ANALYSIS & RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ARRA FUNDS

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The Department of Education has compiled links to a number of white papers from the field recommending best uses of stimulus funds. 

Following are some of the most helpful independent resources we've found for making sense of ARRA:

• The Afterschool Alliance has a WIKI compiling questions, answers and ideas about after-school provisions in the ARRA.
   
• Ric Hess has produced a new paper outlining nonpartisan recommendations to enhance educational entrepreneurship and innovation under ARRA, titled Stimulating Excellence: Unleashing the Power of Innovation in Education, published by the American Enterprise Institute and Center for American Progress.
   
• The American Enterprise Institute recently released Education Stimulus Watch, the second report in a quarterly series of special reports on the education implications of the Recovery Act. The analysis concludes that the nearly $75 billion of formula-based funds are primarily backfilling holes in state budgets, with little emphasis on reform. The authors report that funds have not fully covered the education deficits accrued by states and districts.
   
• The Center for American Progress has posted a new analysis for opportunities to use the Teacher Incentive Fund to attract and retain teachers in hard-to-staff schools.
   
• The Center on Education Policy prepared an open letter to Secretary Duncan outlining key concerns around ARRA implementation. The letter encapsulates themes from an April 30 convening on the implementation of the stimulus package (download transcripts). CEP has prepared a policy brief describing the key components of ARRA and discussing some of the implementation issues that are not yet decided.
   
• The Center for Implementing Technology in Education has a number of resources to guide decisions for using ARRA funds for education technology, particularly for students with special needs.
   
• The Center on Reinventing Public Education has released a new report that provides a state-by-state analysis of changes in state K-12 education spending, amidst both state revenue gaps and the addition of ARRA funds. The report rank orders states according to how much budget gaps and stimulus funds are likely to affect state education spending.
   
• The Coalition for Student Achievement, an effort spearheaded by the Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has released a second volume of its Smart Options paper, which provides recommendations on five high-leverage ways to use one-time funds under ARRA for district leaders and state policymakers. The new second volume “Supplemental Resources” provides additional detail, resources, and examples of where these five ideas already are succeeding.
   
• The Data Quality Campaign has compiled resources on state longitudinal data systems. The site features DQC analysis, a state roadmap for developing data systems, and a recent webcast on linking student data across P-20 systems.
   
• The Education Commission of the States has issued a new brief on using ARRA funds for expanded learning time. They prepared an analysis of ARRA, including how much new education funding states can expect to receive. It also has compiled state models for meeting the four assurances in the Race to the Top Fund.
   
• Education Counsel has information and analysis about ARRA, including an implementation timeline that describes the planned timing for fund distribution. Of particular note is the firm's new analysis of early learning in State Fiscal Stabilization Funds.
   
• Education Resource Strategies has compiled a collection of white papers and resources that are designed to help education leaders fundamentally change the way they use all of their resources-both current and stimulus dollars-in a way that deeply impacts student achievement.
   
• The Education Trust offers a series of state-by-state reports that will track how federal economic stimulus funds are impacting student achievement and overall improvement in education. The reports will include indicators of academic performance and educational attainment and opportunity.
   
• Education Week has a special Schools and the Stimulus page on its website with links to all of its stories on the stimulus package.
   
• Jobs for the Future has produced a new document summarizing ARRA funding streams for struggling students and disconnected youth.
   
• Learning Point Associates' Education Recovery and Reinvestment Center is a one-stop source for educators and policymakers to help them track developments and find current information on ARRA. Visitors can monitor the ongoing State Fiscal Stabilization Fund applications that have been approved by the U.S. Department of Education. The site features one of the most comprehensive listings of policy briefs and resources concerning ARRA. It also includes a Fund Finder tool that tracks states' and school districts' allocations under Title I and IDEA and a research and policy update on opportunities and strategies to advance teacher effectiveness under ARRA.
   
• Mass Insight has launched a new School Turnaround Strategies Resource Center to help states and districts develop turnaround strategies and practices based on the most current research. The site offers integrated tools to help states, districts and turnaround partner organizations operationalize key elements of Mass Insight's turnaround framework presented in the 2007 report "The Turnaround Challenge," with a focus on turnaround zones, embedded partners, and flexible operating conditions.
   
• The National Association for the Education of Young Children has an overview on ARRA's early childhood provisions and a piece on how to use ARRA funds for professional development of early childhood educators.
   
• The National Center for Public Policy in Higher Education, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and the Delta Project issued a joint statement to state policymakers on higher education priorities for ARRA.
   
• The National Clearinghouse on Education Facilities has current information on school construction and modernization.
   
• The National Council on Teaching Quality has prepared a report assessing Colorado’s prospects under Race to the Top and outlining a bold set of recommendations to improve the state’s competitiveness. The report urges reformers to recognize that successful proposals will need to go far beyond business as usual. Its assessment of both strategic and tactical considerations warrant a close read by all who are helping to develop applications and reform plans.
   
• The National Institute for Early Education Research has launched the NIEER Idea Factory to encourage idea-sharing and highlight resources on creative ways to use ARRA funds to strengthen and expand early education. NIEER also has published a paper on using ARRA to target improvements for English-language learners.
   
• The New America Foundation provides timely stimulus updates and analysis on its Ed Money Watch blog. Its Early Ed Watch blog tracks stimulus developments around Head Start and Pre-K provisions. The foundation has also released a new policy brief, Building a Solid Foundation: How States and School Districts Can Use Federal Stimulus Funds to Support Proficiency by Third Grade.
   
• The New Teacher Project has released an analysis of the draft Race to the Top application. The analysis includes practical questions for districts and states to ask as they assess their progress and plans; and preliminary analysis of each state’s current competitiveness for funding, given its existing policy framework.
   
• Pre-K Now's Recovery Roundup is a collection of online references providing information on and analysis of early education funds in ARRA. Highlights include guidance from budget and early education policy experts, key state and federal resources, and examples of how states are using new federal dollars for Pre-K programs.
   
• The Working Group on ELL Policy, a consortium of researchers, has produced recommendations for using ARRA funds to benefit English-language learners.

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