American Rescue Plan Education Funding Guide

The American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) Fund may be used to address the many impacts of COVID-19 on pre-K through 12th grade education.

Schools can use the more than $122 billion in funds for a wide range of activities to address needs arising from the pandemic.

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How much funding is included?

$122 billion for K-12 schools, provided via the ESSER fund
- $800 million reserved for providing services and assistance to homeless youth
$2.75 billion for non-public schools
$3 billion in additional FY21 funding toward Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
$7 billion to support the federal E-rate program via the Emergency Connectivity Fund
$39.6 billion for higher education institutions, provided via the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) fund

Any guidelines?
Local education agencies are required to set aside at least 20% of the funds to address learning loss through the implementation of evidence-based interventions that respond to the academic, social, and emotional needs of students. Remaining funds may be used for a wide range of activities to address needs arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

Funding includes three state-level reservations for activities and interventions that respond to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs, and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on under-represented students.

Special funding reservations

5% of the total ARP ESSER allocation for the implementation of evidence-based interventions aimed specifically at addressing learning loss, such as summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive after-school programs, or extended school year programs.

1% of the total ARP ESSER allocation for summer enrichment programs.

1% of the total ARP ESSER allocation for comprehensive after-school programs.

Tip:

The U.S. Department of Education identified the following under-represented subgroups in its American Rescue Plan Fact Sheet:

Students from each major racial and ethnic group
Children from low-income families
Children with disabilities
English learners
Migrant students
Students experiencing homelessness
Children and youth in foster care

How can districts use the funds?

Schools can use the funds for a wide range of activities to address needs arising from the pandemic, including:

Purchasing educational technology, including hardware, software, connectivity, and adaptive equipment to support instruction
Investing in resources to ensure connectivity for students who are learning online, such as Wi-Fi hot spots and devices
Providing mental health services and supports to students and staff
Implementing summer learning, after-school, and other supplemental programs
Hiring additional school staff, including counselors, nurses, and custodial staff
Coordinating preparedness and response efforts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19

Is Proliftic eligible for the use of American Rescue Plan Funds?

Yes! Proliftic is an evidence-based MTSS-focused data management platform that provides intuitive reporting from the systems-level to the whole child. By bringing attendance, behavior, social emotional, grades, and test score data together with intervention management, Proliftic gives schools the tools they need to identify patterns, gaps, or disproportionality in student learning, match students in need with effective interventions, monitor progress, and evaluate student outcomes and program effectiveness.

With Proliftic, educators can:

See all their data in one view to accurately identify students in need of support
Use a customized bank of research-supported interventions to match instructional support to student need
Monitor student progress and document adjustments to maximize student growth
Evaluate intervention outcomes at the student, group, grade, school, and district level

With Proliftic you will:

Know which interventions are used in your system, and by how many students
Identify average growth rates for students in each intervention based on participation
Recognize differences across student groups so you can easily evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention programs in which your district has invested

Sources:

https://oese.ed.gov/files/2021/03/FINAL_ARP-ESSER-FACT-SHEET.pdf
https://oese.ed.gov/files/2021/05/ESSER.GEER_.FAQs_5.26.21_745AM_FINALb0cd6833f6f46e03ba2d97d30aff953260028045f9ef3b18ea602db4b32b1d99.pdf
https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/arp/index.html
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-372069A1.pdf
https://www.ed.gov/about/ed-offices/ope
https://oese.ed.gov/files/2021/04/ARP-ESSER-State-Plan-Template-04-20-2021_130PM.pdf