Stimulus and ESSER funding for K-12 education
The U.S. Education Department released new guidance on Wednesday 26th May providing more detail on how states and school districts can spend $190 billion from three Covid relief packages to promote student health and academic success.
These Federal emergency resources are available for a wide range of activities to address diverse needs arising from or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, or to emerge stronger post-pandemic, including responding to students’ social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs and continuing to provide educational services as States, LEAs, and schools respond to and recover from the pandemic.
At a critical time for schools who are continuing to adapt to different methods of delivering lessons, It’s clear that everything needs to be done to make sure that the playing field stays level, that students are engaged and that no child is being left behind or excluded.
What is my district entitled to?
Funding has been distributed through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, based on each districts' Title 1 allocation. These funds can be used for a broad variety of activities, and are specifically aimed at equity and ensuring that we’re closing the gap for learners.
Stimulus funding covers the following for education technology:
- Activity authorized by the ESEA of 1965 including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
- Activities to address the unique needs of at-risk students including low-income, English Learners, racial and ethnic minorities, etc.
- Purchasing educational technology (including software) that aids in regular and substantive education interactions between students and their classroom instructors
- Purchasing assistive technology or adaptive equipment for students with disabilities
- Planning and implementing activities related to summer learning, including providing classroom instruction or online learning during the summer months and addressing the needs of students with disabilities or English Language Learners
- More information can be found on page 41 of this guide
How can I use stimulus funding to purchase Texthelp tools?
Students with disabilities
English language learners
Remote learning
Recently three of our products - EquatIO, WriQ and Fluency Tutor were awarded the Tech and Learning Awards of Excellence for Remote Learning. These awards recognize the work of technology providers, whose solutions were key to delivering continuous learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.
We've put together a handy business case to help you showcase Texthelp tools to your school or district.
Let's take a look at how stimulus funding can be used to purchase Texthelp tools.
FREE webinar on demand - Navigating the Road to Recovery: Leveraging stimulus funding to mitigate learning loss.
Watch this webinar recording where we join Jodi Burr and Linda Walker as they explore ways you can use the funds to help all students access learning, close the gap for learners and how you can use technology for teaching and learning in a remote setting.
As we navigate meeting the needs of students during the pandemic, CARES Act Funding has allowed us to put tools like Read&Write and EquatIO in place to support our students at various levels.