PreK-12 Schools

Students constantly achieve new milestones in their academic and social emotional development. Schools and educators, along with families and caregivers, play a critical role in guiding students to these milestones and celebrating with students as they continue to grow and learn. Schools, and all places of educational instruction, serve as hubs of learning, development, socializing, and enrichment for their students.

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The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted schooling for countless students, causing extended building closures and fully remote or hybrid learning environments, requiring educators, administrators, staff, and students to adjust the ways they teach, learn, and participate in PreK-12 education. Elementary schools through high schools — regardless of student makeup or geographical location — have all worked tirelessly to ensure that students have the tools, resources, and necessities to succeed during these challenging times. Now, as schools continue to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, educators and school staff must work in collaboration with community partners to continually identify and meet student safety, social, emotional, physical and mental health, academic, financial, and other needs. This work is important and ongoing, particularly for students from historically underserved communities, and it is crucial for all students’ academic and social emotional development to address gaps that existed but have been made worse by the pandemic.

Indigenous Navajo teacher and students in an elementary school classroom.

The resources on this page offer information for supporting students; maintaining safe and healthy environments; and helping to ensure teacher and staff well-being, professional development, and supports. As we know that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on specific communities, these resources contain a specific focus on supporting the students furthest from opportunity and who have been most negatively impacted by the pandemic. Teachers, faculty, staff, schools, districts, other places of educational instruction, and States may use these best practices and lessons learned to inform their strategies for responding to student and family needs throughout the ongoing pandemic recovery.

Image of a student with tutor in one to one tutorial.

Region 7 Comprehensive Center: 3, 2, 1! High-Dosage Tutoring Takes Off With Mission Acceleration in Mississippi

This blog shares best practices for high-dosage tutoring and highlights the successes of Mississippi’s Mission Acceleration program — a tutoring program designed to accelerate reading achievement for 1,000 Mississippi students in grades K-5. The program is available at no cost to families, made possible by Federal relief funding from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund.

Institute of Education Sciences, Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands: Using Data to Strengthen Your High-Dosage Tutoring Program: Lessons from a Rhode Island District

This Webinar provides information on high-dosage tutoring and how to use data to monitor high-dosage tutoring programs. Panelists also offer lessons learned from districts implementing high-dosage tutoring programs to accelerate learning after education disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Image of a teacher and her students looking at her laptop
Image of an Americorps teacher with a Pre-K student reading a book

AmeriCorps — Leveraging National Service in Your Schools: A Superintendent’s/Principal’s Toolkit to Utilizing National Service Resources

This toolkit for principals and superintendents describes how school districts can partner with AmeriCorps service programs to support student outcomes. The resource provides an overview of the AmeriCorps program model and its benefits, offers steps for leveraging AmeriCorps resources, and shares examples of States and school districts that have successfully partnered with AmeriCorps programs.

Submit Your Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Have a lessons learned or best practice for helping PreK-12 schools and school districts continue to recover from the pandemic? Visit the Best Practices Submission page to view details on submission requirements, and then e-mail Bestpracticesclearinghouse@ed.gov to share your lessons learned or best practice.

Provide Feedback

Have feedback to share on a resource accessed on the Clearinghouse site? We want to hear from you. Select the button below to share your feedback with the U.S. Department of Education and the Clearinghouse team.

Supporting Students in Literacy: Evidence-Based Resources and Recommendations from the WWC

Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse; Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast: Supporting Students in Literacy: Evidence-Based Resources and Recommendations from the What Works Clearinghouse

This Webinar provides evidence-based practices to help educators accelerate student literacy development, sharing six practice guides from the What Works Clearinghouse for improving student literacy skills across elementary and middle schools, with considerations for English learners and students struggling with reading. Presenters from across the United States, representing experts and educators, also provide examples of the applications of these practices in schools.

U.S. Department of Education: Strategies for Using American Rescue Plan Funding to Address the Impact of Lost Instructional Time.

U.S. Department of Education: Strategies for Using American Rescue Plan Funding to Address the Impact of Lost Instructional Time

This resource from the U.S. Department of Education provides information on how COVID-19 relief funds can be used to address the impact of lost instructional time as a result of the pandemic, including strategies to address student social, emotional, and academic needs; support parents and caregivers; and use of assessment data to support student learning.

Submit Your Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Have a lessons learned or best practice for helping PreK-12 schools and school districts continue to recover from the pandemic? Visit the Best Practices Submission page to view details on submission requirements, and then e-mail Bestpracticesclearinghouse@ed.gov to share your lessons learned or best practice.

Provide Feedback

Have feedback to share on a resource accessed on the Clearinghouse site? We want to hear from you. Select the button below to share your feedback with the U.S. Department of Education and the Clearinghouse team.

View Resources