Funding the Athlos
Special Education Service Logs App
Designed for use by special education teachers and service providers, the Athlos app solution is eligible for federal, state and local funding sources. By exploring these opportunities, your district or school may identify many different methods of purchasing the Athlos Special Education Service Logs App.
Athlos helps make the required work of documenting and reporting services for students as well as progress monitoring simpler, more efficient, and easier to communicate.
For more information about funding sources and grants, please see below:
COVID-19 Emergency Funding
In response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) the U.S. Congress passed the CARES Act, which was signed into law on Friday, March 27, 2020. This relief package provided states with both funding and streamlined waivers to give State educational agencies (SEAs) necessary flexibilities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The relief package included $30.75 billion in emergency education funding, divided between two main funding sources: the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER Fund) and the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER Fund).
State awards for the ESSER Fund (and its successor, ESSER II) are in the same proportion that each state received under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, in fiscal year (FY) 2019–20. Each state must use no less than 90 percent of its allocation to make subgrants to local education agencies (LEAs), based on each LEA’s share of funds received under Title I, Part A in fiscal year 2019–20.
How the Athlos App Aligns with ESSER I Funds
- The Athlos App assists in the COVID-19 response for special education teachers and service providers, who have seen their service model disrupted by the current pandemic.
- With the app, providers can document and share both virtual and in-person services, service attempts, attendance and student progress.
- The data gathered with and presented through the Athlos app can be vital to determining the scope of learning loss for special education students, one of the hardest-hit groups during the pandemic, and documenting all attempts to serve students in all phases of school closure and reopening.
- The service provision data created and maintained within the Athlos app can bolster the required detailed state accounting and reporting of the use of ESSER II funds, with a focus on how the State is using funds to measure and address learning loss among students disproportionately affected by the coronavirus and school closures, including children with disabilities.
The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA Act) was enacted December 27, 2020 and includes an additional $53.4 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER II Fund). See the fact sheet with more details, and a comparison of ESSER and ESSER II here.
How the Athlos App Aligns with ESSER II Funds
- The Athlos App assists in the COVID-19 response for special education teachers and service providers, who have seen their service model disrupted by the current pandemic.
- With the app, providers can document and share both virtual and in-person services, service attempts, attendance and student progress.
- The data gathered with and presented through the Athlos app can be vital to determining the scope of learning loss for special education students, one of the hardest-hit groups during the pandemic, and documenting all attempts to serve students in all phases of school closure and reopening.
- The service provision data created and maintained within the Athlos app can bolster the required detailed state accounting and reporting of the use of ESSER II funds, with a focus on how the State is using funds to measure and address learning loss among students disproportionately affected by the coronavirus and school closures, including children with disabilities.
Federal Funding
The largest source of federal funding to schools is from Title I, providing over $16 billion dollars to schools that serve a high number or high percentage of children from low-income families to ensure that these children are able to meet challenging state academic standards.
How the Athlos App Aligns with Title I Part A Funding
- The Athlos App gives service providers the insight they need to target students’ greatest areas of instructional need and provide services that address those needs specifically.
- By sharing relevant progress and service data with administrators and providers, service providers have more time to deliver targeted, high quality intervention to students with the most need.
Title II is focused on preparing, training, and recruiting high quality teachers and principals. With a focus on increasing student academic achievement through strategies such as improving teacher quality, Title II funds professional development activities that are sustained, intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, data-driven, and classroom-focused.
How the Athlos App Aligns with Title II Funding:
- Professional development provided by the Athlos App team supports special education administrators and educators in their proper documentation of IEP related services.
- With greater visibility into student needs and services provided by the Athlos app, leaders can better tailor professional development for teachers and service providers to the specific needs of their students.
Title IV is a block grant that provides over $1 billion in funding to school safety, well-rounded education, and educational technology initiatives. Under the CARES Act, these funds can now be used to fund any of these three priorities: providing students well-rounded education, maintaining student health and safety, and purchasing and implementation of education technology and systems.
How the Athlos App Aligns with Title IV Funding
- The Athlos App allows schools and districts to leverage iPads, Chromebooks, tablets, and laptops for purposeful, thorough documentation of IEP required services and interventions.
- The flexibility of the app provides access for teacher and service providers to review and document student data regardless of implementation model, short- or long-term school closures.
- Documentation of services via the Athlos app offers critical insights into the ongoing health and safety of many students with disabilities.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the federal law ensuring students with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education. IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education and related services to eligible infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities. Second only in size to Title I funds, school districts receive IDEA funds to help pay for the cost of providing services and education to children with disabilities.
How the Athlos App Aligns with IDEA Funding
- Athlos App data can assist with reporting requirements at the state and federal level on the IDEA-mandated services and interventions provided to students with disabilities.
- Aligned with data reporting requirements for IDEA, the Athtlos app data reports and reporting features provide data that assists in identifying programmatic strengths and areas for improvement, allows teachers and service providers to address root causes of poor performance, and evaluate student and school progress toward outcomes.