U.S. Department of Education Announces Over $220 Million Dollars in Investments from Government, Private, and Public Sectors to Support Student Recovery

Today, the Department of Education announced major actions and investments from government, the private sector, and nonprofit organizations to support student academic and mental health recovery as part of the Department’s broader effort to help students, schools, and communities recover from the pandemic and reemerge stronger. The announcements highlight how the American Rescue Plan has funded efforts to help students recover academically through summer learning and enrichment, and enhanced educational and mental health supports in districts across the country; how philanthropic partners are investing additional resources to help American Rescue Plan dollars stretch even further; and how the Department is leveraging over $160 million of its own grant funding to propel academic and mental health recovery for K-12 students across the country. The announcements will be made at the Department’s American Rescue Plan Summit, “From Recovery to Thriving,” broadcast on Department of Education channels at 5 p.m. ET, Wednesday, April 27, 2022, and held in partnership with the National Public Education Support Fund.

“As we move beyond reopening, the Biden-Harris Administration and the Department of Education will remain laser-focused on helping students recover academically from the pandemic and access the academic, mental health, and other supports they need to thrive,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “We are already seeing the impact the American Rescue Plan is having on schools, students, families, and educators—from increased access to academic and mental health supports to expanded summer learning and enrichment programs funded by federal pandemic relief funds. With additional investments from the Department’s grant programs and the philanthropic community, we can scale our recovery efforts, make ARP dollars have an even greater impact, and ensure every student—no matter their background, family income, or zip code—has the academic and mental health supports they need to succeed. In states and districts across the country, American Rescue Plan funds are having a direct impact on student, family, and educators’ recovery.”

• New tools to help families identify summer learning and enrichment opportunities for their children. NSLA is launching an updated DiscoverSummer.org and a $3 million public service announcement (PSA) campaign to encourage families to identify summer learning and enrichment opportunities in their communities. The new and updated site will include over 30,000 summer learning and enrichment programs in a searchable database, many of which have been funded or expanded from American Rescue Plan funds.

• Technical assistance to help states, districts, and communities leverage ARP resources to support summer programming in 2022 and beyond. The National League of Cities is partnering with the Afterschool Alliance to produce an interactive map, highlighting how districts and municipalities are investing in afterschool and summer programming using various ARP funding streams, so communities can see which cities are making investments in summer programming using ARP funds as well as previous rounds of federal pandemic relief funds. The Afterschool Alliance also is providing strategic support to the 50 state afterschool networks and additional allies and partners. Through this support and with the unprecedented resources from ARP, these efforts allow for at least $2.75 billion in ARP funds directed to quality afterschool and summer learning programs run by local school districts and their CBO partners to help address the equity and opportunity gaps. Nationally, FutureEd at Georgetown University projects that school districts will spend $7.5 billion on summer learning and afterschool programs.

• Highlighting examples of multi-million dollar ARP investments to expanded summer learning and enrichment offerings in 2022. During and following the ARP Recovery Summit, the Department will highlight examples of cities and districts using ARP funds to expand summer learning offerings this year, including Baltimore, Maryland, allocating nearly $9 million in ARP funds for summer youth employment programs; Columbus, Ohio, allocating over $15 million for summer youth engagement and anti-violence efforts; Madison, Wisconsin, allocating over $1 million in ARP funds to expand their youth employment program; and Washington, DC, allocating $2 million in ARP funds to expand academic and recreational camps for DC youth. A broader list of summer programs fueled by ARP resources can be found
• $17 million investment from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for high-impact tutoring. The Gates Foundation is investing $17 million over the next four years (2022-2025) to foster learning acceleration through high-impact tutoring, building out tools and resources so state and district leaders can more easily identify, select, and implement evidence-based tutoring programs.

• $14.4 million in grants from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation throughout 2022 to support afterschool across the country. Funding priorities include $7.5 million to support the 50 State Afterschool Network to ensure effective implementation of ARP funds; nearly $2 million to support increased capacity for statewide afterschool networks to reach out to local districts that need help implementing afterschool programs using ARP funds; over $2 million to support Mizzen, an innovative online tool that delivers high-quality content for afterschool programming; and $2.4 million to support the Afterschool Alliance, among other priorities.

• $10 million investment from the Raikes Foundation to support organizations aimed at accelerating learning and expanding access to mental health supports. Raikes is investing to support the BELE Network, the Resource Equity Funders Collaborative focused on addressing inequities made worse by the pandemic, the Science of Learning and Development Alliance, and other organizations helping school districts to see, understand, and deploy resources to meet the unique needs of all students.

• Over $9 million investment from the Stuart Foundation to support summer learning, learning recovery, educator workforce, and mental health initiatives. The Stuart Foundation has committed over $9 million to organizations that provide technical assistance to school districts in effectively utilizing ARP funds, implement and support the development of new community schools, and invest in student, family and community engagement to ensure students have the academic, summer, and mental health supports they need to recover.

• $9 million investment fromOverdeckFamily Foundation to accelerate students’ academic recovery and address the teacher shortage. The Foundation invested over $7 million in grants to organizations to help students recover academically from the pandemic and $2 million in grants to help increase teacher retention efforts by scaling programs that are successful in retaining effective teachers, promote teacher diversity, and differentiate teacher roles.

• $4.25 million investment from the William + Flora Hewlett Foundation to provide support and technical assistance to districts on how to effectively use ARP funds and sustain recovery efforts beyond the life of ARP. The Hewlett Foundation plans to invest $1.25 million to help districts plan on how to use ARP funds, over $2 million to stand up an Improvement Network focused on recovery and evaluating the impact of various recovery strategies, and $1 million to provide tools to districts to help them analyze and implement effective recovery strategies, among other investments.

• $240,000 investment from the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation to support projects to address the impacts of the pandemic on children, students and educators, and address inequities made worse by the pandemic. The Stone Foundation is investing tens of thousands of dollars in efforts to address the teacher shortage through bonuses and scholarships, improve access to mental health services for young men and boys of color, and create pathways for early childhood educators to access degrees and higher wages.

The Department will invest an additional $160 million through the Education Innovation and Research Grant Program to assist with the impact of the pandemic on students and schools.

In addition to helping states and districts use American Rescue Plan funds to help students recover academically and access the mental health support they need, the Department also will focus this year’s Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program on projects that develop, implement, replicate, and scaleup strategies to support learning recovery and student well-being related to the impact of COVID-19, including projects that address accelerated learning. Authorized under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the EIR program encourages field-initiated innovations that improve student achievement and attainment for underserved students. The Department will open its application process for the EIR program, providing $160 million in funding for five-year grants, prioritizing those that generate and support innovations that will help overcome the challenges to student opportunity and success exacerbated by the pandemic.

Under Secretary Cardona’s leadership, the Department will fund approximately 15 to 35 projects, giving priority to projects that develop, implement, replicate, or scaleup strategies that support learning recovery and student well-being related to the impact of the pandemic, including accelerated learning. Projects that also increase student access to student-centered and project-based learning and advanced coursework also will be prioritized, as well as projects that close gaps in educational opportunities, projects that increase student access to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), and projects that support student social and emotional well-being.

Applicants can find out more about the program