A New Vision of Partnership Between Districts and States [Video]

The New York State Department of Education experience

Education Resource Strategies, November 2015

State education agencies play a powerful role in helping local school districts ensure every school succeeds for every student.

During the 2014-2015 school year, Education Resource Strategies partnered with the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to run a pilot program for eight varied school districts,in which the districts received key data on how they allocate their resources and had opportunities to problem-solve with their peers. The districts then wrote and shared action plans exploring how they would adopt new strategies, from adding instructional coaches to increasing personalized learning, and many more.

From this experience, the districts and NYSED envisioned ways that the state can use its power as a convener to support districts—both by distributing key comparative data on use of people, time, and money across the state, and by sharing best practices from districts.