Reporting for Equity

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires all states to report school-level spending data. This fall, the Department of Education released the first round of data on per-pupil expenditure as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). As states continue to release new spending data, it will be possible for a variety of stakeholders to assess whether spending levels are equitable across schools — but only if that spending data is presented in actionable ways. ERS has developed 5 Reporting Principles to guide states and districts in sharing spending data in ways that will enable equity-focused conversations.  

Based on the reporting principles, we've written “Reporting for Equity: How States and Districts Can Use the ESSA School Spending Requirements to Present Data that Matters” to provide guidance for state-level practitioners who will design school spending reports, as well as district leaders who want to go beyond the state report card to use spending data in more equity-focused ways. 

Read the Guide