Research Roundup #1: The Economic Impacts of Learning Losses with Dr. Eric Hanushek

Dr. Eric Hanushek joined us Tuesday, January 23 to present on his study The Economic Impacts of Learning Losses due to COVID-19. The numbers are stark and permanent if nothing is done to fully catch students up to 2021 and not just settle with 2020 levels.

Dr. Hanushek estimates that as of February 2021, learning losses due to COVID-19:

  • Will cost an average student six to nine percent of their lifetime earnings
  • Will lower the GDP three to four percent or more than $27 trillion over the rest of the century. He stated politicians and education leaders “can’t ignore the economic losses.”
  • Will be even worse for disadvantaged students, who will experience 50 percent greater learning loss than the average student. This means a nine to more than 13 percent lifetime income loss.

Dr. Hanushek also delved into potential solutions to helping with learning loss. This included individualizing instruction to meet the needs of the students, lengthening instruction time, reviewing and modifying collective bargaining agreements, and more effectively utilizing teachers and personnel. He said, “This generation has been harmed, seriously harmed.” He reiterated that we need to start planning for what education will look like in the future since it should not look the same as it did.

Dr. Eric HanushekDr. Eric Hanushek is the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. He is a recognized leader in the economic analysis of education issues, and his research has had broad influence on education policy in both developed and developing countries. He is the author of numerous widely-cited studies on the effects of class size reduction, school accountability, teacher effectiveness, and other topics. He was the first to research teacher effectiveness by measuring students’ learning gains, which formed the conceptual basis for using value-added measures to evaluate teachers and schools, now a widely adopted practice. His recent book, The Knowledge Capital of Nations: Education and the Economics of Growth summarizes his research establishing the close links between countries’ long-term rates of economic growth and the skill levels of their populations. His current research analyzes why some countries’ school systems consistently perform better than others. He has authored or edited twenty-four books along with over 250 articles. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and completed his Ph.D. in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

How a Pandemic Could Fundamentally Alter the Education System

As COVID-19 ramped up, schools were closed, parents were being laid off or having hours greatly reduced. This created turmoil within the education system and even more disruption for student and parent routines. The education system was wholly unprepared for this new reality.

Schools were forced to switch to remote learning in a matter of days. Survey data show schools of different types addressed remote learning and how they served student populations differently.

Remote Learning

Many feared remote learning would focus on just reviewing past material instead of being more rigorous with the continued introduction of new content. Traditional public-school parents spent 72 percent of their time introducing new content and 26 percent reviewing past content. Charter school parents however, introduced new content 86 percent of the time and 13 percent reviewing past content. Private school parents spent 88 percent of their time on new content and only 10 percent on past content.

When you review this data by income, there is a dramatic gap between the top quartile and bottom quartile. The bottom quartile received new content 64 percent of the time as compared to 80 percent for the top quartile. The bottom quartile spent 14 percentage points more time reviewing past content.

Instruction Activity

Thirty-one percent of the parents surveyed, reported whole class meetings, assignments, and feedback with teachers happened less frequently than once per week if at all. Nineteen percent reported no whole class meetings at all. One-on-one meetings were reported as even less frequent with 40 percent reporting zero and 22 percent reporting less than once per week.

Teacher Contact

Parents were not satisfied with the intensity of remote instruction. This was reflected in the low satisfaction rate of parents. Only 22 percent of parents were satisfied with less whole-class meetings didn’t occur more than once per week, one-on-one meeting satisfaction was 24 percent, required assignment satisfaction was 20 percent, and feedback and grade satisfaction were 21 percent.

Due to the remote learning ACE partner school teachers are spending more time on activities other than learning in the new online reality. Teachers report 96 percent time managing technology, 88 percent more time preparing their online lesson plans, and 88 assisting parents with the remote learning technology.

Learning Loss

Seventy-two percent of parents in traditional public schools reported that their children learned less at home than if their school had remained open, while only 54 percent of charter school parents and 67 percent of private school parents reported the same. Interestingly, 77 percent of white parents reported they believed their children learned less remotely, with Hispanic parents reporting 61 percent and black parents at 53 percent. The top quartile parents reported in at 74 percent, while the bottom quartile reported in at 57 percent.

ACE partner schools estimated the median COVID slide learning loss to be 2.5 months and recovery to take nearly 3 months. Some school feared it would take an entire school year to recover what was lost. The loss and recovery for low-income students was an extra half a month more than students in general.

Parental Satisfaction

It comes as no surprise parents were not satisfied with how schools shifted to remote learning. The top and bottom income quartiles ranked their satisfaction at 26 and 29 percent respectively. The one brighter spot was charter school parents raking satisfaction at 45 percent, and private school parents at 39 percent. Only one in four (26 percent) parents at traditional public schools were satisfied.

Some of this low parent satisfaction could be attributed to the frequency of schools communicating with parents. Ninety-nine percent of private schools reported communicating with parents at least once per week with 55 percent of those reporting multiple contacts per week, 16 percent daily contact, and 14 percent making multiple contacts per day.

Parental dissatisfaction of remote learning appears to be one of the reasons many parents did not return their children to school this fall. Parents are choosing from a myriad of options. Many private school students are returning to public school due to financial issues, some public school students are moving to private schools due to them returning to in person learning, others are opting to homeschool, or find a micro-school (a specialized school within a school).  Instead, some opted to start pandemic pods. Pandemic pods are families and neighbors joining together to teach, or hire a teacher for, their children in small groups at each other’s homes.

Student Engagement

ACE partner schools reported a decline in student engagement of 72 percent as the remote learning continued. A significant decline was reported of one in ten students. This disengagement appears to have continued into the fall with schools reporting an increase in failure rates. In Brazosport, TX students back in class have a “failure rate of 8 percent,” while 25 percent of virtual students are failing at least two classes. An Austin, TX middle school was seeing and almost 25 percent failure rate of at least one class.  Across Austin ISD the failure rate has increased by 70 percent and the Hays CISD reported a 30 percent in student failures. Hondo, TX reports a 63 percent failure rate.

This failure rate is not just happening in Texas. It is happening in other states as well. Districts in the San Francisco Bay Area are reporting 30 to 50 percent increases in their failure rates. Los Angeles is seeing a surge in Ds and Fs.

The Solution

There is a simple solution to enable the problems created by the pandemic to be solved. That solution is individualized education funding which would allow every parent to find and select the education that best works for their child. This individualization would allow parents to find a school with in-person learning (public, private, or charter), finding a remote learning solution that fits their child’s needs (public, private, charter, or third party), home schooling, pandemic pods (families joining together to teach their children), micro-schools (small schools within a school), or any other education model.

ACE Partner Schools COVID-19 Free and Reduced Lunch Student Impacts

Digging deeper into the school survey data report, specifically, to see how our partner schools who serve 50 percent or more free and reduced lunch (FRL) students were faring. While most of the numbers are very similar to the full dataset, there was some data showing how FRL students, and schools, have experienced more detrimental effects and why what we do is so very important to low-income families.

The key academic findings for these FRL heavy schools are:

    • a greater learning loss during the typical summer slide
    • the COVID slide is expected at 3 full months as compared to 2.5 months for the entire network
    • the COVID recovery is expected to take 3.3 months as compared to 2.8 months for the entire network
    • five-percentage points less likely to meet class requirements during remote learning
    • parents were less effective in assisting with remote learning with a
        • 10-percentage point gap in grades 3 – 5
        • nine-percentage point gap in grades 6 – 8
        • five-percentage point gap in grades 9 – 12

Schools reported greater impacts on social and emotional well-being. The key findings show:

    • a five-percentage point greater impact on coping skills
    • a three-percentage point greater impact on relationship skills
    • a three-percentage point greater impact on emotions

Eighty-two percent of these schools will be implementing social emotional learning (SEL) into the 2020-2021 school year. This is a 12-percentage point increase as the whole network.

The chart below shows the typical summer slide. Schools report FRL students experience more learning loss over a typical summer.

For the COVID slide, these same partner schools expect a half month more learning loss and a half month longer recovery. This is a significant burden on schools and the students who have fallen further behind than normal.

The COVID slide is to be expected given the five-percentage point decrease in students meeting class requirements as compared to all ACE partner schools.

While parents were willing to assist their children with remote learning, schools with more FRL students say parents are less effective in their assistance. Specifically, in 3 – 5 grades, there is a 10 percentage point gap, a nine-percentage point gap in grades 6 – 8, and a five-percentage point gap in grades 9 – 12.

The social and emotional impact of COVID-19 has hit the FRL students harder. This is evidenced by schools reporting greater impacts in coping skills (five percentage points), relationship skills (three percentage points), emotions (three percentage points), and learning (two percentage points).

Eighty two percent of schools serving a larger percentage of FRL students are planning to implement social emotional learning (SEL) into the 2020-2021 school year whereas 70 percent of all ACE partner schools are planning additional SEL implementation.

ACE Partner School COVID-19 Survey Findings

ACE Scholarships (ACE) has undertaken several surveys to determine what partner schools and parents experienced due to the pandemic and subsequent remote learning. In addition, we looked forward to the upcoming fall school year to find out plans and needs.

Key findings on remote learning:

    • Nearly 50 percent of classes cannot be effectively taught online in elementary school.
    • Schools report student engagement has declined by more than 70 percent overall from the beginning to the end of the school year remote learning.
    • More than two-thirds of partner schools provided remote learning devices or Wi-Fi access to all or students who needed them. Another 20 percent would have provided them if they had the funds to do so.
    • Almost two-thirds of partner schools added social and emotional learning (SEL) and coping to aid their students and families. SEL will be continued by schools in the coming 2020/21 school year.
    • Fifty percent of schools maintained direct student interaction via online platforms and did not want nor plan to outsource that to third party remote learning systems.
    • The three highest priority needs for teachers are:
      • training to understand how remote learning differs from in-person learning,
      • remote learning technology training, i.e. video conferring and online lesson platforms,
      • and maintaining connectivity among educators.
    • Teachers are spending significantly more time:
      • managing technology (96 percent),
      • assisting parents with managing technology (88 percent),
      • and contacting students after normal school hours (87 percent).

Key findings on remote learning loss or the ‘COVID slide’:

    • More than 60 percent of schools estimate the loss to be one to three months.
    • The median learning loss estimate is 2.5 months.
    • Learning loss recovery is mixed:
      • The median recovery of the learning loss is 2.8 months.
      • 16 schools expect the learning loss recovery to take almost the entire school year.
      • Six schools expect recovery to take multiple school years.

Key findings on COVID-19 related costs to schools (included tuition loss):

    • The median cost to partner schools is $112, 617.
    • ACE partner schools serve on average 36 percent of low-income students with a high of more than 49 percent in Louisiana and 23 percent in Montana.

Key findings for families:

    • Almost 60 percent of families believe life after COVID-19 will be somewhat or much harder.
    • More than 63 percent of families suffered fiscal impact due to the shutdowns.
    • More than 12 percent have no or limited access to remote learning technology. The highest technology barriers are:
      • Limited or no high-speed internet access (62 percent)
      • Lack of access to required hardware (36 percent)

Schools, parents, and students have concerns over remote learning versus in-person learning. The amount of course work that schools report cannot be taught effectively remotely is highest in elementary school and decreases into high school, i.e. the younger a child is the more direct and personal instruction they need.

In addition to the classes that cannot be effectively taught online, teachers are spending more time preparing their lessons to put online. They are spending more time managing technology than before, while spending less time instructing students.

As the pandemic shutdown progressed, schools report student engagement decreased over time with almost 35 percent by a little, more than 26 percent somewhat, and 11 percent with a significant decline.

The social and emotional impact of the pandemic shutdown could have contributed to the decline in engagement since almost two-thirds of partner schools reported adding social and emotional learning (SEL) and coping to aid their students and families. These schools are planning on continuing and even adding more SEL this coming school year.

Besides the declining student engagement, many students had barriers to remote learning with the lack of laptops, iPads, etc. and the lack of reliable high-speed internet access.

Many schools did provide students with devices and WiFi if they could afford to do so.

Almost 51 percent of schools maintained direct student interaction via online platforms and did not want nor plan to outsource that to third party remote learning systems. Schools feel it is more important for many students to have direct instructional contact with their regular teachers instead of a third-party learning system.

The rapid transition to remote learning left many teachers scrambling. Schools rank their top two needs as training to understand how remote learning differs from in-person learning and training on how to use video conferencing and other online platforms.

Teachers are not immune to the social and emotional impacts of exclusive remote learning. Schools ranked the need to maintain teacher connectivity and social and emotional support for staff as the third and fourth greatest needs.

Another key element of the pandemic induced remote learning is what many are calling the “COVID slide”. To gage the impact on students at ACE partner schools, we asked about the typical summer slide, the COVID slide, and the time needed to recover the lost learning. This is what we found. There is minimal learning loss during the typical summer slide. The average learning loss due to the COVID slide is estimated at 2.5 months, with a recovery time of 2.8 months. Recovery time is very mixed with 16 schools expect the learning loss recovery to take almost the entire school year and six schools expect recovery to take multiple school years.

Private schools have taken a financial hit in conjunction with the learning loss. The median cost to partner schools is $112, 617. On average, these schools serve 36 percent of low-income students with a high of more than 49 percent in Louisiana and 23 percent in Montana.

Families were also hit hard economically with loss of jobs, reduced hours, or the need to stay home due to their children’s school being shut down, and loss of loved ones.

This impact will be long-lasting according to the families. They shared their concern that life is not going to return to normal anytime soon with almost 60 percent saying life after COVID-19 will be somewhat or much harder.

 

 

 

ACE Scholarships Partner School Survey Questions and Results

Surveys Emailed: 638

Survey Responses: 323

  1. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, did students at your school regularly engage in remote learning?
  2. How are remote learning lesson materials delivered to families?
  3. Did your school provide iPads, laptops, WiFi hotspots, ect. to students or families during the COVID-19 pandemic?
  4. Have you implemented any additional social and emotional support into the classroom during this period of remote learning?
  5. Please describe the additional social and emotional support you have implemented:
  6. Are you currently using any third party distance learning service?
  7. Please rate your satisfaction level with your current distance learning service? [Only rate products that you currently use]

    *Some schools use multiple platforms.
    **Other platforms include those with single-digit usage and include: Abeka Academies, Alpha Omega, Apex Learning Virtual School, Bob Jones University, Class Dojo, Edgenuity, FlipGrid, FuelEd, Ignitia, Instructure, IXL, Jupiter Ed, K12 Academies, Lalilo, Lexia Learning, Mindspark Learning, Pearson Online Academy, Schoology, Typing.com, Veritas Learning Lab, Wittenberg Academy, Xtra Math

  8. What percentage of each remote learning delivery method are your teachers using?
  9. Please rank your staff needs to facilitate better remote learning? [Only rank the items your staff needs]
  10. Please rate the time your teachers are spending on each of the following aspects of teaching during the pandemic versus before the pandemic: [Only rate items your teachers are spending time on]
  11. How much time are your teachers spending to prepare and put their lessons online as compared to when they were in the classroom?
  12. What percentage of lessons cannot be effectively taught/performed online (labs, experiments, hands-on lessons, etc)?
  13. How frequently are teachers communicating with parents?
  14. What is your school’s expectation for teacher turnover in 2020-2021 as compared to a normal year?
  15. What do your students need to succeed in a remote learning environment? [Only rank items your students’ need]
  16. How has student engagement changed from the first day of the pandemic remote learning to the present?
  17. How frequently are students required to _________?
  18. How many students are meeting these class requirements?
  19. How frequently has your school been communicating with parents for reasons other than remote learning during the pandemic?
  20. What methods are you using to communicate with parents? [Check all that apply]
  21. How effective have parents been at assisting with at-home learning for the following grade levels? [Only rate grades that are applicable to your school]
  22. How willing have parents been to assist with at-home learning for the following grade levels? [Only rate grades that are applicable to your school]
  23. Thinking about the 2019-20 school year, how are you handling grade promotion?
  24. Please estimate your expectation for student enrollment changes for your school for the 2020-21 school year?

    This data is unusable.  It showed an average of 39% increase with none saying any loss of students. They appeared to misunderstand the question.

  25. What are your plans for your school for the 2020-21 school year?
  26. What is the main reason you are closing permanently?

    Two schools responded and both said Loss of tuition revenue

  27. How would you rate the typical summer learning slide of your students?
  28. How many months of learning loss do you expect due to the impact of COVID-19 related issues?

    Average expected learning loss due to remote learning due to COVID-19 is 2.5 months.

  29. How long do you believe it will take an average student at your school to recoup learning losses suffered during the pandemic?

    Average time schools expect students to regain their education losses due to the COVID slide is 2.8 months. Sixteen schools expect learning recovery to take almost one entire school year and six schools expect it to take more than one school year.

  30. How would you rate the social and emotional impact of the COVID-19 crisis on your students?
  31. Will you be implementing any social and emotional support into the classroom for the 2020-21 school year?
  32. School Affiliation
  33. Grade levels served [Check all that apply]
  34. Tuition
  35. Population Density
  36. Please indicate costs, and if possible, estimated amounts incurred by your school as a result of COVID-19. This can be a total sum or a list of items and their individual costs.

    The average COVID-19 costs and loss of revenue for the schools that could identify their costs, the average is $112,617.


  37. What percentage of students does your school serve who meet the guidelines of the federal free and reduced-price lunch (FRL) program?

ACE Scholarships Family Survey Questions and Results

  1. Has your family been financially impacted through involuntary loss of job or unpaid leave?
  2. Do you work in an essential industry?
  3. How would you describe your relationship to the children living in your house?
  4. Do you have access to the technology needed to accommodate remote learning for your children (high-speed internet, computer availability, etc.)?
  5. What is the primary barrier to remote learning?
  6. How many devices (computers, tablets, etc.) in your home are available or readily accessible for remote learning?
  7. How does your child’s school deliver its remote-learning lessons?
  8. How have COVID-19 and the related closures affected your life, family situation, and learning experience for your children? (Please describe in the box below)
  9. After the COVID-19 crisis, life will be:
  10. Have you or your school undertaken any efforts to serve your community during this time of crisis? (Please describe these efforts in the box below)
  11. Would you be willing to share your family’s story on the impact of the ACE scholarship received? (Interview for written story, video recording, etc.)
  12. School Affiliation
  13. Household Income
  14. Age
  15. Race
  16. Gender

ACE National Family COVID-19 Survey Findings

ACE Scholarships (ACE) provides more than 7,000 scholarships to economically disadvantaged students attending more than 700 K-12 partner private schools in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Texas, and Wyoming. COVID-19 and the shutdown of schools and businesses have impacted these families and schools greatly. We surveyed all ACE families to get a better sense of how families are dealing with and how they are coping with this extraordinary crisis. The response rate was 26 percent or 1,313 families.

Key Findings:

A majority of families have been financially impacted by the loss of jobs, reduced hours, or the need to stay home due to their children’s school being shut down.

This impact will be long-lasting according to the families. They shared their concern that life is not going to return to normal anytime soon with almost 60 percent saying life after COVID-19 will be somewhat or much harder.

Economically disadvantaged families know the difficulties of living paycheck to paycheck. When their paycheck stops it hits them harder than most due to a lack of savings. This puts them further behind making a long road to recovery. ACE families, in particular, are acutely aware of the sacrifices they must make to have their child in a better and safer education environment. These financial sacrifices will be even harder due to the expected long-term nature and probability of the COVID-19 return this fall.

This pandemic has affected families’ physical and mental state. Using several oft-repeated keywords and phrases, shown in this word cloud below there is a general theme that is readily apparent. There is much anxiety, fear, and worry about the immediate future, families are using this time to build closer family bonds and help others.

These are a few of the example responses we received. (These survey responses have been altered for spelling and to ensure anonymity.)

  • Family members have died from COVID-19. Not being able to be together & having to continue with school and work was surreal.
  • No in-person church services. Parks are closed. Cannot see friends or be around people. This lifestyle is promoting isolationism.
  • We only have one tablet for three kids to use for their classes. I haven’t worked since early March.
  • The economic situation is dire; family situation stressful; and the learning experience is an adjustment.
  • It has upended a lot of our plans as a family. My youngest can’t go to school. We can’t afford private school next year if this continues in the fall.
  • We are gathering as a family every night for dinner and prayer which has been awesome. It’s been a challenge not being able to work, and the children not being able to go to school, but they have adapted well.
  • We can’t afford to pay all our bills at this time due to getting furloughed. My child has increased anxiety and depression from the closure of schools and struggles without a teacher being present to help her.
  • I am a small business owner and my business closed. I am not receiving any income currently. It’s been a little hard to get used to being on a school schedule, but we are trying to stay on top of it.
  • My child is becoming depressed and not engaging.
  • I healthcare worker caring directly for COVID-19 patients. My child must live with other family so as not to be exposed.

Schools, communities, and families themselves are finding ways to serve the neediest even with their own hardships. This is highlighted in the word cloud and example quotes below.

(These survey responses have been altered for spelling and to ensure anonymity.)

  • I have been helping a group with an Adopt a Senior (gifting program for graduating seniors). I’ve been volunteering 10 to 14-hour days to help keep up on social media page to ensure seniors and sponsors are in contact so all seniors get a sponsor.
  • We’ve been chalking positive things in people’s driveways and praying as a neighborhood community while practicing social distancing.
  • School has reached out to see if we need anything, however they are struggling financially too.
  • Several parents are serving other families in our school community allowing working parents to drop off their kids and go to work peacefully. Parents make and take food to families in need. We pray together. We use technology to share beautiful moments, like birthday parades, senior parade, and student packages.
  • My second grader learned to sew and made over 200 masks to donate to nursing homes and cancer centers.
  • We made signs of support for essential workers and put them on lawns of healthcare workers in our community.
    • We helped some people worse off than us with food and money to solve their immediate needs. The school is helping the school community by giving us time to pay the tuition and re-registration fees.
    • School provides grocery gift cards for needy families. My children have written notes to people in assisted living who aren’t able to have visitors along with writing thank you notes to health care workers.
    • We gather at the end of every day and talk about news and new things happening, how we can help the way we have been helped…. pray for all of those in need and give thanks for what we had received. We love our life day by day, “God will provide.” We are very thankful for all you guys do for all of us in need.

Due to the school shutdowns, schools have unexpectedly had to find ways to facilitate distance learning. Nearly 75 percent of ACE partner schools deliver via online and video conference platforms. However, not all schools have relied on the internet for lessons and instruction. Some have allowed families to pick up hard-copy materials, and others have used calling or texting to get coursework to students.

While most families have been able to cope with a predominantly online approach to school, more than 12 percent of low-income ACE students have had to cope with substantial barriers that can inhibit their access to learning.

For the families that faced access barriers to online remote learning, the main issues are the lack of high-speed broadband internet or the lack of computer devices. Almost 36 percent of students lack access to a computer, tablet, or device needed for online learning. More than six in 10 students either do not have internet available in their area, cannot afford broadband internet service, or have slow internet and connectivity issues.

To review all the data, click here to review the full survey.

Individual state reports:

Louisiana Family COVID-19 Survey Findings

ACE Scholarships (ACE) provides more than 1,500 scholarships to economically disadvantaged students attending 147 K-12 partner private schools within the state of Louisiana. COVID-19 and the shutdown of schools and businesses have impacted these greatly. We surveyed 1226 Louisiana ACE families to get a better sense of how families are dealing with and how they are coping with this extraordinary crisis. Three hundred thirty-four families responded to the survey giving us a response rate of 27.2 percent.

Key Findings:

A majority of families have been financially impacted with loss of jobs, reduced hours, or the need to stay home due to their children’s school being shut down.

Financial impact to household income

Due to the school shutdowns, schools have unexpectedly had to find ways to facilitate distance learning. Nearly 75 percent of ACE partner schools deliver via online and video conference platforms. However, not all schools have relied on the internet for lessons and instruction. Some have allowed families to pick up hard-copy materials, and others have used calling or texting to get coursework to students.

What are the delivery methods being used by ACE partner schools to facilitate remote learning

While most families have been able to cope with a predominantly online approach to school, 15 percent of low-income ACE students have had to cope with substantial barriers that can inhibit their access to learning.

Access to technology needed for remote learning

For the families that faced access barriers to online remote learning, the main issues are the lack of high-speed broadband internet or the lack of computer devices. Nearly four out of every 10 students lack access to a computer, tablet, or device needed to online learning. More than six in 10 students either do not have internet available in their area, cannot afford broadband internet service, or have slow internet and connectivity issues.

Barriers to remote learning

Looking to the future, families shared their concern that life is not going to return to normal anytime soon. Economically disadvantaged families know the difficulties of living paycheck to paycheck. When their paycheck stops it hits them harder than most due to a lack of savings. This puts them further behind making a longer road to recovery. ACE families, in particular, are acutely aware of the sacrifices they must make to get their child in a better and safer education environment. These financial sacrifices will be even harder due to the expected long-term nature and probability of the COVID-19 return this fall.

Family expectation of life after the COVID-19 crisis

In addition to gathering statistical data, the survey ask two qualitative, open-ended questions:

  1. How has COVID-19 and the related closures affected your life, family situation and learning experience for your children?
  2. Have you or your school undertaken any efforts to serve your community during this time of crisis?

The answers to these questions provided a deeper insight into the effects of COVID-19 on families’ physical and mental state. Using a number of oft-repeated key words, we were able to identify a general theme in these often very personal responses: Although there is much anxiety, fear, and worry about the immediate future, families are using this time to build closer family bonds and help others.

Some of the frequent words used in their responses were as follows:

Adjusting Afraid Anxious Checking on others
Coming together Depressed Difficult Encouraging others
Family bonding Financial worry Helping Hopeful
Scared Stressed Students falling behind Looking out for others
Lack motivation Missing family Missing friends Missing school
Overwhelmed Sorrow (loss of loved ones) Struggling with learning Thankful
Worried about family Worried about not being able to afford to return to their school this fall

 

Even though a large majority of ACE families have been financially impacted, they are still finding ways to be connected with their communities and assist others. Here are the most common ways families are helping others:

  • Baking for neighbors
  • Chalking encouraging sidewalk messages for neighbors
  • Donating blood
  • Making encouraging videos of acts of kindness around their town to share on social media
  • Making masks and donating to those on the front lines and others who need them
  • Making signs and placing them in yards thanking healthcare workers
  • Printing out school lessons for others
  • Running errands for neighbors (groceries, medicines, taking them to appointments, etc.)
  • Writing notes to healthcare workers, family, and the elderly

Schools and communities are also finding ways to serve their neediest students through this crisis. Below are the most common methods students and families are being helped.

  • Food boxes and meals for those in need
  • Offering devices to students who don’t have them
  • Offering professional, psychological, and emotional support to those who need it
  • Recording students thanking front line workers and distributing the video to those workers
  • Serving food to healthcare workers
  • Teachers are spending extra time helping students
  • Working with nursing homes to assist the elderly

To review all the data, click here to review the full survey.

ACE is also conducting this survey in the seven other ACE states to discover how different communities are responding to COVID-19.

U.S. ED Delivers Huge CARES Win for Private Schools

If you’re finding the whirlwind of information, materials, and requirements about the implementation of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act overwhelming, you aren’t alone! As one of the largest-scale pieces of legislation passed in American history, the CARES Act has created daunting challenges for state and federal agencies, local leaders, and policy groups alike.

The ACE team has been working for weeks to stay ahead of the CARES Act implementation curve, and we wanted to provide you with an update on several key programs affecting private schools.

GEER and ESSER Fund Equitable Services

New Federal Guidance on Equitable Services is a Huge Win

Yesterday, the United States Department of Education released federal guidance on precisely how state and local educational agencies must allocate CARES aid to private schools under the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund and Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief (ESSER) Fund. See this previous post for more information on these programs.

The guidance mirror recommendations that ACE has been pushing at a variety of levels for weeks, and it represents a huge win for private schools across the country. In short, this eight-page document preempts months or even years of fighting with education systems for fair treatment of private schools and families. And it spared thousands of private-school students from being shut out in the cold.

Here’s the short rundown of what the guidance says on the big questions:

  • Every non-profit private school is eligible to receive aid, regardless of student residence in a Title I attendance area or previous participation in equitable services under existing Title programs.
  • Every private school student is eligible to receive services provided with CARES aid, regardless of status as low income, at risk, or any other special category.
  • State ed departments and school districts must start new notification and consultation processes to ensure that every private school has an opportunity to access these funds. Previously, many state ed departments were looking to force CARES aid into existing federal funding timelines, most of which have already closed for the year. That would have meant that hundreds of schools missed a train they didn’t even know was coming.
  • Aid must be calculated using direct proportionality equations that factor in ALL private school students. This calculation will provide, by far, the largest possible per-pupil allocation of aid to private schools. See below for an example directly from the federal guidance:

*Non-public schools participating under the CARES Act programs.

What can schools and families do to ensure we receive the CARES aid to which we are legally entitled?

Here are some immediate action items we strongly recommend for all our partner schools nationwide:

1. Contact your private-school ombudsman. By federal law, every state must have one of these ombudsmen, who are responsible for advocating on behalf of private schools and ensuring that they receive federal aid to which they are due.

You can use our digital advocacy campaign to send a message to your state’s ombudsman in a matter of seconds. You can also look them up directly using this directory. They need to know you are counting on them to help your school!

2. Contact your local school district’s Title-funding office or superintendent. Ask them how they intend to approach equitable services for private schools in their districts and remind them that your school needs help. In particular, you will want to make sure that they are thinking through timelines, processes, and requirements that maximize access to this aid on the part of private schools.

Remember, every dollar you do not receive is another dollar the school district can spend on something else. As a result, these districts may not have a strong incentive to look out for your school’s best interests. You must be your own best advocate! We know this can be daunting, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at policy@acescholarships.org.

3. Contact your state governor regarding his or her discretionary funds. Governors have wide latitude when it comes to allocating these funds, and private schools are entitled to receive “equitable services” from their school districts under this program if those school districts utilize funding for eligible purposes.

There are many, many groups competing for this funding. It is critical for your governor to hear from you about your school’s needs during this difficult time. If you haven’t already, you can use our digital advocacy campaign to contact your governor in a matter of seconds.


Other Grant Opportunities

Education Stabilization Fund Discretionary Grants

This week, the U.S. Dept. of Education announced yet another CARES Act aid program for K-12 schools. This one provides $307.5 million in discretionary grants. Of the total, $180 million is reserved for the Rethink K-12 School Models Grant and $127.5 million is reserved for the Reimagining Workforce Preparation Grant.

Grants given under the Rethink K-12 School Models Program can be used for the following purposes:

1. Microgrants for families, so that states can ensure they have access to the technology and educational services they need to advance their learning

2. Statewide virtual learning and course access programs, so that students will always be able to access a full range of subjects, even those not taught in the traditional or assigned setting

3. New, field-initiated models for providing remote education not yet imagined, to ensure that every child is learning and preparing for successful careers and lives

In particular, the microgrants provide a potential opportunity for private-school families to access much-needed tuition or other assistance. We strongly encourage you to contact your state private-school ombudsman and encourage him or her to advocate for the inclusion of private schools in any grant application filed under this program.

There are fewer details available about the Reimagining Workforce Preparation Grant Program as of this writing, but we will update this post with further information when we receive it. You can read more about both programs here.

USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has extended the application window for funds under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant Program to July 13, 2020.

This lesser-known program is focused primarily on providing educational opportunities and access to medical services in rural communities. It is open to government agencies, businesses, and even nonprofits—which means many private schools may be eligible for funding. Grants can be used for the following purposes:

      • Acquisition of eligible capital assets, such as:
          • Broadband transmission facilities
          • Audio, video and interactive video equipment
          • Terminal and data terminal equipment
          • Computer hardware, network components, and software
          • Inside wiring and similar infrastructure that further DLT services
      • Acquisition of instructional programming that is a capital asset
      • Acquisition of technical assistance and instruction for using eligible equipment

These grants require a 15-percent match on the part of the participant and are awarded via a competitive application process. You can read more about this program and find application instructions here.

CARES Act Resources for K-12 Private Schools

In the week since Congress passed the CARES Act,  informational materials and resources have been made available to help schools, families, and small business navigate the complicated process. We have compiled some resources in case they can be helpful to your families, staff, or schools during this challenging time.

Support for Schools

Equitable services for private schools

The CARES Act allows private schools to receive fully or partially subsidized “equitable services” from their local educational agencies. You can read more about the available services here.

Accessing the maximum amount of support will require both state education agencies and local school districts to fairly assess the needs of private schools and allocate resources accordingly.

To best advocate for your school to receive the equitable services you need, private schools need to contact their state Equitable Services Ombudsmen as soon as possible. Tell them about the challenges your school is facing, and encourage them to advocate strongly for you to receive the help you need and deserve.

Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Loan Program

$350 billion in federal loans are available to all employers (including nonprofits) with 500 or fewer employees. Many of these loans can be forgiven if funds are used only for required purposes. 

Note that the loans may, in some cases, include requirements related to federal employment and non-discrimination law. We encourage you to review the below items—and the terms of the loans—with your boards, finance teams, and legal counsel.

Here are some resources you may find helpful:

Additional charitable giving incentives for 2020
The CARES Act makes several changes to incentivize giving to nonprofits for the duration of 2020. These changes are as follows:
  • Increases the percentage of income that itemizing taxpayers can deduct for charitable contributions from 60 percent to 100 percent
  • Increases the percentage of income that corporate taxpayers can deduct for charitable contributions from 10 percent to 25 percent
  • Adds a “universal deduction” of up to $300 for taxpayers who do not itemize (i.e., those who take the standard deduction)
Potential access to funds through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund
We have been advised by several national partners that the U.S. Department of Education is considering rules (to be released next week) that would allow private schools to access direct funding made available to states for educational support.

This funding would be in addition to the equitable services private schools can access through their local school districts under the CARES Act (please see here for more details on equitable services access).

While final guidance from the U.S. Department of Education will be needed to confirm the availability of cash funding, we encourage any of you who are interested to share your stories of need with your governor. Please see below for contact information by state:

Arkansas
Governor Asa Hutchinson   Contact | Social
Colorado
Governor Jared Polis   Contact | Social
Kansas
Governor Laura Kelly   Contact | Social
Louisiana
Governor John Bel Edwards   Contact | Social
Missouri
Governor Mark Parson   Contact | Social
Montana
Governor Steve Bullock    Contact | Social
Texas
Governor Greg Abbott   Contact | Social
Wyoming
Governor Mark Gordon  Contact | Social

Support for Families and Staff

More Resources?

If you have other resources that you think that other schools would benefit from, please feel free to send them to Katrina Yoshida at kyoshida@acescholarships.org we can disseminate the information. 

Related Articles:

COVID-19 Stimulus Package and What It Means For K-12 Private Schools

Earlier today, the United States House of Representatives used a voice vote to pass an enormous $2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package—the largest such bill in United States history. The bill will now head to President Trump for signature, which is expected to happen quickly.

We know that many of you have questions about what the stimulus might mean for your schools. With that in mind, the ACE Policy team has conducted an initial analysis of those portions of the bill that affect K-12 private schools.

The bill is 880 pages long, but private schools will want to pay particular attention to Sections 18002, 18003, and 18005, which begin on page 754. These sections deal with how emergency education funds (totaling $30.75 billion) will be allocated across states and local educational agencies.

Below is an initial overview of all three main sections and how they connect to private schools.

Overview of CARES Act Provisions Related K-12 Private Education

Section 18002 (p. 754, line 12) – Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (about 10 percent of the total funding available)

This section allows states to submit applications for grant money from the federal government. That grant money will be allocated based on states’ relative population of students between the ages of 5 and 24, as well as the relative number of school-age children counted for federal funding purposes under the current Elementary and Secondary Education Act (currently known as the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA).

States can use the funds awarded under this section for the following purposes:

  • Providing emergency grants to local educational agencies (school districts) that the state education agency (state department of ed) deems to have been most significantly impacted by coronavirus
  • Providing emergency grants to institutions of higher education serving students that the governor deems to have been most significantly affected by coronavirus
  • Provide support to “any other institution of higher education, local educational agency, or education-related entity within the state that the governor deems essential for carrying out emergency services to students for [higher education], the provision of child care and early childhood education, social and emotional support, and the protection of education-related jobs.”
Section 18003 (p. 756, line 12) – Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (about 40 percent of the total funding available)

This section allows states to apply for emergency relief grants from the federal government. Funds will be allocated by the proportion of Title I, Part A funding received by states under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

States can use these funds to provide subgrants to local educational agencies (school districts) for the following purposes:

  • Any activity authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (NOTE: this would include services for low-income and at-risk students), the Individuals with Disabilities Act, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and a variety of other existing federal laws.
  • Coordination of preparedness and response efforts of local educational agencies to fight coronavirus
  • “Providing principals and other school leaders with the resources necessary to address the needs of their individual schools” (i.e., unrestricted block grants)
  • Activities to address the unique needs of low-income children or students, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, homeless and foster students, etc.
  • Training and professional development for staff of the local educational agency on sanitation and infectious disease suppression
  • Purchasing sanitizing and/or cleaning supplies
  • Planning for and coordinating long-term closures, provision of meals to eligible students, provision of technology for online learning to all students, provision of services to students with disabilities, etc.
  • Purchasing educational technology for students that aids in “regular and substantive educational interaction between students and their classroom instructors”
  • Providing mental health services and support
  • Planning and implementing activities related to summer learning and supplemental after-school programs, including summer learning for low-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, migrant students, homeless students, and foster students.
  • “Other activities that are necessary to maintain the operation and continuity of services in local educational agencies”
Section 18005 (P. 764, line 11) – Assistance to Non-Public Schools

This is the big one—the section that allows K-12 private schools to access the assistance under the CARES Act.

Section 18005 allows K-12 private schools to access, through their local school districts, “equitable services” under Sections 18002 and 18003 above. Note that, as with current equitable services under federal law, schools CANNOT receive actual funding under those sections. They CAN, however, receive fully or partially subsidized services covered under the CARES Act. 

(UPDATE: Upon further guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, it seems that governors may indeed be able to send funds directly to private schools or families under the Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund should they so choose.)

To better understand how the equitable services process works, please see this white paper. Note that the paper focuses primarily on Colorado. While federal requirements for equitable services cover all states, exact processes may vary in your state and/or locality. For specific questions, the best person to contact in is your state department of education’s Equitable Services Ombudsman. You can find an official directory of all state ombudsmen here. 

What comes next?

The passage of the CARES Act is a massive step, but the conversation is not over. Both the United States Department of Education and state departments of education will need to have significant discussions about how funding is allocated under these grant programs. And private schools will still need to interface with their local school districts to access equitable services under the act.

Further, which allocation formulae states adopt with regard to equitable services for private schools could have large impacts on how many resources are ultimately made available on the ground. ACE will be watching these conversations closely and will follow up with you as needed.