Tuesday, October 15, 2024
School districts across Wisconsin are measuring the student successes achieved by creative, innovative use of funding. The catch? That funding has run out.
As school districts account for not only the grant expenditures, but also their effects, it leaves students, families, and districts wondering if and how they can continue with these innovative programs. In some cases, districts have found ways to add to their budget requests, in others, the burden of finding funding (even for truly essential services) is out of reach, and those services and programs will be discontinued.
ESSER, Evidence-Based After School, Evidence-Based Summer School, and Out of School Time Grants to LEAs and Community-Based Organizations have been nothing less than transformational.
As Dr. Jill Underly, State Superintendent of Public Instruction said in her 2024 State of Education Address, our students and districts understand that "in order to grow, we need to invest."
Laura Adams, policy initiatives advisor with the state Department of Public Instruction, says that the DPI will be advocating to increase funding for schools to make up for the loss in ESSER funds. The DPI has submitted the first part of its 2025-27 biennium budget proposal to the Department of Administration and is working on the second part, which should be finalized in the coming weeks.
“We do need to invest in our schools, if we want to be able to provide a world-class education,” Adams said.
Effectiveness, by the numbers
One measure of the funds' effective use is demonstrated by the statistics provided by grantees. A few of the highlights:
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Boys and Girls Club of the Fox Valley highlights that o
f the 373 students who participated in the Page Turners program, 98% increased their literacy scores between Fall 2023 and Spring 2024.
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Fond du Lac School District & Boys and Girls Club of Fond du Lac - Out of School Time Grant said that a
ccording to 2022-23 iReady data, 86% of Club youth improved their math scores on their iReady tests from Fall to Spring, surpassing the goal.
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Howard-Suamico - Summer School Grant and Evidence-based After School Grant reported that of the 201 K-6 students enrolled in the Summer School Critical Skills Enrichment Program in 2023, 62 showed high-risk scores on the SAEBRS spring assessment. Of those 62 students, 100% showed a reduction of high-risk social, academic, and emotional behavior to the extent that they are no longer classified as high-risk.
Increasing student sense of belonging, addressing social emotional needs
As educators, staff, and kids themselves can tell you, having a positive school culture of belonging is key to learning outcomes. The loneliness, isolation, and inability to access resources which may have existed prior to the pandemic became more acute for students. Some grantees focused on breaking down these barriers by building peer-to-peer connections, which bolstered not only belonging, but also students' social and problem-solving skills. Highlights include:
- Gilmanton School District - Summer School Grant Rolling Classroom summer program offered a five-day camp where students traveled to various locations within the region for learning opportunities and social and emotional learning experiences with peers. As a rural district, and with families living in rural areas, it’s often difficult for elementary students to see one another and spend time together to continue developing their social skills during the summer months. Bringing the students together in an atypical learning environment enriched their learning through hands-on experiences, but also increased the students’ exposure to one another to better support their social and emotional wellbeing.
- TransCenter for Youth - Out of School Time Grant hosted the Science Strikes Back fair, and this year twice as many students entered the event from last year, with 38 teams and 56 student participants. The majority of the 24 judges were from local universities and many reflected similar demographics of the students. Having young adults who are passionate about science and who represent their communities (some even in their native language) was very inspirational for students, and helped students be able to build competency and confidence in STEAM.
- La Crosse Summer School Grant Collaborated with the Community Youth Center and the La Crosse Community Theatre challenged students to read and memorize productions ranging from 45 minutes to two and a half hours. Students memorized all spoke lines, staging, and lyrics, with students performing entirely from memory. Students learned and performed dance, as well as designed and created the sets used in the productions. Learning by doing and through shared experiences helped students grow capabilities and forge friendships.
Accessibility focus helped deliver programs
Finally, with these grant funds, grantees were able to not only create the high-quality interactive learning and enrichment, but to do so in a way that addresses the challenges of accessiblity.
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Wisconsin Rapids created a virtual counseling program for children whose parents couldn’t get them to a traditional counselor.
That program will be cut.
“It took away a barrier for our folks that can’t get their kiddos into therapy because of transportation or financial reasons,” Filtz said. “It has to be cut because it’s not something we can sustain, and it’s frustrating because it did a service for a population that desperately needed it.” It also was able to help extend before-school childcare to every elementary school in the district, meaning that 200+ more families were able to take advantage of easier-to-access, local care.
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Gilmanton School District - Summer School Grant ran the
PatherPride Bookmobile program. Each week for a total of six weeks, staff members visited student homes using a school vehicle, providing each student with 2-3 books each week that matched the student's interests. They also provided parents and guardians with various points of information, tips, strategies, and ideas on how they can support their child at home in reading during the summer months. Teachers talked with the students about the books they read and discussed books they might like to have on future visits. Visiting teachers also provided the students and their families guidance on incorporating journaling and writing into the students’ summertime reading activities.
Through all of these grant-funded programs, local districts and agencies worked collaboratively to determine interventions which best suited their student populations' most pressing needs. The ripple effects of these programs are already being felt, and in many cases, the continuation of the programs is a high priority both for the districts and the communities they serve. Funding the agility and creativity of local districts has proven not only effective, but inspiring.
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