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 Funding & Portfolio

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 12, 2022

ESSER Hold'em for Districts

ESSER Hold'em for Districts is more than a game—it’s an interactive exploration of the thoughtful trade-offs school administrators will make to use ESSER funds to invest in student recovery. More »

Tools COVID-19 District Leaders Funding & Portfolio
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
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
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 Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting Leadership Community Engagement
October 28, 2021

Getting Real About Sustainability & ESSER Funding

A 90-second explanation with concrete examples More »

Publications Videos District Leaders Funding & Portfolio
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
October 2020

Reporting for Equity

A guide outlining the 5 principles of equity-focused spending reporting, including essential questions and examples of effective reporting practices. More »

Presentations Equity District Leaders Funding & Portfolio
February 18, 2020

ERS Briefing: Opportunities Abound

Read the Briefing The 2019 Student Opportunity Act creates a once-in-a-generation moment for Massachusetts students: the Commonwealth has committed $1.5 billion dollars over seven... More »

Publications Funding & Portfolio State Leaders
November 20, 2019

The Strategic CFO

3 mindsets and 5 core functions to help CFOs align resources to strategy More »

Publications District Leaders Funding & Portfolio
Districts at Work: Tulsa Tales Mini-Podcast

Real stories from real districts: How Tulsa Public Schools supported professional development for teachers — on a budget More »

Presentations Videos District Leaders Professional Learning Funding & Portfolio School Leaders School Design Leadership
January 2019

Transforming School Funding: A Guide to Implementing Student-Based Budgeting

Student-Based Budgeting (SBB) allocates dollars based on enrollment and student need. In this blog, you will find tools and key elements for decision making as you consider SBB for your... More »

District Leaders Equity Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting
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
August 2018

Weighted Student Funding

Weighted Student Funding has become a popular initiative for district leaders who seek to allocate scarce resources to schools, especially in the face of stubborn achievement gaps,... More »

Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting Toolkits
Education Resource Strategies

Toolkit: What is Student-Based Budgeting? How can it drive student learning?

SBB is a funding system whereby dollars follow students based on student need, and can help increase funding transparency, equity, and flexibility. More »

Equity District Leaders Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting Toolkits
June 5, 2018

Bridging the Budget Gap and Accelerating Student Learning in Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD)

The ERS Resource Map for LAUSD analyzes resource allocation across the district, with a special emphasis on distribution of funding; teacher compensation, strategic retention, and... More »

Presentations District Leaders Funding & Portfolio
October 2017

Budget Hold’em for Districts

Budget Hold'em for Districts is more than a game, it’s an interactive exploration of the thoughtful trade-offs school administrators have to make in these challenging budget times. More »

Tools District Leaders Funding & Portfolio
June 20, 2017

Informing Equity

This report is a deep look into K-12 spending and resource allocation in charter and district-run schools in Oakland, comparing them across three dimensions: student need, resource... More »

Publications Equity District Leaders Funding & Portfolio
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
February 07, 2017

From Financial Transparency to Equity: Part 1

This brief summarizes the insights from a working group that sought to answer: How might we allocate resources to achieve the best outcomes for kids? More »

Publications Equity District Leaders Funding & Portfolio
March 31, 2016

Checklist: Creating a Strategic Budget Process

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... More »

Tools District Leaders Funding & Portfolio
July 22, 2015

Making Dollars Work for Students

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... More »

Videos District Leaders Funding & Portfolio School Design
May 29, 2015

Spending in Philadelphia Schools

This PowerPoint presentation summarizes the findings from Education Resource Strategies in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). We partnered with SDP in the 2014-2015 school year to... More »

Presentations Funding & Portfolio
May 2015

Following the Dollars to the Classroom Door

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 »

Publications District Leaders Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting School Leaders School Design
February 2015

Six Opportunities to Restructure Education Resources in Georgia

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 »

Presentations Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting State Leaders States
October 2014

Return on Investment in Education

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... More »

Publications District Leaders Funding & Portfolio Leadership
June 2014

The New Education CFO

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... More »

Publications District Leaders Funding & Portfolio Leadership
April 15, 2014

Student-Based Budgeting Webinar

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... More »

Presentations District Leaders Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting
June 2013

Student-Based Budgeting Video

This short video was created to offer advice to principals considering implementing a student-based budgeting system, also known as weighted-student funding. More »

Videos Funding & Portfolio Student-Based Budgeting
May 2013

Professional Growth & Support Spending Calculator

The Professional Growth & Support Spending Calculator helps quantify all current spending aimed at improving teaching effectiveness. Part I provides worksheets to analyze total... More »

Tools Funding & Portfolio Professional Learning School Leaders Teaching

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