Photo of an elementary school student wearing a facemask, seated at a desk with a plastic shield. Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages under CC BU-NC 4.0
The Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) previously examined how districts across the state were spending their Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. In their newest report in the Learning Renewal series, a partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education, the researchers examined how this spending related to student achievement.
Findings showed that, after receiving ESSER funding, low-achieving districts recovered at a similar pace to high-achieving districts. In the elementary and middle grades, they even recovered slightly more quickly than high-achieving districts. “Low-achieving” refers to districts that had lower pre-pandemic achievement and greater pandemic-related learning losses; on average these districts were allocated more ESSER funds.
“Our findings aren’t conclusive, and there were many factors at play,” said Sarah Cashdollar, lead researcher of the study, “but the strong recovery we see among low-achieving districts suggests that the infusion of ESSER funding may have helped stem and even start to reverse the widening achievement disparities we saw at the start of the pandemic.”
The study also looked at the types of expenditures that were most effective, but did not find any broad categories of expenditure — such as instructional salaries, construction services, etc. — that were statistically significantly related to test score outcomes.
“The combinations of expenses and recovery strategies used by districts were attuned to their unique contexts,” explained Mariana Barragán Torres, principal investigator of IWERC’s learning renewal portfolio. “This individualization in how districts implemented their ESSER-funded interventions makes it harder to capture achievement impacts.”
However, other research has found promising evidence for some of the most common targets of ESSER funding: extended learning through tutoring, after-school programs, and summer school. “Extended learning time is critical for helping students who are behind,” Barragán Torres said. “We need to find other ways to continue supporting educators, students, and their families. This will be vital to continue the recovery process.”
These findings are released as school districts in Illinois and nationwide fast approach the ESSER “fiscal cliff.” All ESSER funds must be committed by the end of September and, with some exceptions, spent by the end of January 2025.
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Author: IWERC Team