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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...
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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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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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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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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...
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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...
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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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Part of a series of ERS publications on teacher compensation, this paper explores four steps districts can take now for sustained impact on teacher effectiveness.
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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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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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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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In the fall of 2007, Education Resource Strategies (ERS) was invited by Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission to conduct a Resource Use Analysis for the School District of Philadelphia...
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One Vision, Seven Strategies is the culmination of ERS' deep experience working with school systems around the country. It presents our vision for transforming school systems and why...
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Rethinking the Value Proposition to Improve Teaching Effectiveness explores the complete set of offerings and experiences provided by a school system to a teacher. We explore what the...
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This paper explores typical goals of compensation redesign and implications for five main design considerations, including: base salary, district priority incentives, school roles,...
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These instructions will help leaders organize and play Budget Hold'em.
Use the Budget Hold'em for Districts Facilitator's Guide to play the in-person version of the game, using decks of...
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Millions of education dollars are trapped each year. At this time of continued budget shortfalls when every dollar spent on education must yield maximum returns in student...
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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...
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This Getting Started guide is part of a series of publications designed to support your efforts to improve resource use in your district. Use this overview for a quick introduction to...
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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...
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There is no disputing that for high school students to be college and career ready, they need adequate time to learn and individualized attention to meet their academic goals, learning...
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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...
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Before district leaders can expand professional development to better support teachers, they must first determine not only the current investment level but also what that investment is...
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