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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Board Members School Support & Accountability Turnaround Learn More

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 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
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
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
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
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
August 2020

COVID Comeback Models

Explore concrete examples of possible student groups, schedules, and staff roles for various hybrid models. More »

Publications Tools COVID-19 District Leaders School Leaders School Design Teaching School Support & Accountability
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 Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting 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
December 2014

Spinning Straw into Gold

K–12 education resources are often allocated non-strategically, with schools spending time and money on activities that have little relationship to student outcomes. States can help... More »

Publications State Leaders School Support & Accountability States
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 15, 2013

Essential School Practices

Before schools can systematically implement a district’s vision for excellent school practices, district leadership must clearly articulate exactly what school strategies they believe... More »

Publications District Leaders School Leaders School Design School Support & Accountability
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

Leadership District Story: Charlotte-Mecklenburg

In 2006, Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District made a bold move. It began to strategically staff a subset of its lowest-performing schools with its district’s best principals. Five years... More »

Presentations Videos District Leaders School Leaders Leadership School Support & Accountability
March 2013

School Support District Story: Denver

By transforming its central office from a compliance watchdog to a service and strategic partner, Denver Public Schools (DPS) was able to leverage data, technology, and training to... More »

Videos District Leaders School Support & Accountability
March 2013

Why Now?

Hear from: Sam Franklin, Executive Director of the Office of Teacher Effectiveness, Pittsburgh Public Schools Brian Pick, Deputy Chief Academic Officer, D.C. Public Schools Alyssa... More »

Videos District Leaders Leadership School Support & Accountability Standards & Instructional Resources
February 28, 2013

School System 20/20 Infographic

The School System 20/20 infographic lets you see the possibilities for system transformation through ERS' seven-strategy framework. It illustrates the challenges to reallocating people,... More »

Presentations District Leaders Leadership School Support & Accountability Standards & Instructional Resources
December 19, 2012

The Teaching Job Analyses and Worksheets: Section 4

The Teaching Job worksheet series includes worksheets with step-by-step instructions to help you calculate and measure teaching effectiveness. These analyses can help identify your... More »

Tools School Leaders Teaching School Support & Accountability
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

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