Federal

Federal Initiative Leverages COVID Aid to Expand After-School, Summer Learning

By Libby Stanford — July 14, 2022 3 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks at an event on June 2, 2022, at the Department of Education in Washington.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A new U.S. Department of Education initiative aims to leverage COVID-relief funding to boost high-quality after-school and summer programs for every student who wants to participate in learning outside of school.

The Engage Every Student Initiative, announced July 14, is the Biden administration’s latest effort to help school districts and state education agencies prioritize billions in American Rescue Plan funding. Through partnerships with education organizations, the department seeks to increase student access to quality out-of-school activities and ultimately support learning recovery.

“Evidence shows that students thrive when schools, communities, philanthropies, and government at every level work together to provide enriching, engaging opportunities for students to learn, grow, and build community beyond the classroom,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said at an event announcing the initiative. “This is especially true for students most affected by the pandemic.”

The COVID-19 pandemic halted growing participation in after-school and summer learning programs, studies show. In the 2020 calendar year, 14 percent of all students participated in an after-school program, which was down from the 18 percent of students who participated in 2014, according to a survey of over 31,000 households conducted by the Afterschool Alliance. If every student who wanted to participate in an after-school program had access to one, that number would be 50 percent, according to the alliance.

Similarly, 22 percent of students participated in a summer learning program in 2020, according to the alliance, and 31 percent of students who didn’t said they would if a program was available to them.

Creating learning opportunities through a community network

As part of its latest initiative, the Education Department is entering into a public-private partnership with five organizations: the Afterschool Alliance, The National Comprehensive Center, a summer learning and enrichment collaborative, the National League of Cities, The National Summer Learning Association, and AASA, the School Superintendents Association.

The five groups will coordinate by working with over 50 allied organizations, including the National Education Association, Boys and Girls Club of America, and the National AfterSchool Association, to improve access to out-of-school programs.

On July 12, the Department launched a website for the initiative that provides resources for districts, schools, community organizations, and state education agencies looking to improve after-school and summer learning opportunities. The goal is to motivate schools, districts, local elected officials, local government agencies, community-based organizations, and state agencies to work together to support learning outside of the classroom.

The Education Department also announced plans for a $3 million to $4 million contract in fiscal 2023 that will lead to the creation of a best practices resource for summer learning and after-school programs. The Institute of Education Statistics released a new online tool that walks districts and states through using federal funds to create summer and after-school programs.

“Make no mistake, during the pandemic, what students missed most was community,” Cardona said.

A push for learning recovery

The new initiative is only the latest in a stream of the administration’s efforts to spur learning recovery in schools and school districts. In early July, the White House announced the National Partnership for Student Success, an effort to bring in 250,000 tutors and mentors to American schools through partnerships with AmeriCorps and 75 education organizations.

The Biden administration also called upon schools and districts to prioritize spending the $122 billion in ARP funds that were sent to schools to support high-quality tutoring, summer learning and enrichment, and after-school programs. On July 12, the Education Department released new funding priorities to support the creation of high-quality community schools.

The strategies, however, are not new. Since 1997, the Education Department has been promoting after-school and summer learning programs through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Initiative, which offers funding for community centers that provide academic opportunities outside of school.

Summer learning and after-school programs also make up nearly a quarter, or $3.7 billion, of the federal funds education agencies have spent on academic recovery, according to a June 7 COVID-19 relief spending report from Georgetown University.

“We saw what the pandemic did to students,” Cardona said. “As a father of two high schoolers, I know the impact it had. It’s on us now. Students are waiting for us to step up and level up.”

Coverage of afterschool learning opportunities is supported in part by a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, at www.mott.org. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Opinion Student Literacy Rates Are Concerning. How Can We Turn This Around?
The ranking Republican senator on the education committee wants to hear from educators and families about making improvements.
6 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Federal Biden Calls for Teacher Pay Raises, Expanded Pre-K in State of the Union
President Joe Biden highlighted a number of his education priorities in a high-stakes speech as he seeks a second term.
5 min read
President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol on March 7, 2024, in Washington.
President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol on March 7, 2024, in Washington.
Shawn Thew/Pool via AP
Federal Low-Performing Schools Are Left to Languish by Districts and States, Watchdog Finds
Fewer than half of district plans for improving struggling schools meet bare minimum requirements.
11 min read
A group of silhouettes looks across a grid with a public school on the other side.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
Federal Biden Admin. Says New K-12 Agenda Tackles Absenteeism, Tutoring, Extended Learning
The White House unveiled a set of K-12 priorities at the start of an election year.
4 min read
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona participates in a roundtable discussion with students from Dartmouth College on Jan. 10, 2024, on the school's campus, in Hanover, N.H.
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona participates in a roundtable discussion with students from Dartmouth College on Jan. 10, 2024, on the school's campus, in Hanover, N.H.
Steven Senne/AP