Evaluation of Delaware's Opportunity Funding and Student Success Block Grant Programs: Second Year. Research Report. RR-A230-2

This is the second of three annual reports evaluating the implementation and effects of two Delaware weighted funding programs for disadvantaged K-12 schools during the 2019-2020 to 2021-2022 school years: Opportunity Funding and the Student Success Block Grant (SSBG). The authors also examined best practices and coronavirus pandemic adaptations for Opportunity Funding and the SSBG in 2020-2021, as reported by local education agency (LEA) leaders. In fiscal year (FY) 2021, the two programs allocated a total of $32.9 million for K-3 special education, mental health and/or reading specialists in high-need schools, and flexible funding based on the count of high-need students. Opportunity Funding and SSBG made up 1.0 percent of LEAs' overall spending in FY 2020 and 1.3 percent in FY 2021. The two programs are slated to make up 2.4 percent of spending once Opportunity Funding has grown to $60 million in 2025, assuming that other sources of funds remain stable. LEAs spent an average of $202 per pupil of Opportunity Funding or SSBG in FY 2021, while LEAs spent an average total of $15,497 per pupil. [For the "Early Implementation" report, see ED626324. For the "Third and Final Year" report, see ED626326. For "Flexible Opportunity Funding Investments in Delaware: Lessons from District Leaders," see ED626328.]