BOSTON — Evena Joseph was unaware how much her 10-year-old son was struggling in school. She found out only with help from somebody who knows the Boston school system better than she does.
Her son, J. Ryan Mathurin, wasn't always comfortable pronouncing words in English. But Joseph, a Haitian immigrant raising him by herself, did not know how far behind he was in reading — in the 30th percentile — until a hospital where her son was receiving treatment connected her with a bilingual advocate.
"I'm sad and disappointed," Joseph said through an interpreter. "It's only because I was assigned an educational advocate that I know this about my son."
It's widely known from test scores that the pandemic set back students across the country. But many parents don't realize that includes their own child.
Evena Joseph, left, assists her son J. Ryan Mathurin, 9, as he does his homework, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, at their home, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Schools have long faced criticism for failing to inform certain parents about their kids' academic progress. But after the COVID-19 school closures, the stakes for children have in many ways never been greater.
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Opportunities to catch up are plentiful in some places, thanks to federal COVID aid, but won't last forever. It will take better communication with parents to help students get the support they need, experts say.
"Parents can't solve a problem that they don't know they have," said Cindi Williams, co-founder of Learning Heroes, a nonprofit dedicated to improving communication between public schools and parents about student academic progress.
A 2022 survey of 1,400 public school parents around the country by Learning Heroes showed 92% believed their children were performing at grade level. But in a federal survey, school officials said half of all U.S. students started this school year behind grade level in at least one subject.
At home, J. Ryan races through multiplication problems at his dining room table. His mother watches as he lingers for several minutes on a paragraph about weather systems and struggles to answer questions about the reading.
"Sometimes I can't understand the writing or the main idea of the text," J. Ryan said after putting away his homework.
The struggles that ultimately brought J. Ryan to the hospital for mental health treatment began in third grade, when he returned to in-person school after nearly a year of studying online. His teacher called frequently, sometimes every day. J. Ryan was getting frustrated, disrupting lessons and leaving the classroom.
J. Ryan displayed these behaviors during English language arts and other classes including Mandarin and gym, according to his special education plan shared with The Associated Press. He happily participated in math class, where he felt more confidence.
Evena Joseph, left, sits with her son J. Ryan Mathurin, 9, as he does his homework, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, at their home, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Joseph changed her work schedule at a casino to the night shift so she could talk with teachers during the day. The calls continued in fourth grade. But Joseph said teachers never mentioned his problems reading.
Last spring, she sought treatment for what was becoming obvious: Her son was depressed. She was teamed up at the hospital with the parent advocate who speaks English and Haitian Creole.
The advocate, Fabienne Eliacin, pushed to get J. Ryan's scores from the tests given each fall to monitor student learning. She explained to Joseph what it meant to be scored in the 30th percentile. It's not good, Eliacin told her. He can do better.
To Joseph, it suddenly made sense why J. Ryan was acting out in English class. But why, she wondered, were his teachers only focused on her son's behavior if his trouble reading was causing his distress?
"They don't really care how much they learn, as long as they stay quiet," Joseph concluded.
Boston Public School officials wouldn't comment on J. Ryan's case.
There are many reasons teachers might not talk to parents about a student's academic progress, especially when the news is bad, research shows.
"Historically, teachers did not get a lot of training to talk to parents," said Tyler Smith, a school psychology professor at the University of Missouri. School leadership and support for teachers also make a difference, he said.
Many districts have poured their federal pandemic recovery money into summer school offerings, tutoring programs and other interventions to help students regain ground lost during the pandemic. But the uptake hasn't been what educators hoped. If more parents knew their children were behind academically, they might seek help.
Once Joseph and her advocate learned J. Ryan was so far behind in reading, they asked his school for small-group tutoring, an intervention believed by experts to be one of the most effective strategies for struggling students.
But they were told the school didn't offer it. They moved him in November to another school that said it could give this help. J. Ryan says he likes the new school, since they're learning more advanced long-division. "I like challenging math," he said. But he isn't understanding the texts he reads much better.
Joseph isn't getting phone calls from the teacher complaining about his behavior, which she attributes to her son getting adequate treatment for his depression. But she hasn't received a report card this year or the test scores the district says it's now sending to families.
"I'm still concerned about his reading," she said.
How federal COVID-19 educational aid was awarded to every state
How federal COVID-19 educational aid was awarded to every state
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government allocated $274.2 billion to help schools and students recover from the mass disruption in educational operations and development forced by remote learning models and other pandemic-related precautionary measures and methods. Approximately $189.5 billion of these funds were made available in three waves via the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. A further $84.7 billion was released via a series of funds attached to further COVID-19 relief action, namely the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the American Rescue Plan, and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.
Citing data from the Department of Education, HeyTutor broke down what every state received from educational relief funds passed through the CARES and CRRSA Acts and the American Rescue Plan. Each of these funds have unique markers and requirements for distribution, but all exist for the same purpose: to help schools, their staff, and their students regain the educational ground lost during the pandemic.
Keep reading to learn how COVID-19 educational aid was allocated across the nation.
The present concern now is whether the need will outlast the funds
Schools are required to spend all of their designated funding allotments by September 2024, but students may still require help after that.
A July 2022 study by educational nonprofit group NWEA found that elementary school students might not catch up with their studies for at least three years; as for middle-school students, that could well stretch to five years. Those most harmed by the pandemic—among them Hispanic, Black, and Native American students, and students from low-income homes—are likely to need the most time to get back on track. Many entered kindergarten already behind some of their classmates because of existing disparities; the pandemic only worsened those differences.
Students who spent the least time in remote learning fared the best, according to the study. High-poverty schools spent more time learning remotely than those in low-poverty districts; consequently, low-poverty schools have less of a burden in regaining lost ground. But all schools, to some degree, are suffering the radiative effects of a nationwide disruption that will take years to correct—more years perhaps than school systems will be able to support that recovery.
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
Funds distributed via ESSER came from three sources: the CARES Act in March 2020, which allocated $13.2 billion; the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act later that December, which provided a further $54.3 billion; and the American Rescue Plan, which allocated $122 billion. All funds were made available to schools upended by the pandemic, forced to close, and limited to online learning. Each wave of funds enabled schools to reopen safely—by buying personal protection equipment or improving ventilation systems, for example—and helped students recover from disruptions to their education through summer school programming, tutoring, and other supplementary programs.
Federal guidelines allow for virtual tutoring, some of which use live video or artificial intelligence. Critics say online tutoring remains untested compared to in-person sessions with a tutor, but the new tutoring services counter that they can offer 1-to-1 attention anywhere. A March 2021 report from the Association of School Business Officials International that looked at how schools had begun to use funding from ESSER I and II distributions found that a large portion was spent on PPE, teacher wages, cleaning supplies, and technology and learning management systems for remote learning.
According to a federal notice, funds provided by the American Rescue Plan in March 2021 were allowed to be used against pre-award costs incurred, such as the hiring of counseling, nursing, or other support staff; the establishment of learning enrichment programs; the installation of HVAC systems; and ensuring the payment of faculty salaries and benefits.
Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund
Educational institutions received another allotment of coronavirus pandemic assistance through the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund, whereby Congress set aside $3 billion of the $30.75 billion allotted to the Education Stabilization Fund via the CARES Act. A further $1.3 billion was provided to the GEER Fund grant by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations in December 2020. This money was distributed based on each state's population of individuals ages 5 to 24, and the relative number of students as designated under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan directed $10 million to community colleges for workforce development courses and continuing professional education for government or industry certification or licensure. In Pennsylvania, $28 million went to postsecondary institutions and providers of adult basic education to resume operations safely.
Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools
The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021, and then the American Rescue Plan, provided $2.75 billion for the Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools, enabling governors across the country to offer assistance to nonpublic schools. The American Rescue Plan, however, specified that these schools enroll a significant percentage of low-income students and that they must be "most impacted by the qualifying emergency."
To that end, New Jersey's Department of Education suggested possible uses for the money including "redeveloping instructional plans for remote or hybrid learning or to address learning loss" and leasing space to maintain social distancing. In Washington D.C., the Office of the State Superintendent of Education set up a website to aid nonpublic schools in understanding the parameters to qualify for funds and enabling easy application. The office noted that the funds are meant to help nonpublic schools reopen safely, measure and address significant learning loss, and otherwise mitigate the effects of COVID-19.
Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund
The American Rescue Plan, signed in March 2021, provided almost $40 billion to public and private nonprofit colleges and universities. The grants went to schools with the greatest need, among them community colleges and rural schools. The focus was on diverse student populations and low-income students, determined by the eligibility for Pell Grants. Colleges whose enrollment declined also were eligible for money, as were those with endowments of less than $1 million.
Almost 90% of one round of funding (dispersed in July 2022) went to historically Black colleges and universities, minority-serving institutions, community colleges, rural institutions, and institutions serving large populations of low-income students. The pandemic left some smaller schools scrambling to stay open, forcing them to lay off faculty and curtail majors. Some of the funds were to be spent on students' basic needs, including food, housing, and child care.
Further Higher Education Emergency Relief funds were made available through the CARES and CRRSA Acts.
This story originally appeared on HeyTutor and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
