Four Delaware Districts Become National Stars

Four local districts—Seaford, Cape Henlopen, Brandywine, and Red Clay—received some national kudos this summer.

Knowledge Matters, a nationwide issue campaign, is spotlighting districts across the country they consider superstars when it comes to high-quality instructional materials, specifically ones that “improve literacy, student engagement, and student achievement.”

The educator-, expert-, and science-backed movement even toured the country examining districts as they implement curricula that build students’ background knowledge as literacy skills are developed.

As covered by Kelly Carvajal-Hageman in her outstanding write-up in The 74 Million, Seaford was dead last among districts in nearly every standard measurable just six years ago. Today, the district is one of the highest achieving in Delaware as measured by English Language Arts state testing results.

How? As Carvajal-Hageman notes, Seaford started by focusing on professional development—leading to an eventual paradigm shift—a shared “Trust the process” mantra—among educators.

(Click here to learn about how Laurel School District unlocked its literacy challenges through the open-source, knowledge-rich “Bookworm” curriculum.)

As the Knowledge Matters suggests, educators have uncovered a multitude of techniques and strategies to utilize high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). Here are a few insights the Rodel team has heard from educators in the field:

• Consistency across schools and districts. As we learned during the first few weeks of COVID-19, the most valuable resources were the ones readily available online that could be shared across schools in a district.
• HQIM enable teachers to focus on scaffolding (not creating) materials. Not all online resources are created equal, and surveyed teachers were more familiar with Pinterest than with the Smarter Balanced Digital Library.
• Conversations among educators are increasingly academic focused; having a common language on materials enables understanding and growth.
• Value in standards-based grading. As noted by the Rodel Teacher Network, competency-based grading is an innovate way to encourage mastery for students.
• Standards and rubrics have created greater purpose and ownership among educators, with a shared understanding of the destination.
• Strengthens instruction and expands access so all learners receive access (and support for) to grade level material.

So, what is HQIM?

There is no “one weird trick” to guarantee delivery of a high-quality lesson to students—online or otherwise. Teacher quality is perhaps the best known among many factors that influence student progress and achievement. And, research suggests the quality of instructional materials themselves can also play a large role in student success.

Thanks to a wellspring of research on HQIM, schools, districts, and states like Delaware are working to ensure all students can access what is known as high-quality instructional materials.

HQIM are vetted, knowledge-rich resources and materials for learning that guide instruction. The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) describes them as a “roadmap for teachers on how to plan, teach, and assess student learning.”

What qualifies as an “instructional material” can include items such as lesson plans, assignments, homework, assessments, and others in a long list of materials for learning. What makes a material high quality however is the vetting of material and alignment to content standards.

While research demonstrates the positive impact HQIM can have on students, access to HQIM is another issue. Across the country, teachers can spend hours outside of their normal workday looking for materials or even creating their own. As shown in the Materials Matter survey conducted by the Rodel Teacher Network in 2019, many teachers turn to resources on the web for instructional materials and resources that may or may not be high quality.

When given access to HQIM and the proper professional learning and development to go with it, teachers are provided with a roadmap to follow and the assurance the materials have already been vetted and are of high quality.

”Delaware Delivers” on Expanding Access to HQIM

While some schools and districts have prioritized HQIM over the years, Delaware has more recently embarked on a statewide strategy to ensure all students have access to HQIM. Over the past three years alone, DDOE took steps to scale the adoption and implementation of HQIM, focusing on professional learning and supporting schools.

Source: Delaware Department of Education (2021). Screenshot from Delaware delivers: Overview of high-quality instructional materials.

Ensuring all students have access to HQIM is important, and Delaware already has made progress. Since 2018 alone, students with access to high-quality, standards-aligned instructional materials has increased statewide.

Student Access to HQIM in Delaware, 2018-2021

Source: Delaware Department of Education (2021). Screenshot from Delaware delivers: Overview of high-quality instructional materials.

Access to HQIM in English Language Arts (ELA) has increased significantly for students across all grades between 2018 and 2021. In middle school, access to ELA HQIM increased from six percent to 43 percent. While the percentage of middle school students with access to HQIM in math stayed the same, the percentage of elementary and high school students with access increased. In elementary school, access to math HQIM went from 53 percent to 76 percent.

Additional data show that students of color and students from low-income families have increased access to high-quality instructional materials during the 2019 and 2021 window. Since 2019, Elementary school students of color with access to ELA HQIM increased from 30 percent to 55 percent. Middle school students from low-income families with access to middle school math HQIM grew from eight percent to 38 percent.

Check out the below video to learn more about local HQIM efforts, and stay tuned to DDOE’s HQIM website for any updates.

The federal government has provided states with an unprecedented amount of money spread across three different stimulus packages: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) in December 2020, and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in March 2021. The passage of each act gives stakeholders the opportunity to think strategically about investments in longer-term innovations and initiatives.

ARPA, the most recent package (and the one doling out the most amount of funds), provides multiple funding streams that can be used for a wide variety of purposes, especially in the early childhood space. There are funds specifically intended for early childhood, and other funding streams at the state and local level can be leveraged for early childhood education and the workforce. Some of the funds are listed here. (For more detail on how much Delaware is expected to receive for what purposes, visit our website.)

Explicit Early Childhood Stimulus Funds

• Child care Stabilization Grant Fund
• Child Care and Development Block Grant Fund
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Fund
• Community-Based Child Abuse Prevent Grant Fund
• Head Start Fund

Additional Funds to Leverage for Early Childhood

• State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund
• Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund
• Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
• State Small Business Credit Initiative Fund

Opportunities for Early Childhood Education

As states decide how to spend the tremendous amount of ARPA funds over the next three to five years, advocates are urging caution. One-time infusions provide relief for providers and the workforce and are essential to recovery, but are ultimately not sustainable solutions. Additional investments in early childhood are critical to sustain the field moving forward.

Advocates, providers, members of the early learning profession, and other stakeholders locally and nationwide have recommended areas for investment. Recently, the Delaware Early Childhood Council released a memo sent to Governor Carney that outlines recommendations for use of stimulus dollars to address the early childhood workforce crisis. Other critical issues emerging in Delaware include expanding services for young children with disabilities, incentivizing off-hours and infant care, and piloting a universal home visiting model.

Additionally, departments at the federal level have released guidance on how to spend ARPA funds for early childhood, while states have begun to release plans on utilizing ARPA funds for early learning. Emerging themes include:

• Investment in the Workforce: professional advancement coaching and training, expansion of scholarships and financial support, investments in compensation and benefits, income supplements that explicitly support the child care workforce, and retention and recruitment bonuses.
• Investment in Infrastructure: upgrades to facilities and safety measures, capacity-building investments in materials and technology, purchase of supplies to meet COVID-19 regulations, low-cost loans for renovations and construction, and technical assistance on navigating these processes.
• Investment in Access and Services: prepare for a mixed-delivery system, expand capacity and access by investing in purchase of care (state subsidy for child care), pay by enrollment for subsidized care, and support wrap-around services, such as home visiting, developmental screenings, and transition services.

A Look at Other States

Updated: June 28, 2021

Since March, we’ve kept you up-to-date on the many moving components of the last three federal stimulus packages. As you recall, the federal government has provided three different stimulus packages in the last calendar year, each including more money for education than the next to combat the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Here were a few stimulus “Big Ideas” from our CEO, Paul Herdman.)  

The most recent package, President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), provides $350 billion for states, local governments, territories and tribal governments (with around $123 billion earmarked for K-12 schools). The legislation also includes funding that extends to other branches of education, like colleges and universities, transit agencies, housing aid, child care providers and food assistance. 

With that in mind, we assembled the below table to show funds that Delaware government agencies can use for education. K-12 education and early learning both have their own pots of funding, but other funding streams can be used for education-adjacent purposes. Our list is not exhaustive. Given the procedural nature of the varying funds, grants, and allocations, it’s difficult to get a read on the total amount of federal funding Delaware is receiving.  

A few other important notes to remember: 

• Processes vary: some money has to be applied for, whereas some (such as the case for ESSER) is allocated based on federal guidance. 
• Each stream of funding has its own allowable uses. 
• These federal injections represent one-time funding; it is important to be strategic about how we plan to utilize the dollars. 
• Timelines vary: Most of the funds must be spent or obligated over the next few years, but dates vary. 
• Governor John Carney appointed Department of Correction Commissioner Claire DeMatteis as a Special Assistant to oversee the management of Delaware’s share of federal stimulus dollars. 
• The Delaware Department of Education built a website for ESSER to show allocations, state, and local district and charter plans. Local education agencies (districts and charters) are required to submit spending plans in order to receive the full allocation of money. 

*Click here to download table as a high-quality PDF. 

*To see district and charter school allocations, visit the Delaware Department of Education’s ESSER webpage. 

Note: This table will be updated as more information becomes available. It is not inclusive of all funds or allocations available to Delaware.  

References and Resources 

• The American Rescue Plan Act
• Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (U.S. Department of Treasury) 
• Child Care Relief Funding in American Rescue Plan: State-by-State Estimates (The Center for Law and Social Policy) 
• Estimated FY2021 Grants to States (Congressional Research Service) 
• Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funding (Delaware Department of Education) 
• American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Fact Sheet (U.S. Department of Education) 

The United States is the only developed, high-income country that does not provide workers paid family or medical leave. Some states have begun to change this by implementing paid family and medical leave—a policy that provides benefits for families, businesses, and children. For example, paid family and medical leave policies can provide families the time and space to foster their child’s development during the crucial early stages while keeping their health and economic status stabilized.

Delaware recently adopted a paid family leave plan for state employees but does not yet have a statewide policy that is accessible to all workers. A new bill introduced this session looks to change that so all workers and business owners have the what they need to care for their families and strengthen the economy.

Paid Family Medical Leave Legislation in Delaware

Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), introduced by Senator Sarah McBride and supported by the Delaware Cares Coalition, would create a statewide paid family medical leave insurance program that would provide up to 12 weeks paid family medical leave for a qualifying event. The bill currently includes the following as events that qualify:

1. To address a worker’s own serious health condition.
2. To care for a family member with a serious health condition.
3. To bond with a new child.
4. To handle safety matters for victims of domestic violence.
5. To address the impact of a family member’s military deployment.

National and State Context

While some states have implemented versions of paid family and medical leave, the vast majority of workers in the U.S. lack access. Currently, approximately 85 percent of working people do not have access to paid family medical leave.

Delaware is one of many states that does not have a paid family medical leave policy. The state passed legislation in 2019 that provides state workers (including educators) with 12 weeks of paid parental leave after birth or adoption of a child under age six. While a step in the right direction, this legislation only provides some of Delaware’s workforce with access to the benefits that a paid family medical leave policy provides.

Some workers in Delaware are eligible to take unpaid leave, but even unpaid leave remains inaccessible for 54 percent of working Delawareans. Without access, many workers are forced to choose between job and family responsibilities. The pandemic has exasperated this problem for women, especially women of color, in the workforce. The National Partnership shared that the Delaware’s labor force lost 13,000 workers by the end of 2020. Even more startling, more than two-and-a-half times as many women were unemployed by the end of 2020 compared to 2019.

The Benefits of Paid Family Medical Leave

A paid family medical leave policy supports healthy child development and family wellbeing. It also can positively impact businesses, such as early childhood providers, and the workforce.

• Provides the opportunity for critical parental/caregiver interaction and bonding during the first months of a child’s life, when critical brain development happens. It promotes time needed for parents and caregivers to care for their infants and toddlers, without jeopardizing their income.
• Produces many health benefits for children with a reduction in infant hospital admissions, reduction in infant and post-neonatal mortality rates, and increased likelihood of breastfeeding.
  • Provides time for parents and caregivers to find quality medical care for their child and attend well-child medical visits, which can improve rates of on-time vaccination and early detection of any potential developmental delays.
  • Supports children and families by:
    • improved health outcomes in early elementary school, including outcomes related to healthy weight, ADHD, and hearing-related problems.
    • providing medical leave for parents/caregivers caring for children with significant medical needs.
    • benefits for mothers’ health and mental health, as well as more involved fathers.
  • Supports working families be more economically secure. Paid leave programs have been shown to increase household incomes and decrease the likelihood of the use of public support programs by working people in the year following their child’s birth.
  • Improves the labor force participation of family caregivers, particularly women, who with leave, have a higher likelihood of returning to the workforce. This policy also helps businesses increased employee retention, an issue that plagues the child care industry.
  • Supports equity, with families of color disproportionately lacking savings to cover unpaid leave, as well as higher maternal and infant mortality rates among Black families.

As we look to the remainder of the 151^st General Assembly, we will be watching to see Delaware if becomes the 10^th state to provide this important opportunity to support children and their families.

Resources to Learn More

Advocates across the state have formed Delaware Cares, a broad, cross-sector coalition in support of a paid family medical leave policy in the first state. A plethora of resources can be found on their site, with some listed below.

• Paid Leave Means a Stronger Delaware (National Partnership)
• Paid Leave Makes Delaware Families Stronger (Delaware Cares)
• The Delaware Way: Paid Leave is Good Business (Delaware Cares)
• Paid Leave Fact Sheet (Zero to Three)
• In Pursuit of an Equitable Start (PolicyLink)
• The Child Development Case for a National PFML Program (Zero to Three)
• Delaware Must Embrace Paid Family and Medical Leave (Liz Richards for Delaware Online)