Schools received a record $190 billion in pandemic aid. Did it work?

Over the past three years, American schools have found themselves in an unusual position: They have a lot of money to spend.

The federal government invested $190 billion in pandemic relief for schools, with the largest portion, $122 billion, coming in 2021 to help students recover. All told, it was the largest single federal investment in American education, but it raised a key question: Would it work?

Two separate studies released Wednesday suggest the money helped, but not as much as it could have.

“The money helped the recovery,” said Thomas J. Kane, an economist at Harvard University who helped lead one of the studies. “Could the money have had a bigger impact? Yes.”

The studies – An from researchers at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth, and the other from the University of Washington — came to similar conclusions based on test results from the 2022-23 school year for students in third through eighth grades in about 30 states. For every $1,000 in federal aid spent, districts saw a small improvement in math and reading outcomes.

The Biden administration celebrated the results as evidence that the federal government’s investments in March 2021, when the pandemic was still active and some schools remained closed, were helping students get back on track. “These new data make clear that the president’s investments in education have helped millions of students recover more quickly,” said Neera Tanden, President Biden’s domestic policy adviser.

However, economists and education policy experts say the total bang for the buck was modest. Past research For example, has found greater returns on the dollar with smaller classes.

According to Douglas N. Harris, an economist at Tulane University who was not involved in the study, there may be other benefits that aren’t reflected in test scores, such as better student mental health.

Based on test scores alone, he said, “It doesn’t meet the cost-benefit test.”

In a country with nearly 50 million public schoolchildren, it’s hard to achieve big results on a large scale. And even small improvements in test scores can pay off in the long run, boosting student achievement. future income.

However, the overall results raise questions about whether the record amount of federal aid was accompanied by adequate oversight.

Congress placed few restrictions on the largest round of funding. Of the $122 billion, districts only had to spend 20 percent on academic recovery, which many education experts say is too little.

“If there had been more pressure on academic achievement, and if the money had been used for that purpose and there had been more guide rails, I think the money could have made a much bigger difference,” said Dan Goldhaber, co- author from the University of Washington. study and vice president at the American Institutes for Research.

The Biden administration has said the money was intended to give school districts important flexibility to respond to local needs in times of crisis. It has focused on issuing accompaniment to districts, emphasizing the need to invest in, for example, tutoring and summer schools.

But with more than 13,000 school districts across the country and few immediate requirements, there was enormous variation in how the money was spent.

Some districts have fully committed to frequent small group tutoring research has proven to be effective. Many hired new people: teachers, counselors and social workers. Others financed the renovation of school buildings. Still others, facing budget problems, used much of the money for their regular activities and are now facing severe budget cuts.

The new studies did not evaluate which strategies produced better results, in part because there was little tracking of how exactly the federal dollars were spent.

Other research shows that choices mattered. Some districts have shown dramatic improvements, often by focusing on research-backed academic interventions and student mental health.

Ultimately, however, many students are not on track to catch up on the learning losses they’ve suffered because of the pandemic, especially since federal aid expires next school year.

Still, education experts said the money did have an effect. Without federal aid, students might have been left even further behind. The aid was targeted at low-income school districts, which suffered greater losses during the pandemic and distance learning.

“The dollars were effective in helping to close some of the gaps that were created,” Professor Kane said.

And test scores can still improve as schools reap the benefits of long-term investments, such as HVAC upgrades and cleaner air, said Rebecca Sibilia, director of EdFund, a research and policy group focused on school finance.

a large number of studies shows that higher spending on education is associated with better student outcomes, especially for students from low-income families.

In some ways, the results only underscore the enormity of the pandemic’s impact on students, who fell far behind, especially in math.

Research shows that, at the current pace of recovery, federal aid would have been five times greater for all students to fully catch up.