The Back-To-School Countdown ⏱ 3 Things We’ve Got Our Eyes on This Upcoming School Year

Hi friends, Jessica Baghian here. Welcome back to The Delta. As a kid, going back to school meant one thing: it was time for a new trapper-keeper. My end-of-summer blues turned into excitement as I organized fresh paper, pens, and colored pencils.

While nothing beats that fresh notebook feeling, Kunjan Narechania and I have our eyes on a couple of other exciting things as we get ready for a new school year. Here are 3 developments we’re watching that have the potential to bring transformative, large-scale change to students:

1. Innovative Statewide Assessment in Montana

It’s so important to know how kids are doing and assess what they are learning so that we can get them the support they need. At the same time, we know traditional end-of-year state tests can be improved upon. That’s why we’re excited to see Montana pursuing an innovative approach to assessments that both acknowledges the importance of testing while recognizing we can be doing it in a better way. 

Following a two-year pilot program, the Montana Office of Public Instruction is rolling out a new approach to testing – called MAST – for kids in grades 3-8. Instead of the typical end-of-year tests, students will be assessed throughout the year using “testlets'' that cover specific topics. What’s great about this approach is that it allows teachers to administer testlets based on the scope and sequence of their curriculum. Other highlights include:

• MAST promises to provide teachers and district leaders with real-time data they can use to assess student learning during the school year.
• The testing developers relied on teacher feedback while creating new testlets. MAST is designed to be flexible, so teachers can use the testlet that best matches their students’ classroom progress.

Kudos to Montana for shining a light on the importance of testing, while also working to make it better for teachers and students.

2. Making Tutoring a Standard Part of the School Day

With ESSER ending this September and student outcomes still reeling from the pandemic, many states are working to sustain statewide learning recovery efforts. High-dosage tutoring is the single most effective academic intervention for making up lost learning — the challenge is figuring out how to integrate it into the school day so more kids can access it. SEAs are uniquely positioned to help districts and vendors find solutions at scale. State leaders in Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, and Ohio, are partnering with Accelerate to expand high-quality tutoring to reach kids across their states. 

• The Delaware Department of Education is providing 1:1 tutoring to 5,000 students in K-3. By focusing on schools that have not had high-quality tutoring, the DDOE is aiming to support students with low reading proficiency.
• The Colorado Department of Education is offering grants to 36 school districts through its High-Impact Tutoring Program. To date, the program has awarded $4.9 million to school districts that are purchasing high-quality, standards-aligned K-8 math curriculum. The program has awarded over $21 million to support after-school and summer learning programs, many of which focus on math.
• In 2023, the Louisiana state legislature passed SB 177, which incorporates high-dosage tutoring into regular school hours for students who have below grade-level math or reading scores. State leaders with the Louisiana Department of Education worked with scheduling experts to ensure school systems can prioritize tutoring during students’ school hours. Louisiana is the first state in the country to incorporate high-dosage tutoring as a permanent part of their K-12 budget.

Accelerate will be collecting precise evidence on both program implementation and program effectiveness, including: How many minutes of tutoring are students getting? What percent of students are receiving the intended dosage? How can we determine the right balance of in-person and virtual support? How do different tutoring methods impact student outcomes? 

This information will allow states to determine what’s working and what’s not, and then continually improve based on the lessons learned. As we noted in our very first issue of the Delta, “A commitment to sustained implementation is what makes the difference between a good idea in theory and a good idea that materially impacts the experience of students and leads to greater achievement and opportunity.” 

3. Childcare and Development Fund (CCDF)

Early childhood care and early childhood education programs play a vital role in supporting kids’ development from birth through age five and in supporting parents to remain in the workforce. But due to insufficient funding, early child care providers struggle to retain qualified workers and families struggle to access high-quality programs – leaving many kids unprepared for kindergarten. That’s why we want to lift up a critical, yet under-discussed source of federal funding: The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), the largest federal funding source for states to help low-income families afford child care. 

With over $12 billion in federal funding for FY2024, states have been finding opportunities to get the most out of their CCDF programming. We want to draw attention to what we think are two of the biggest opportunities for the year ahead:

• Prioritizing birth to 5 care: Even though CCDF is considered one of the largest sources of funding for early childhood, states often use these funds for afterschool programs for school-aged children. In FY 2020, 35% of children who received childcare subsidies were over the age of six – even though school-aged children have access to district and federal funding sources that children in ECE programs don’t qualify for.  We’re interested to see state leaders create budgets for CCDF funds that prioritize childcare for children from birth through age five. Children experience 90% of their brain development in their first five years – which means high-quality child care is crucial to setting kids up for success in kindergarten and beyond. 
• Increasing financial stability in childcare markets: CCDF funds can be used to stabilize shaky childcare markets with reliable funding streams. Right now in many states, childcare providers receive funding based on daily attendance, creating instability in providers’ budgets, which makes it difficult to retain teachers and stay operational. With shifts in federal priorities, states are encouraged to use the millions of CCDF funding they receive to shift their policy to pay providers based on monthly enrollment, increasing stability and predictability for providers so that they can serve more kids in better quality care. 

Want to learn more about the CCDF? Check out this paper that explores how states can maximize their CCDF funding.

Let’s Get Muddy

We want to hear from you! What developments are you tracking this school year, and what innovations are you most excited about?  If your school is expanding tutoring programs or rethinking assessments, how is it going? We read all your comments — tell us about it below.

To learn more about our work, visit watershed-advisors.com or follow us on LinkedIn. Forward this newsletter to anyone you know who is looking for change. We’ll see you next week!