High-Impact Investments

ESSER III funds have helped local educational agencies (LEAs) make progress toward student academic recovery by making available a variety of high-impact investments. Students who have fallen behind academically benefit from high-quality Tier I instruction and various other evidence-based interventions. 

The COVID-19 pandemic confronted LEAs with challenging obstacles; having to develop and enact plans for remote and hybrid learning quickly, and then transitioning back to in-person instruction. Through it all, LEAs continued to address pre-pandemic achievement gaps, some of which were further exacerbated by the pandemic. 

Many LEAs are implementing High-Impact Tutoring, Expanded Learning Opportunities, and High-Quality Instructional Materials. 

• High-Impact Tutoring: High-Impact Tutoring is an evidence-based model that maximizes student learning within short periods of time by providing intense, targeted support with repeated tutor-student interaction. High-Impact Tutoring’s unique structure stipulates minimum tutoring frequency and duration and use of data. Quality High-Impact Tutoring programs have seven components: highly qualified and trained tutors, consistent tutor-student relationships throughout school year, small tutoring groups (4 students or fewer), at least three 30-minute sessions per week, sessions conducted during the school day, instruction aligned with an evidence-based structured curriculum, and use of data to monitor student progress.

For more information about high-impact tutoring, visit CDE’s High-Impact Tutoring Program or the U.S. Department of Education’s Raising the Bar: Strategies to Improve Student Achievement.

• Expanded Learning Opportunities: Expanded Learning Opportunities, also called Out-of-School Time, are provided by schools or community organizations and allow students to accelerate, enrich, or strengthen their engagement in learning beyond the school day. Some examples of Expanded Learning Opportunities are before- and after-school programs, summer school, extended school day, and fifth-day academies. Strong Expanded Learning Opportunities follow six key practices: alignment with school day and grade-level academic content, maximized student attendance and participation, an enrichment component, trained educators, free transportation and meals, and instruction designed to accelerate learning. 

For more information about expanded learning opportunities, visit CDE’s Expanded Learning Opportunities or the U.S. Department of Education’s Raising the Bar: Strategies to Improve Student Achievement.

• High-Quality Instructional Materials: Use of High-Quality Instructional Materials ensures that students have access to the standards-aligned resources and rigor they need at the right moment in their education. LEAs provide teachers with materials aligned to standards and the necessary professional development to use those materials consistently and with fidelity. Determining whether instructional materials are High-Quality has three dimensions: focus and coherence, academic rigor and content-related practices, and usability. 

For more information about High-Quality Instructional Materials, visit CDE’s Office of Standards and Instructional Support and Edreports.org. 

Potential Funding Sources

Although ESSER III funds are coming to an end, LEAs must continue to support students as they regain and surpass pre-pandemic achievement levels. Many LEAs look to continuing successful high-impact investments to accomplish this. Luckily, varied funding streams can be blended and/or braided to support LEAs in this process. As LEAs decide which activities to fund through various Title programs, it is important to emphasize that all Title-funded activities must be connected to school or LEA comprehensive needs assessments (CNAs) and must be supplemental in nature.

• Title I, Part A: Funds can be used for a wide range of academic and non-academic activities, beyond reading and mathematics, that support a well-rounded education and student academic achievement. Title I funds are spent at the school level, but LEAs can reserve some for district-managed activities. Activities that potentially could be funded under Title I include, but are not limited to, assessment of student needs and progress in supplemental programs (e.g., after-school and summer programs), social emotional learning (SEL), positive behavioral intervention systems (PBIS), family engagement programs, tutoring or extended learning opportunities for students who do not meet state standards, increased amount and quality of learning time, purchase of supplemental high-quality instructional materials, and more. 
• Title II, Part A: Examples of supported activities include, but are not limited to: supplementing teacher induction programs, evidence-based professional development focused on effective use of extended learning to support student acceleration, personalized and high-quality professional development (to enhance teacher knowledge around content, data use, and family engagement), educator and paraprofessional training around delivering high-dosage tutoring or other supplemental services, providing educators with time to plan collaboratively, observe peers, and develop lesson plans using high-quality instructional materials, and more. Title II funded activities must be supplemental and may not supplant activities that: (1) are required under other federal, state, or local laws; (2) were funded with state or local money in prior years; or (3) would be implemented absent ESEA funds.
• Title III, Part A: Allowable activities include, but are not limited to, high-dosage English tutoring and extended learning opportunities for Multilingual/English Learners (ML/ELs) to develop English proficiency and high academic achievement in English, purchase of high-quality instructional materials supplemental to core curriculum, access to early college high school or dual or concurrent enrollment programs/courses especially designed to foster ML/EL postsecondary education success, improved instruction for ML/ELs (including those with disabilities or identified as gifted), and more. 
• Title IV, Part A: Potential activities include, but are not limited to, tutoring in areas beyond literacy and mathematics, such as SEL, PBIS, drug abuse prevention programs, extended learning opportunities to increase student access to a well-rounded education, access to hands-on learning experiences, purchase of hardware or software, professional development for using technology in the classroom (educators and students), and more. 
• IDEA, Part B, Section 611: Examples of programs allowable under IDEA include, but are not limited to, high-quality instructional materials to support tutoring, special education, and related services (e.g., enrichment during expanded learning opportunities), high-dosage tutoring aligned with student IEPs, professional development for staff who provide tutoring focused on meeting the needs of students with disabilities, technology that improves access to the general education curriculum, implementation of Universal Design for Learning strategies, and more. 

For more information about how LEAs can utilize Title and IDEA funds to sustain high-impact investments, visit CDE’s High-Impact Tutoring Program February 2024 Monthly Meetup Slides or  the U.S. Department of Education’s Raising the Bar: Strategies to Improve Student Achievement. 

For information about additional funding streams available to help LEAs sustain high-impact investments, visit the Funding Sources webpage.

For help working through the process of determining how to allocate funds to support any investments that fall under high-impact investments, utilize this companion document.

Sources

• North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, Funding Your Plan: Best Practice to Sustain Investments document
• U.S. Department of Education, Raise the Bar: Strategies to Improve Student Achievement website
• Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), Sustaining Recovery Investments with Federal Formula Funds:Student Wellbeing and Engagement document