The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) appropriated $100 million in new funding for Impact Aid under section 8007 of Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA).

Twenty three questions and answers on how ARRA impacts Special Education and Early Intervention. \n

Secretary Arne Duncan will travel to 15 or more states in the coming months to solicit feedback from a broad group of stakeholders around federal education policy in anticipation of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The tour will gather input on the Obama administration's education agenda, including early childhood, higher standards, teacher quality, workforce development, and higher education.

This new document from the US Dept of Education outlines capital spending and teacher-quality reporting expectations, with more capital-spending flexibility of ARRA funds than initially expected. Lots of great Q & A's in here that help clarify program uses.

The first of $44 billion in economic-stimulus aid for education began flowing out to states last week-along with new teacher-quality reporting requirements for states and districts, and significantly more spending flexibility on school construction than many administrators had expected.

ISTE wants to hear from you about how your school or district is using the funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) toward technology and technology professional development purchases. This information is important to gather and to share with policymakers at the state and federal levels to illustrate how our community is investing these funds wisely to promote school innovation and reform. Please complete the following survey with an eye toward sharing how this one-time investment will be used for long-term benefit.

ISTE Community updates on the Economic Stimulus package and what it means for technology in education.

Awesome Stimulus Funding web site. Find descriptions of educational projects covered by city and state, cost of the project and number of jobs created as a result. Includes all categories of economic stimulus.

Texas Impact brings you footage of US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan highlighting the ambitious goals of the ARRA education funds. Video comes from the ARRA Implementation Briefing on Friday, April 3, 2009.

The goal of this site is to provide information and access to events, information, and discussion areas relating to the educational portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), with the specific goal of helping to facilitate a dialog that will promote the best long-term uses of the funds.

Montana Dept of Public Instruction's plan for management of IDEA Funds secured under ARRA. Includes discussion of maintenance of effort.

PowerPoint presentation that gives examples of maintenance of effort (MOE) from a fictitious school district.

Suggestions for use of special education ARRA funds are:\n\n1. Teacher salaries and salaries for other trained educators. Possible use could also be trained para professionals that will help a child benefit from an inclusive placement.\n\n2. Scientifically research based curriculums in the areas of reading and math, which are required by No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Many school districts are continuing to use outdated curriculums that are not proven to help children learn reading and math. Once a school district purchases the curriculum and trains their teachers the benefits will continue for years to come.\n\n3. Obtain state of the art assistive technology devices and also provide training in their use to enhance access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities.\n\n4. Provide intensive district wide professional training for regular and special education teachers, that focuses on research based curriculums and strategies in the areas of reading, math, writing, and science.\n\n5. Provide intensive district wide professional development in the area of positive behavioral supports and plans to improve outcomes for children with disabilities. Many children with disabilities are continuing to be suspended and expelled for behavior that is part of their disability; though this is not allowed under IDEA. School wide use of positive behavioral supports and plans will benefit all children not just those with disabilities.\n\n6. Hire transition coordinators to work with employers in the community to develop job placements and training for youths with disabilities. This will ensure that children graduating will have a job and a future!\n\n

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains several pots of money slated for educational technology. Those funding sources could be used to help K-12 schools to use new digital tools to improve teaching and learning. Although this webinar took place already (Apr 30), it is archived and can be viewed upon registration.

Notes from the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles panel called: The Stimulus Bill and Education: How Can the Money be Spent Wisely?

Curriculum Associates has put together an excellent summary of the four principles that guide distribution and use of ARRA funds.

Get the latest news on ARRA programs in California

There are great diagrams on this site, explaining all of the pots of ARRA funding for education, when they will be distributed, and the criteria for their distribution.\n\nMuch has been made about the influx of investment in education by the new Federal Administration. It is surely likely to be impactful, but in order to take advantage of it, it's necessary to understand the bits and pieces, the nuances in detail, the specifics of the who, what and when that will be a part of the process.\n

The Department of Education received significant new funding that can benefit public charter schools. Over $100 billion in direct spending primarily is designated through already existing programs (e.g., Title I, IDEA) and the newly authorized State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund became the primary new education program in the bill, and absorbed the funding for modernizing public schools that had been included in earlier versions of the bill.