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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Community Engagement Turnaround District Partnerships Learn More

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 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 13, 2022

Teacher Turnover During COVID: New Data and Insights

Has Teacher Turnover Spiked During COVID? It Depends Where You Look The pandemic has had a profound and widely documented effect on students and educators, leading many... More »

Publications COVID-19 District Leaders School Leaders State Leaders Teaching Learn More
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 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
Schools Start Here Series

The Schools Start Here series dives into the resource side of ESSER strategy and planning. These guides offer a blueprint for how to organize resources as part of a sustainable ESSER... More »

Publications Equity District Leaders Funding & Portfolio Professional Learning School Leaders School Design School Support & Accountability Community Engagement
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
December 2018

The Strategic System Snapshot | Mini

A 10-minute self-assessment tool that helps district leaders and others identify which of your strategies are likely to lead to student success—and where there are opportunities to improve. More »

Funding & Portfolio School Design Teaching School Support & Accountability Standards & Instructional Resources Community Engagement
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 School Leaders School Design Teaching Leadership School Support & Accountability Turnaround
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
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
March 23, 2013

DREAM

You can do less with less, or you can change your district's cost model by rethinking how schools and systems are structured. DREAM allows you to adjust key cost levers in your district... More »

Tools District Leaders Student-Based Budgeting Teaching Turnaround
March 14, 2013

Turnaround Case Studies

“Turnaround Case Studies” is an analysis of strategies to turn around low-performing schools undertaken by six large urban districts and four education management organizations. These... More »

Presentations District Leaders School Leaders Turnaround
March 12, 2013

Sustaining Turnaround at Scale Summit: Posters

View the posters that compare the turnaround strategies of the districts that attended Education Resource Strategies’ Sustaining Turnaround at Scale Summit held in October 2011. ERS held... More »

Presentations School Leaders Turnaround
March 2013

Partners District Story: Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Despite success turning around many of its lowest-performing schools, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District found that nine of its schools were still struggling. To improve these... More »

Presentations Videos Community Engagement
April 2012

School Budget Hold'em Video: Targeting Turnaround Schools

Our series of School Budget Hold'em winning hands videos illustrates how to reach a target budget reduction while prioritizing different areas. This video shows one way to target... More »

Videos Tools Turnaround
March 15, 2012

Sustaining Turnaround at Scale Summit Briefs

This series compiles and analyzes the results of our Sustaining Turnaround at Scale Summit held in October 2011. More »

Publications District Leaders School Leaders Turnaround
October 2011

Sustaining Turnaround at Scale Summit: Videos

View videos from ERS’ Sustaining Turnaround at Scale Summit held in October 2011. Panelists from the ERS Summit share some thoughts on successful turnaround. Panelists on the closing... More »

Videos District Leaders School Leaders Turnaround
March 2011

Video: Turnaround in Action

See how two schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (NC)–winner of the prestigious 2011 Broad Prize for Urban Education–are approaching turnaround. Both are achieving spectacular... More »

Videos School Leaders School Design Turnaround
January 2011

Turning Around the Nation’s Lowest Performing Schools

Across the country, states and school districts are focusing on turning around the nation’s lowest-performing schools. This focus on school turnaround, while welcome, is not new. And... More »

Publications District Leaders School Leaders School Support & Accountability Turnaround
September 2010

Turnaround Schools Resource Guide

Turnaround efforts at individual schools will not result in widespread, sustainable change without fundamental shifts in the way districts evaluate school, student, and teacher needs and... More »

Publications District Leaders School Support & Accountability Turnaround
April 2010

Breaking the Cycle of Failure in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

In this case study of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Strategic Staffing Initiative, Education Resource Strategies (ERS) and the Aspen Institute tell the important story of how one district is... More »

Presentations Publications District Leaders School Leaders School Design Teaching School Support & Accountability Turnaround

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