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.
SBB is a funding system whereby dollars follow students based on student need, and can help increase funding transparency, equity, and flexibility.
More »
In 40 states, the real value of teacher salaries declined from 2010 to 2015. How we got here, why it matters, and how we can pay teachers fairly and strategically.
More »
Arizona spends less on K-12 education than almost every other state. But adding resources on top of the current system is likely an ineffective solution.
More »
Teacher teams are one of the most important strategies to promote teacher growth and ignite student learning—if done well. But how to make this crucial time as effective as possible?
The...
More »
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) gives states new financial transparency tools to better understand and become leaders for resource equity, but only if they are used well. These...
More »
ERS studied school systems and states with improving student outcomes to learn best practices for teacher professional learning. We observed that these organizations connected...
More »
How can your school system better connect professional learning to the everyday work of teaching—and to a systemwide strategy for student success?
We studied four school systems that...
More »
This school assessment tool is based on resource strategies and principles from “The Strategic School: Making the Most of People, Time, and Money” by Karen Hawley Miles and Stephen Frank....
More »
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 »
We studied 4 school systems that redesigned their approach to PL and have seen inspiring student growth. Their models are highly "connected" to what teachers do every day.
More »
Our comments target strategies that promote both equity and excellence—in other words, how many resources schools receive and how well they use them. We argue that while it is indeed...
More »
School systems can empower all principals to be strategic talent managers—by mapping out the what, who, when, and how, and organizing data, support, and timelines around the most critical...
More »
Under ESSA, districts must report per-pupil spending at the LEA and school level using actual salary data. This new level of financial transparency aims to promote equity across schools....
More »
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 »
If you're unfamiliar with the Talent Decision Planner, visit the "Building a Talent Decision Map" to learn more. You must be signed in to your ERS Account to access this tool.
More »
School System must better meet the needs of all students. And they can. But to succeed, we can't just do more of the same. We need to transform. Building off of One Vision, Seven...
More »
Effective shared-content teams reduce teacher workload, lowering the planning burden on any individual. They also reduce the expertise burden on each individual: every teacher’s plan...
More »
See how UP Academy in Dorchester, a neighborhood in Boston, MA, has made dramatic academic improvements by focusing on strategic collaboration among teachers.
More »
Revere High School—located just outside Boston, MA—is successfully serving its students with disabilities using the co-teaching method. The school set up inclusive classrooms led by...
More »
Under ESSA, state education agencies have the opportunity to establish a new vision for partnership with districts - one based on their powers to allocate, regulate, and importantly,...
More »
Too often, district efforts to create teacher leadership roles don’t last past the pilot phase. This checklist defines key steps to successful, sustainable, and scalable career...
More »
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 »
These short papers highlight common opportunities school systems have to yield big results for students by adjusting their current resource use. It is based on ERS' 10 years of close...
More »
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 »
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 »
Effective teachers are the biggest in-school factor related to student success. Across the country, a diverse set of districts are pioneering innovative approaches to teacher compensation...
More »
See what the individual professional growth process looks like at the Match Community Day Charter School in Boston. This video illustrates the training, observations, and coaching...
More »