全球智库信息集成服务系统

• Forty out of the state's total 42 LEAs participated in the Opportunity Funding program in FY 2021, and all 43 qualifying schools hired an SSBG reading interventionist.
• The combination of Opportunity Funding and SSBG made up 1.3 percent of LEAs' overall spending in FY 2021. By 2025, when Opportunity Funding grows to $60 million, the two funds will make up about 2.4 percent of LEA spending, assuming that LEA spending remains stable.
• LEAs left about one-quarter of available SSBG and Opportunity Funding unspent in FY 2021.
• With their Opportunity Funding, LEAs have placed a greater focus on family-facing services that go beyond the four walls of schools. Many LEAs in Delaware have hired family interventionists, therapists, counselors, or social workers to help address food insecurity and issues that can prevent children from attending school.
• Of the various investments, staffing made up the large majority of Opportunity Funding and SSBG spending in both FY 2020 and FY 2021.
• When asked about their most effective uses of Opportunity Funding, LEA leads tended to highlight the scale-up of pilot or pre-existing initiatives, suggesting the importance of Opportunity Funding for providing stable year-on-year funding for schools to grow and expand upon existing work.

This is the second of three annual reports evaluating the implementation and effects of two Delaware weighted funding programs for disadvantaged K–12 schools during the 2019–2020 to 2021–2022 school years: Opportunity Funding and the Student Success Block Grant (SSBG). The authors also examined best practices and coronavirus pandemic adaptations for Opportunity Funding and the SSBG in 2020–2021, as reported by local education agency (LEA) leaders.

In fiscal year (FY) 2021, the two programs allocated a total of $32.9 million for K–3 special education, mental health and/or reading specialists in high-need schools, and flexible funding based on the count of high-need students. Opportunity Funding and SSBG made up 1.0 percent of LEAs' overall spending in FY 2020 and 1.3 percent in FY 2021. The two programs are slated to make up 2.4 percent of spending once Opportunity Funding has grown to $60 million in 2025, assuming that other sources of funds remain stable. LEAs spent an average of $202 per pupil of Opportunity Funding or SSBG in FY 2021, while LEAs spent an average total of $15,497 per pupil.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  How Much Have LEAs and Schools Spent of Their Total Opportunity Funding and SSBG Allocations?

• Chapter Three

  What Investments Did Schools and LEAs Make with Opportunity Funding and SSBG?

• Chapter Four

  What Barriers to Implementation Did LEAs Encounter?

• Chapter Five

  What Best Practices Did LEA Leads Identify for LI and EL Students?

• Chapter Six

  How Have LEAs Adapted Their Use of Opportunity Funding and SSBG to COVID-19?

• Chapter Seven

  Which Aspects of Opportunity Funding and SSBG Do LEAs Wish Could Change?

• Chapter Eight

  What Did Implementation Look Like in Practice?

• Chapter Nine

  Summary and Recommendations

• Appendix A

  Supplemental Data Tables

• Appendix B

  Data and Methods