Recent national and state evidence shows the far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student academic outcomes. To address lost instructional time and move to recover lost learning, California created the $4.6 billion Expanded Learning Opportunity (ELO) grant in 2021, one of the largest learning recovery grants in the state’s history. ELO grants are intended to fund supplemental supports for students and staff. The grants are allocated in proportion to district funding under the state’s funding formula, which adds extra funding for low-income, English learner, and foster youth students. The state released general guidelines but it is up to districts to implement plans that meet local needs. This decentralized approach means that we lack crucial information on ELO recovery activities - and their impact. We need to understand how the funding is being distributed across districts, the types of recovery activities that have been funded, and the association between these activities and student outcomes.

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) in collaboration with the California Department of Education, the University of California-Berkeley, and the University of California-San Diego will examine California's $4.6 billion ELO grant program from 2021-22 through 2024-25. The project team will examine the ELO for CA's more than 1000 school districts and look at how the ELO grant is implemented across districts, the types of recovery activities that have been funded, and the association between ELO recovery activities and equitable student outcomes.