Education Technology - This Recovery Act program were geared toward using technology to produce positive changes in the classroom environment that result in improved student learning in reading, math, and/or science. Recovery Act funds provided an additional $6 million to classrooms to support student achievement through a technology-rich environment. Funds were awarded through a combination of a formula and competitive grant process.
Head Start – Head Start promotes school readiness and provides a comprehensive array of health, nutritional and social services to eligible four and five year old preschoolers and their families. The Early Head Start program is for children from birth to three years old and pregnant women in recognition of scientific evidence that a child’s earliest years are extremely important to healthy development. Grants in these programs increased the number of participants enrolled, create jobs, provided a nearly five-percent cost-of-living increase, and bolstered training and technical assistance for grantees.
Homeless Children - The McKinney-Vento Homeless Act helps ensure each homeless child and youth has access to the same free, appropriate public education - including public preschool education - as other students. Recovery Act funds of $1 million supported a Homeless Student Liaison in each school district. Schools also used funds to provide services such as transportation to reduce students' school changes during the year due to unstable living conditions. Recent data for the 2008-09 school year showed a drastic increase in the number of enrolled homeless children and youth in Oregon. Recovery Act funds helped districts address the needs of more homeless students, including those whose families are newly homeless due to home foreclosures and unemployment.
Research Grants - The Recovery Act funded a large number of research grants through many different federal agencies. Oregon’s public universities received a wide variety of research grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, among others.
Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students – This program provides scholarships to full-time, financially needy students from disadvantaged backgrounds, enrolled in health professions and nursing programs. Participating schools are responsible for selecting scholarship recipients, making reasonable determinations of need, and providing scholarships that do not exceed the cost of attendance (tuition, reasonable educational expenses and reasonable living expenses).
School Lunch Equipment - This program is designed to improve the infrastructure in the National School Lunch Program, with priority given to schools in which at least 50 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Fifty-two school districts, alternative schools and residential childcare institutions were awarded $1 million total for the purchase of school food service equipment. The equipment will improve food safety, service and quality as well as reduce energy use. Walk-in refrigerators, walk-in freezers, ovens and dishwashers were purchased.
Special Education – Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities - This program assists states in the implementation of a statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary and interagency system of early intervention services to infants and toddlers (birth through age 2) with disabilities and their families. These funds were used to promote the state's delivery of appropriate and quality early intervention services in typical settings for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. Under the Recovery Act, the Oregon Department of Education distributed $4.7 million to local programs to improve outcomes for these children and their families and save/create jobs providing services to children.
Preschool Grants for Children with Disabilities - This program assists states in making available special education and related services for children with disabilities age 3 through 5 years. These funds were used to provide the delivery of free, appropriate and quality early childhood special education services in the least restrictive environments to preschoolers with disabilities. Under the Recovery Act, the Oregon Department of Education distributed funding of $4 million to local programs to improve outcomes for children and their families and save/create jobs that provide services to children.
Education of Children with Disabilities - This program assists states in providing special education and related services to children with disabilities in accordance with Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In Oregon, these funds serve children ages 3-21. Under the Recovery Act, the Oregon Department of Education distributed funding of $129 million to school districts and other local programs.
Stabilization Funds – School Improvement Grants - This new federal program, established under the Recovery Act, provides assistance for elementary and secondary education. In large part, the Recovery Act provided these funds to help states through their current fiscal crisis. But these funds were also targeted toward reforms that boost student achievement, including: 1) increasing teacher effectiveness and addressing inequities in the distribution of highly qualified teachers; 2) establishing and using a pre-K-through-college and career data system to track progress and foster continuous improvement; 3) making progress towards rigorous college-and-career-ready standards and high-quality assessments that are valid and reliable for all students, including limited English proficient students and students with disabilities; and 4) providing targeted, intensive support and effective interventions to turn around schools identified for corrective action and restructuring.
State Fiscal Stabilization Fund - These Recovery Act funds through the U.S. Department of Education helped to stabilize state and local government budgets in order to minimize and avoid reductions in education and other essential public services. The program helped ensure that public institutions of higher education have the resources to avert cuts and retain teachers and professors. The program also supported the modernization, renovation, and repair of college facilities.
Title I - This program provides supplemental funding to schools to ensure children in poverty and most at risk of failing to meet academic achievement standards have an equal opportunity to meet those standards. Under the Recovery Act, the Oregon Department of Education distributed $94 million to schools that have high concentrations of students from families that live in poverty.
Work Study - The federal Work Study program administered through the U.S. Department of Education provides funds that are earned through part-time employment to assist students in financing the costs of postsecondary education. The Recovery Act significantly increased the amount of work study funds provided to students through participating postsecondary institutions in Oregon. |