Research in the area of organizational learning has focused upon division leaders and the contexts that drive policy, reform, and professional learning in the area of literacy. The purpose of this case study was to examine the ways and means through which district leaders perceived their experiences within an organizational learning context of a…

In the midst of the pandemic, this school district made a significant investment with recovery dollars to expand enrichment opportunities in art, music, and physical education for students in their K-8 schools. The hypothesis was increasing the quality and quantity of these opportunities, the school district would increase student engagement, lead…

California schools received over $60 billion from federal and state stimulus funding to help students recover from the pandemic. This infographic summarizes the major programs districts have implemented during the 2022-23 school year. Most districts extended learning time and hired instructional supports, but few provided high-dosage tutoring.…

Background: The financial costs and human resource requirements at the school and district level to implement a SARS-CoV-2 screening program are not well known. Methods: A consortium of Massachusetts public K-12 schools was formed to implement and evaluate a range of SARS-CoV-2 screening approaches. Participating districts were surveyed weekly…

The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc throughout school systems across the world during the 2020-2021 school year. Riyadh School District in Saudi Arabia effectively transitioned from in-person student learning to remote student learning as a result of effective planning of resources and effective processes for implementation of remote learning.…

A public school district in southeast South Carolina implemented a new arts-based initiative due to the surge in demand for mental health services for students following the pandemic. With more students in the research site requiring intensive mental health support during the 2021-2022 academic year, compared to the 2016-2017 school year, the…

Context matters in implementation. The Lenawee ISD (LISD) in Michigan navigated implementation through major changes in its school district's administration and the COVID-19 pandemic. The district highlighted in the impact story experienced leadership change in the District Superintendent position and three school principal positions. The district…

High-impact tutoring has emerged as a primary school district investment for addressing learning loss that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. While existing research shows that high-impact tutoring is effective for accelerating student learning, this study examined the school-level facilitators and barriers to scaling high-impact tutoring.…

This report provides a first look at how Illinois school districts' uses of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds were related to their test score outcomes in the years following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data on districts' ESSER expenditures as of November 2023, the authors analyze test score trends across…

The COVID-19 pandemic, along with historical inequities, resulted in a widening of the achievement gap between underserved populations and more advantaged students. In response to this issue, California took action by allocating additional funds to public school districts for out-of-school-time services through the Expanded Learning Opportunities…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) requires each State to develop and implement a single, statewide accountability system to support all public elementary school and secondary school students in meeting the challenging State academic standards. These systems are important tools in achieving the goal of improving outcomes for…

This report examines the implementation and outcomes of personalized, competency-based learning in the Arizona Personalized Learning Network (AZPLN) districts. The study conducted by Research for Action (RFA) analyzed survey data from students and teachers, as well as publicly available school-level outcomes data to assess the progress and impact…

The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to explore the effect of the school closures due to COVID-19 on the delivery of FAPE in school districts who utilized their FID day models for the delivery of instruction. Education, as we know it, was forever changed in March of 2020. In the age of increasing natural disasters and…

In most K-12 school districts across the country, the beginning of the 2021-22 school year has been different from what school and district leaders expected and were planning for. Many spent the spring and summer sowing the seeds of their ESSER plans, allocating federal investments to high-impact strategies designed to bear fruit for years to…

Public school systems across the U.S. have made major investments in tutoring to support students' academic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluate a large urban district's efforts to design, implement, and scale a district-operated, standards-based tutoring program across three years. We draw on extensive interviews and survey…