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By embracing a set of school-wide values, UP Academy creates an atmosphere of rigor and joy, one that leads students to internalize important, positive lifelong values. Students now have...
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The standard annual budgeting process is focused on incremental changes to last year's budget. Yet strategic superintendents and CFOs know that an effective budget process is much more...
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ERS’ School Designer tool integrates districts’ planning and budgeting processes so that key resource decisions, including those related to a school’s schedule, staffing plan, and budget,...
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When Dr. Lourenço Garcia became principal of Revere High School in 2012, he recognized that this traditional school design would need to change to better serve students and meet rising...
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Aldine Independent School District has faced daunting challenges and achieved impressive results since the early 1990s. This School System 20/20 case study explores how they did it.
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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,...
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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...
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ERS is now working with selected districts to perform the School System 20/20 Diagnostic—a data-informed, holistic series of assessments to help leaders in their efforts to redesign...
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Want to learn more about Student-Based Budgeting and how can it drive student learning?
See Our Latest Toolkit
This webinar is based on our publication, Following the Dollars to the...
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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...
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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...
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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....
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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...
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With the enactment of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2013, California districts face an unprecedented opportunity to make big changes. With increased budgets and more...
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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...
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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...
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The following is a video recording of our April 3 webinar on student-based budgeting, based off our recent publication, "Transforming School Funding: A Guide to Implementing Student-Based...
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School Design in Action is a new section of our website that features interactive portraits of schools that are optimizing resources for student success.
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The Professional Growth & Support System Self-Assessment helps school systems evaluate their current Professional Growth & Support strategy. The self-assessment is organized around the...
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In this publication, ERS expands the traditional definition of teacher Professional Development to Professional Growth & Support, which includes any use of people, time, and money that...
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This page contains links for the electronic materials to complement the Teacher Compensation Workshop. Additional information need for download is located on your Teacher Compensation...
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Education Resource Strategies recently hosted a webinar on how to play the budget trade-off game called School Budget Hold'em. The game lets district leaders, and anyone involved in the...
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School districts have the responsibility to design a compensation structure that maximizes their ability to meet teacher recruitment and retention goals within the context of long-term...
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One out of a series of three ERS publications on teacher compensation, this paper explores how to rethink compensation and career paths to attract and retain the most effective teachers.
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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...
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Ten years ago, D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) had 65,000 students. Today it has fewer than 45,000. The severe enrollment decline was a wake-up call for the district. Starting in 2007, DCPS...
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Before schools can systematically implement a district’s vision for excellent school practices, district leadership must clearly articulate exactly what school strategies they believe...
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