July 5, 2022—Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a series of actions to support students’ academic recovery and to ensure recovery efforts are meeting student, parent, and family needs. These actions will help meet President Biden’s call for more schools to invest in strategies to accelerate academic recovery using American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds and to galvanize more Americans to serve their communities by becoming tutors and mentors to help address the impact of missed instruction on our nation’s students.
“Now—more than ever—students need to feel supported, seen, heard, and understood by adults in their schools and communities,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “Today’s announcements and the launch of the National Partnership for Student Success will mean more students have a trusted adult in their corner, and more adults are prepared to address students’ academic, emotional, social, and mental health needs. Together, we can help all children make up for unfinished learning, recover from the pandemic, and prepare for future success – both inside and outside the classroom.”
Today’s actions will build on the progress school communities made this year in helping students and families recover from the pandemic. To meet the President’s call to action, the Department is:
Launching the National Partnership for Student Success and recruiting 250,000 new tutors and mentors.
The U.S. Department of Education is joining forces with leading education, youth, and service organizations to launch the National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS), a new coalition that will support the expansion, launch, and improvement of high-impact tutoring, mentoring and other programs to make up for lost instructional time, and support student mental health and overall wellbeing. The NPSS follows President Biden’s call for more tutors and mentors in the 2022 State of the Union Address to help students recover from the pandemic and thrive.
The NPSS will bring together school districts, non-profit partners, and institutions of higher education to recruit, train, place, and support screened adults in critical high impact roles such as tutors, mentors, student success coaches, and more.
Through the NPSS, individuals, schools and districts, community-based organizations, employers, colleges and universities can sign up to support student recovery through volunteer opportunities, national service opportunities, mentoring programs, and work-study opportunities.
The NPSS is run through collaboration between the U.S. Department of Education, AmeriCorps, and the Johns Hopkins Everyone Graduates Center.
Expanding the Department’s Best Practices Clearinghouse to share best practices around academic and mental health recovery efforts.
The Best Practices Clearinghouse will highlight and celebrate evidence-based and promising practices implemented by states, schools, and school districts using American Rescue Plan funds to support learning recovery, increased academic opportunities, and student mental health. The updated Best Practices Clearinghouse is the next phase of the Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse that the Department launched in Spring 2021. Originally designed to share best practices around safely reopening schools, addressing inequities made worse by the pandemic, and providing summer learning and enrichment opportunities to help students reconnect to their communities, peers, and educators.
Empowering parents and school communities with knowledge about how their school is using and can use federal funds to provide the necessary academic and mental health supports.
Last month, the Department launched the National Parents and Families Engagement Council to facilitate strong and effective relationships between schools and parents, families, and caregivers.
Today, the Department put out a call to states and school communities to contribute to the revamped Best Practices Clearinghouse to ensure parents, educators, and families know how federal dollars are being spent. Additionally, to increase transparency and accountability, the Department updated an interactive map to make state and local plans for American Rescue Plan funds more accessible to families
