Tools & Publications

ERS Tools and Publications are trusted resources for education leaders, practitioners, and policymakers seeking guidance to make transformative change. Looking for something you can’t find? Contact us.

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Leadership Student-Based Budgeting Turnaround Take Action

Education Resource Strategies

Reimagining the Teaching Job

An illustration of what the teacher experience looks like now for many teachers, and what it could look like instead by making teaching a more dynamic, rewarding, collaborative, and... More »

Publications Tools COVID-19 Compensation District Leaders Professional Learning School Leaders State Leaders Teaching Leadership Toolkits
October 26, 2022

“Moving Forward Together”: How Holyoke’s Community-Centric Approach Led To the District’s Bold Strategic Vision

Learn about how Holyoke Public Schools and new Superintendent Anthony Soto worked to foster strategic conversations and intentional collaboration, resulting in 100% of advisory committee... More »

Publications COVID-19 Equity District Leaders Funding & Portfolio School Leaders Leadership Learn Community Engagement
September 14, 2022

Bridging the Divide: How Tulsa Built Sustainable Improvement Systems to Connect Vision, Strategy, and Implementation

A Unique Approach to Continuous Improvement At its core, TPS’ continuous improvement work builds off of other familiar approaches from the field of education: It engages a diverse... More »

Publications COVID-19 District Leaders School Leaders School Design Leadership Community Engagement Learn More
August 16, 2022

How to Enable Transformational Change in K-12 School Districts Through a "Do Now, Build Toward" Approach

"Do Now, Build Toward" (DNBT) is a sustainable approach to transformation that builds on research, incorporates practical limitations, and uses a community-driven, iterative framework. More »

Publications Tools District Leaders Equity Funding & Portfolio Learn Assess Explore Take Action Learn More
August 09, 2022

Building a Racial Equity Office to Give All Students a Path Toward Success

If we’re going to give all students the experiences, support, and structures to ensure their success, we need to make sure that each individual student has what they need to... More »

Publications Equity District Leaders Leadership Learn Community Engagement Learn More
July 06, 2022

10 Steps to Become an Equity Detective

Learn how to become an “equity detective”: a leader who actively looks for and takes action to address structural and systemic inequities in schools and school systems. More »

Board Members Publications Equity District Leaders Leadership School Support & Accountability Take Action
July 06, 2022

Mobilizing Resources to Advance Excellence and Equity for All Students

Doable starting points and tools for leaders to mobilize resources and create excellent and equitable experiences for students. More »

Publications COVID-19 Equity District Leaders School Leaders Teaching Learn Take Action
Spring 2022

ESSER Guidance for School Staffing, Spending, and Scheduling

The ESSER Guidance for School Staffing, Spending, and Scheduling guides provide a blueprint for organizing resources for a sustainable ESSER investment strategy—one that has an immediate... More »

Publications Tools District Leaders Professional Learning School Leaders School Design Leadership School Support & Accountability Community Engagement Toolkits
February 03, 2022

Adapting District and School Budget Development Processes for FY23 to Optimize Your ESSER Investment

Six key adaptations for districts and schools to serve as a starting point for your team and district community as you collaborate to prioritize, simplify, and streamline your FY23 budget... More »

Publications Tools COVID-19 District Leaders School Leaders School Design Leadership Community Engagement
February 03, 2022

ESSER Plan Communication

5 Key Messaging Imperatives to Build Alignment Among District Leaders, School Boards, and Cabinets More »

Presentations Publications Tools COVID-19 District Leaders Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting Leadership Community Engagement
February 03, 2022

Getting Real About Continuous Improvement: Spotlight on Dallas ISD

Learn how Dallas ISD overcame common continuous improvement challenges for its intersession model, such as limited capacity, stakeholder engagement, and key decision-making. More »

Publications District Partnerships COVID-19 District Leaders School Design Leadership
Aug 31, 2021

Investing ESSER Funds Equitably

The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t impacted all students in the same ways. For many students - including students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, students with disabilities, and... More »

Publications Equity District Leaders State Leaders Leadership School Support & Accountability
May 2021

COVID-19 Reopening and Recovery: Toolkit for Districts and Schools

From equitably meeting students' increased needs, to planning new budgets, to creating safe and effective models for hybrid and fully-remote learning — the options facing districts and... More »

Equity District Leaders COVID-19 School Leaders State Leaders Leadership School Support & Accountability Community Engagement Toolkits
January 30, 2020

ERS Briefing: Supporting School Turnaround

Read the Briefing In turnaround schools, traditional approaches to school improvement (and some say, even the recent seven billion dollar federal investment in school improvement)... More »

Publications ESSA District Leaders School Design Turnaround
Districts at Work: Tulsa Tales Mini-Podcast

Real stories from real districts: How Tulsa Public Schools supported professional development for teachers — on a budget More »

Presentations Videos District Leaders Professional Learning Funding & Portfolio School Leaders School Design Leadership
Education Resource Strategies, April 9, 2019

Districts at Work

Profiles of eight school systems transforming how the central office supports schools, and seeing student results More »

Equity District Leaders Professional Learning School Design Teaching Leadership
Toolkit: Advice for New Superintendents

As a new superintendent - whether it's your first time in that role or just new to a community- you'll face a tremendous number of challenges. The key is knowing where to begin. More »

District Leaders Leadership Toolkits
January 2019

Transforming School Funding: A Guide to Implementing Student-Based Budgeting

Student-Based Budgeting (SBB) allocates dollars based on enrollment and student need. In this blog, you will find tools and key elements for decision making as you consider SBB for your... More »

District Leaders Equity Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting
August 2018

Weighted Student Funding

Weighted Student Funding has become a popular initiative for district leaders who seek to allocate scarce resources to schools, especially in the face of stubborn achievement gaps,... More »

Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting Toolkits
Education Resource Strategies

Toolkit: What is Student-Based Budgeting? How can it drive student learning?

SBB is a funding system whereby dollars follow students based on student need, and can help increase funding transparency, equity, and flexibility. More »

Equity District Leaders Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting Toolkits
May 2017

It Takes a System: A Case Study of Denver Public Schools (DPS)

Over the last decade, Denver Public Schools (DPS) became one of the fastest-improving large districts in the country—achieving significant improvement across all student subgroups. Unlike... More »

Publications Special Education Compensation District Leaders Professional Learning Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting School Leaders School Design Teaching Leadership School Support & Accountability Turnaround
October 3, 2016

Two-Way Conversations

How first-year superintendents are using data to build political capital that enables system change More »

Publications District Leaders Leadership
September 2016

7 Tenets for Sustainable School Turnaround

A collaboration between Center for American Progress and Education Resource Strategies on the 7 tenets for states to empower districts to become agents of change in school turnaround. More »

Publications ESSA State Leaders Turnaround
August 02, 2016

Resource Check Webinar

Dr. Shawn Wightman of Marysville Public Schools talks about how he used Resource Check to create his strategic plan as a new superintendent. More »

Videos District Leaders Leadership
May 2015

Following the Dollars to the Classroom Door

More and more districts—and several states—are adopting funding models like student-based budgeting (also called weighted student funding or fair student funding) to increase equity... More »

Publications District Leaders Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting School Leaders School Design
April 2015

Back from the Brink: A Case Study of Lawrence Public Schools

In 2011, Lawrence Public Schools was the first district that Massachusetts placed into state receivership due to poor performance. By 2014, things had dramatically changed for the better.... More »

Publications District Leaders School Leaders School Design Teaching Turnaround
February 2015

Six Opportunities to Restructure Education Resources in Georgia

From 2012 to 2013, ERS partnered with the Georgia Department of Education to address how the state and a few districts manage their resources. These reports highlight three opportunities... More »

Presentations Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting State Leaders States
October 2014

Return on Investment in Education

Recently, there has been growing interest in adapting Return on Investment thinking to education. But most ROI analysis still misses a big opportunity. Education leaders need a new... More »

Publications District Leaders Funding & Portfolio Leadership
June 2014

The New Education CFO

In recent years, school districts have found themselves in turbulent waters. They face quickly rising academic standards, a greater focus on teacher effectiveness, rapidly changing... More »

Publications District Leaders Funding & Portfolio Leadership
June 3, 2014

The Path Forward

Researchers explored the effects of current school autonomy structures on Boston's public school operations and leadership, and looked at case studies from five other U.S. cities, drawing... More »

Videos District Leaders Leadership

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