January 2021
On January 28, House Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA), Delegate Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-Northern Mariana Islands), and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) introduced the Learning Recovery Act. The bill includes funding to state and local agencies to support extended learning time and authorizes the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to support research on interventions and strategies to address learning loss and recovery.
“We thank Chairman Scott, Congressman Sablan, and Congresswoman Leger Fernandez for introducing this bill and for recognizing the role that IES has in the COVID-19 response,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “Research and data are essential components in understanding how school closures have affected educational outcomes, socioemotional development, and the mental health of students and teachers. Real-time data and evidence can help policymakers and school leaders enable the future success of our most vulnerable students, reopen schools safely, and support teachers regardless of in-person or virtual instruction.”
In October, IES Director Mark Schneider proposed several initiatives as part of Operation Reverse the Loss to respond to barriers to educational access and learning loss experienced by students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Schneider has also indicated that additional resources are needed to measure the impact of COVID-19 in education and to scale up effective strategies to accelerate learning recovery.
“We call on Congress to invest in the additional resources IES needs to support the research, statistics, and evidence-based practices authorized in this legislation for the sake of millions of students and the country,” said Levine.
AERA and other members of the Friends of IES coalition sent a letter to congressional leadership in July calling for $200 million in COVID-19 emergency relief funding and are continuing to advocate for this funding. The most recent stimulus and relief package included $28 million in funding for IES allocated to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.