elementary School in Clark County, Nevada explained in a recent conversation:
“At Bailey we found an overwhelmingly high amount of students at risk for foundational skills, which in turn impacted their ability to read and write. We knew that the curriculum we were using was not meeting the needs of our primary students and we recognized a need for a research-based program. After engaging in my first session of the LETRS professional learning and the science of reading research, my sense of urgency to find a program grew even more. Through the LETRS program, I learned about the work of 95 Percent Group. I reached out to their customer service department and our partnership began. In order to have a more widespread impact we knew we had to act to address the Tier 1 gaps. It was truly a worthwhile investment.
We were able to reduce the number of students in need of intervention by targeting our Tier 1 instruction first. The best illustration of this is with Kindergarten. The Bailey Kindergarten students were given time and exposure to the 95 Phonics Core Program® in Tier 1, until December, prior to identifying students in need of intervention. At that time we only had a total of 20 students needing Tier 2 intervention. Out of those 20, after being provided with Tier 2 support using the 95 Phonics Lesson Library®, we exited six students from RTI and four were found eligible for special education services. The rest made steady gains toward meeting their goals and I’m confident with more time the students will meet their goals.”
Read more
In Part 2 of this series, we highlight how you can optimize your ESSER funding to reduce the need for intervention. We know what works. Let’s do it.
Let us help you
Reach out to see how we can help you optimize your ESSER funding to ensure all your students’ success. Contact us.
