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.

ESSER Hold'em for Districts

ESSER Hold'em for Districts

ESSER Guidance Thumb

Scheduling and Staffing Strategy Guides

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Leadership Funding & Portfolio States Turnaround Explore

March 28, 2023

Here’s Why Some States Are Facing a Steeper ESSER Funding Cliff in 2024

As school districts race to counteract the effects of the pandemic on students, one particular challenge looms large: On September 30, 2024, COVID relief funding for public K-12 education... More »

Publications COVID-19 District Leaders Funding & Portfolio State Leaders
Education Resource Strategies

Reimagining the Teaching Job

An illustration of what the teacher experience looks like now for many teachers, and what it could look like instead by making teaching a more dynamic, rewarding, collaborative, and... More »

Publications Tools COVID-19 Compensation District Leaders Professional Learning School Leaders State Leaders Teaching Leadership Toolkits
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 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
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 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 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
February 03, 2022

Adapting District and School Budget Development Processes for FY23 to Optimize Your ESSER Investment

Six key adaptations for districts and schools to serve as a starting point for your team and district community as you collaborate to prioritize, simplify, and streamline your FY23 budget... More »

Publications Tools COVID-19 District Leaders School Leaders School Design Leadership Community Engagement
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 Leadership Community Engagement
February 03, 2022

Getting Real About Continuous Improvement: Spotlight on Dallas ISD

Learn how Dallas ISD overcame common continuous improvement challenges for its intersession model, such as limited capacity, stakeholder engagement, and key decision-making. More »

Publications District Partnerships COVID-19 District Leaders School Design Leadership
October 28, 2021

Getting Real About Sustainability & ESSER Funding

A 90-second explanation with concrete examples More »

Publications Videos District Leaders Funding & Portfolio
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
April 14, 2021

States Start Here

Childrens' learning has been massively disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the need for more opportunities for differentiated, high-quality learning, stronger relationships... More »

Publications COVID-19 School Design State Leaders States
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
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
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 School Leaders School Design Leadership
Education Resource Strategies, April 9, 2019

Districts at Work

Profiles of eight school systems transforming how the central office supports schools, and seeing student results More »

Equity District Leaders Professional Learning School Design Teaching Leadership
Toolkit: Advice for New Superintendents

As a new superintendent - whether it's your first time in that role or just new to a community- you'll face a tremendous number of challenges. The key is knowing where to begin. More »

District Leaders Leadership Toolkits
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
November 08, 2018

Resource Equity: A Primer for State Boards of Education

At the 2018 NASBE annual conference, Karen Hawley Miles presented on Strategies to Foster Resource Equity to an audience of about 100 state leaders More »

Equity State Leaders States
October 01, 2018

What is Resource Equity?

In this working paper, we've identified many - often hidden - "dimensions of equity," and we explain how each links to student outcomes, identify typical sources of inequities within... More »

Publications ESSA District Leaders Equity Funding & Portfolio
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

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