Support learning recovery with hands-on STEM learning projects, professional development, and educational discounts. KiwiCo products are available with Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) investments. Be sure to allocate your funding before it expires in the next academic year and ensure that your students are given engaging, enriching, hands-on experiences that can help bring them closer to their academic goals.
While we are all starting to feel a return to a sense of normalcy, the effects of COVID are leaving their mark. One of the most profound effects of COVID has been on school-aged children and their learning. This was identified early on by educators and policymakers and funding was approved with lightning speed. Some of the funding was spent within days on things like computers and technology for remote learning, but, as additional funding was released, spending started to slow.
Schools and districts noted wanting to plan strategically to ensure the impacts would be longer lasting (1). They didn’t want to hire staff and then lose the ability to pay their salary in a year or two. While this goal is understandable and responsible, the funding has an expiration date, and much of it has gone unspent. According to a survey conducted by McKinsey, about 75% of the funding has yet to be allocated more than halfway through the funding cycle (2). Leaving it to expire is only harming students' development. Even if renewed funding in the future is up in the air, optimizing current opportunities should be prioritized.
While the funding is still available, it can, and at least 20% must, be budgeted to address learning loss and help make up for the up to 20 weeks of learning that students are behind in both math and reading (1). There are various ways to address learning loss and help students catch up academically. Some of the proposed initiatives include after-school programs - which have been shown to be effective at advancing student learning (2); teacher training and professional development; and, substitute teacher compensation (2).
If you are looking for quality supplies to support your STEM education efforts to address learning recovery for your students, KiwiCo can help. We offer standards-aligned STEM learning crates, professional development to support your staff in implementing the projects, and discounts for educators to maximize the impact of the crates, with additional consideration for schools receiving Title I funding.
KiwiCo projects can be used in various ways to aid in learning recovery for children of all ages. They can be incorporated into core day classes to engage students and emphasize specific standards. After-school programs can be implemented almost immediately by non-credentialed staff and designed around themed programming packages to spark student interest. Or, your school can organize STEAM days as a form of family engagement to get everyone excited about STEAM projects and hands-on learning.
One district in New Jersey is putting its ESSER funds towards KiwiCo to host an after-school program for students in grades K -12. Aligning with the ESSER requirements, the school district opened a survey for community members to share input on which areas they felt should be of focus. Based on the survey results, one of the identified priority areas included Academics/Enrichment/Intervention K-12 programs to address students’ learning loss and safe return to full-time in-person classes. This happened to align with the need to utilize their funding to create more time for learning.
So, to address these components of its plan, the district developed STEM Enrichment After School Programming. When looking for options for this STEM programming, they were in search of hands-on projects that incorporated engineering design. That’s where the KiwiCo crates were a perfect match. The district works directly with its KiwiCo education specialist to select crates for each grade level. Each crate is worked on over 2 weeks and is supported by additional teaching resources developed by the school for the instructor. Over 20 weeks, more than 1400 students will explore 8 different STEM topics and expand on their classroom instruction by engaging with their KiwiCo projects.
If your district or school is looking to implement a similar program, our Educational Specialists are here to help. We can assist with crate selection and standards alignment to ensure that every selected project will support the desired learning outcomes from reading at grade level, to exploring scientific concepts, to collaborating with peers to improve social-emotional connections with one another.
For more information about KiwiCo and COVID relief funding, review our Schools & Groups offerings and set up a time to talk to an education specialist today.
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