Evaluation of the Bridge Initiative’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Efforts
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation commissioned SPR to conduct a formative implementation and summative evaluation of its Bridge Initiative to support school districts’ COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.
Project Highlights
Early Progress.
Bridge districts made significant progress toward their goals in the first six months of the program.
Relationship-building and alignment.
They focused on building relationships between technical assistance providers and district stakeholders and creating alignment around a set of clear and actionable TA goals.
Stuctured collaboration.
They also established structures to support ongoing collaboration over the course of provider engagement.
“Immediately following the onset of COVID-19, we worked with our partners and other funders to be responsive to the immediate needs..."
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation commissioned SPR to conduct a formative implementation and summative evaluation of its Bridge Initiative to support school districts’ COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.
K-12 students of color and students experiencing poverty in Washington State experienced disproportionately negative outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data showed that schools and districts throughout the state were struggling to adapt their instructional systems to remote and hybrid formats to meet the academic and social-emotional needs of their students.
The foundation’s Washington State Initiative (WSI) team developed the Bridge Initiative to provide tailored technical assistance to high-need districts from spring 2021 through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.
SPR’s three evaluation reports highlight outcomes, learning, and considerations for the WSI team.
Related project
The Evaluation of Beacon Community Schools in San Francisco
04/26/2021
Related resource
Evaluation of The New Teacher Project (TNTP) and Solution Tree in Washoe County School District
06/15/2022