National Comprehensive Center

Applying Evidence-Based Design to Communities of Practice for States Using ARP Funds


Sep 2021 – Current


Through a partnership with the United States Department of Education, the National Comprehensive Center (NCC) supports state and local education leaders to deepen their collaborations, build their capacities, and expand their toolboxes for K-12 innovation. TLA is managing the development of three Communities  to build state capacity to design and test new solutions to systemic challenges by working in teams, tapping their peers, and engaging with knowledgeable facilitators and guest speakers.  The following Communities launched in February 2022:

  • Evidence-Based Interventions: Using American Rescue Plan Resources to Acceleration Learning 
  • Strategic Use of Summer and Afterschool Set Asides
  • Driving Toward Equity Through School Improvement

The Learning Agenda team serves as the lead for the Strategic Use of Summer and Afterschool Set Asides Community. The purpose of this community is to help state education agencies and their statewide partners improve the quality, outcomes, and sustainability of summer and afterschool programs, and  demonstrate the lasting benefits of stimulus funds utilized for summer and afterschool. Teams from seven states and the U.S. Department of Education are engaged in identifying problems of practice and creating action plans to address systemic challenges; teams are focused on developing and refining technical assistance systems, data collection and analysis, and sustaining best practices beyond stimulus funding.

The NCC also enlisted TLA’s support for the CCNetwork website redesign and taxonomy update. The goal was to redesign the existing taxonomy to reflect the desired direction and content available on the website.  In addition, the TLA team curated content and framing for six new focus topic areas for the website: teaching and learning; designing for equity; strengthening and diversifying the education workforce; planning and financial management; social-emotional learning and trauma-informed practices; and accelerating learning through summer and out-of-school time.  

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