How have we helped accelerate learning during a pandemic?

Challenge

The Comprehensive Center Network (CCNetwork), funded by the U.S. Department of Education (Department), provides capacity-building services to state, regional, local, and Tribal educational agencies (SEAs, REAs, LEAs, 和学校，以改善所有学生的教育机会和成果. The CCNetwork, made up of 19 Regional Comprehensive Centers, is also served by a National Comprehensive Center (National Center), led by 趣赢平台. 国家中心有两个主要职责:为整个CCNetwork提供支持和协调，并为SEAs和LEAs提供技术援助. More about the National Center can be found in the About the National Comprehensive Center YouTube video.

The National Center was launched in the context of sudden, widespread, and systemic needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools shut down in many locations across the country; students, families, and educators adjusted to online learning environments; student engagement and wellness became a significant concern; and student achievement, particularly for our most vulnerable students, tended to slip.

In response to these historic challenges, 教育部发起了一项行动呼吁，要求小学和中学紧急救援计划(American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief，简称ARP ESSER)的资金发挥作用，加速学习恢复并促进公平.

Solution

国家中心部署了一系列努力，支持全国各地的教育工作者，因为他们为所有学生提供了获得高质量教育的机会, 以证据为基础的学习机会，在大流行期间和之后加速他们的学习. For example, the National Center:

• Led the Summer Learning and Enrichment Collaborative (SLEC), 2020年春季和夏季，为州和地方教育领导人举办了一系列7场全国网络研讨会. SLEC将夏季学习计划领域的供应商网络与需要指导和支持的教育工作者联系起来，以快速规划和启动夏季计划，使学生重新获得高质量的学习和社会发展机会.
• Launched 3 national Communities of Practice, focusing on using ARP ESSER funds to support evidence-based programming, 确保在学校改进计划中公平地获得关键的学习机会，并利用ARP ESSER的课后和暑期项目专项资金，扩大学生的学习和丰富机会. 趣赢平台创建了一个有密码保护的网站，我们在上面为这三个社区提供了讨论论坛和现场聊天. In that space, 成员可以访问每次会议的资源和录音，并在缔约方会议会议之间与领导直接通信. 领导们还向成员们分配了“家庭作业”，为下次会议做准备.
• Formed and led the Accelerated Learning Work Group, made up of leaders from Regional Comprehensive Centers across the country, 谁开发并传播了一系列支持学生参与的资源, high-quality instruction, high-dosage tutoring, and educational coherence.

The National Comprehensive Center’s website is dedicated to showcasing all of the National Center’s products, services, and resources, 其中许多是受到大流行期间达到顶峰的需求的启发，并在这一教育恢复期间继续发展.

Results

• Over 1,300 educators, partners, 以及社区领导人参加了暑期学习和充实合作项目, 大多数人报告说，他们对如何利用ARP ESSER基金来支持暑期节目的了解有所增加, how to design programs that addressed both academic and social development, and how to foster or strengthen school-community partnerships. The Wallace Foundation released the 全国暑期学习行动呼吁:学区如何回应? 调查结果指出，94%的地区在2021年为全国学生提供暑期课程.
• Teams from 16 SEAs participated in fostering connections with Communities of Practice, some in more than 1 Community. Through learning from the National Center, subject matter experts, and each other, SEA leaders identified problems of practice; designed plans, guided by research-proven practices, to address them; and created new resources to boost the capacity of other educators outside of the Communities. Some SEA-led activities born of Community of Practice participation included:
  • 为LEAs制定和实施高质量的学生暑期课程的工具包.
  • Guiding local leaders through an analysis of how, and for what student benefits, ARP ESSER funds were allocated.
  • 改进地方资源分配政策和程序，确保所有学生公平获得学习机会. Each of these Communities has sustained itself, based on the desire of participants, into their 3rd year.
• The Guide to Accelerated Learning 是CCNetwork资源库中下载量排名前三的资源之一(下载量超过500次). This guide provides educators with strategies for accelerating learning, prepares educators and families to support students as they learn, 为有不同学习需求的学生提供量身定制的方法, and gives examples of how states have implemented the strategies.