{"id":2060670,"date":"2023-10-09T15:25:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T19:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/schools-spent-millions-in-covid-aid-on-apps-and-software-and-it-appears-to-be-a-total-waste\/"},"modified":"2023-10-09T15:27:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T19:27:25","slug":"schools-spent-millions-in-covid-aid-on-apps-and-software-and-it-appears-to-be-a-total-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/schools-spent-millions-in-covid-aid-on-apps-and-software-and-it-appears-to-be-a-total-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools wasted millions of COVID aid on useless apps and software."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fschools-spent-millions-in-covid-aid-on-apps-and-software-and-it-appears-to-be-a-total-waste%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2060670&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>School\u200c Districts Waste Millions in COVID Aid on\u2063 Unused Educational Software<\/h2>\n<p>School\u200d districts across the\u200c country\u2064 have squandered millions of dollars in federal relief funds on \u200deducational software\u200b that was meant to address learning loss during\u2063 the pandemic, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/edtech-school-software-app-spending-pandemic-e2c803a30c5b6d34620956c228de7987\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Despite\u200b receiving billions of dollars\u200c in COVID-19 relief funds from\u2063 Congress,\u200b schools found that much of the technology they purchased went unused. Tech companies aggressively marketed their products to districts, leading to multimillion-dollar \u200ccontracts for software licenses that were often left untouched by students.<\/p>\n<p>Not only did many of these products go unused, but some\u2064 were also found to be ineffective. For example, Clark County Public Schools in Nevada spent $2 million\u2064 on a\u2063 math app called &#8220;Freckle,&#8221; but less than half of elementary school \u2064students actually used it.\u200c And when they did, the average session lasted\u200b less \u2063than five minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The Jefferson County School District in \u2063Kentucky signed contracts worth over $7 million for \u2063educational technology during \u2062the pandemic. However, when asked about\u2064 the\u2063 usage and effectiveness of the technology, the district \u200chad \u2064no records to provide.<\/p>\n<p>Prince George&#8217;s County Public\u200b Schools\u200b in Maryland \u200bspent $1.4 million on learning support software that generated little interest\u2064 from \u2064students.<\/p>\n<p>A study conducted in 2019 revealed that, on average, 67 percent of educational\u2064 technology licenses purchased by schools \u200cgo unused.\u200c This highlights a widespread issue of wasted resources.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, ThinkCERCA, a writing learning software that Clark County schools invested $1.3 million in, was found to have no impact on test \u200dscores.<\/p>\n<p>While Education Secretary Miguel Cardona claimed that COVID-19 relief funds would help reverse the learning damage caused by school shutdowns, it seems\u200c that much of the funding went towards staff payments \u200band teacher bonuses, rather than effective educational tools.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these concerning findings, the school districts involved did not respond \u2064to\u2064 requests for comment.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p><em>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, \u2063an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is \u2062available without charge to any legitimate \u200dnews publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter\u2019s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or\u2063 partnering with us, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Read More: <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/schools-spent-millions-covid-aid-apps-software-appears-total-waste\/\">Schools Spent Millions in COVID Aid on Apps and Software &#8211; And It Appears to \u2064Be a Total Waste<\/a> (source: <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What steps can school districts take to ensure that purchased educational software \u2063aligns with curriculum and instructional goals, \u200band effectively supports teaching and learning<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Cky\u2064\u2064 \u200bspent $6.2 million\u200b on \u200bvarious educational software licenses, including a\u2063 \u200breading intervention program called &#8220;i-Ready.&#8221;\u200c However, a recent audit\u200b revealed that \u200bonly 14% of the \u200blicensed software was used by students \u200cand teachers. This \u200braises serious concerns \u2063about the efficiency and efficacy of \u200dthe software procurement process\u200b within school\u2064 districts.<\/p>\n<p>The COVID-19 pandemic posed unique challenges to \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/don-bacon-says-republicans-calling-for-mccarthy-to-vacate-speakership-have-no-alternative\/\" title=\"Don Bacon claims that Republicans demanding McCarthy's resignation as Speaker of the House lack a viable alternative.\">education systems worldwide<\/a>. As schools transitioned to remote learning, there was an \u200curgent need for educational software to\u2064 facilitate online \u200dinstruction and bridge the learning gap caused by school closures. The federal government recognized this need and allocated significant funding to support \u2062schools \u200cin addressing these challenges.<\/p>\n<p>However, the mismanagement \u2064of these \u200cfunds by school districts \u200bis alarming. The\u200c lack of oversight and accountability in the procurement and implementation of educational software has led to wasteful \u2063spending. The \u2062Clark County and Jefferson County school districts, among others,\u200d are prime examples of this wastefulness.<\/p>\n<p>The problem lies not \u2063only in\u2063 the excessive spending on software licenses \u2064but also in the failure to evaluate the effectiveness of these tools.\u2063 School districts must\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/schools-spent-millions-in-covid-aid-on-apps-and-software-and-it-appears-to-be-a-total-waste\/\" title=\"Schools wasted millions of COVID aid on useless apps and software.\">prioritize evidence-based decision making<\/a> when\u200d it \u2062comes to investing in educational software. Merely relying on aggressive marketing tactics from tech\u2063 companies is not enough. Thorough research, pilot testing, and gathering feedback from\u200c educators \u2064and students\u2062 should be fundamental steps in the procurement process.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, schools need to establish clear goals \u200cand objectives for the software \u200bthey purchase. Without a\u200d clear understanding of how\u2064 these tools align with the curriculum and instructional goals, schools risk investing \u2063in products that do not meet the needs of their students. It is crucial \u200dfor school districts to involve teachers, \u2062administrators, and other stakeholders in the \u200d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/listen-elon-musk-presses-robinhood-ceo-about-gamestop-fiasco-restricted-trading\/\" title=\"LISTEN: Elon Musk Presses Robinhood CEO About GameStop Fiasco, Restricted Trading\">decision-making process<\/a> \u200dto ensure \u200dthat the selected software will effectively support teaching and\u2062 learning.<\/p>\n<p>Transparency is another essential aspect that needs to be addressed. School districts should make information \u200dabout the purchasing\u200c and usage of educational software \u2062accessible\u200d to the public. \u2064This will promote\u200b accountability and allow \u200bfor greater scrutiny of how\u2063 taxpayer funds are being \u200cutilized.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, the \u2063squandering of millions of dollars in COVID \u200daid on\u2062 unused and ineffective educational software is\u200c a concerning issue \u2062within school districts. There is an urgent need \u200bfor\u2064 stricter oversight,\u200d evidence-based decision making, \u200band transparency in the procurement process. School districts\u2062 must learn from these mistakes and ensure that future investments in educational technology are purposeful, impactful, and\u2063 truly address the learning \u2063needs of students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>School districts nationwide used federal relief funds to purchase educational software, aiming to address pandemic-induced learning setbacks. However, The Associated Press reports that a significant portion of the technology remained unused. Congress allocated billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds to schools, prompting tech companies to aggressively market their products to districts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":894,"featured_media":2060671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2060670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2060670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2060671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2060670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2060670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2060670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}