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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Special Education Community Engagement ESSA Assess Take Action

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
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
July 06, 2022

Mobilizing Resources to Advance Excellence and Equity for All Students

Doable starting points and tools for leaders to mobilize resources and create excellent and equitable experiences for students. More »

Publications COVID-19 Equity District Leaders School Leaders Funding & Portfolio School Design Teaching Learn Take Action
May 31, 2022

How implementing a "Continuous Improvement ROI" model can help districts maximize ESSER outcomes

Continuous improvement ROI is a way to ensure effective and equitable allocation of ESSER funds even when the timeline of spend, and our system’s capacity, are limited More »

Publications Tools Videos COVID-19 District Leaders Assess
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
Sep 29, 2021

Organizing Resources to Support Inclusion Models for Students With Disabilities

Across the country, roughly one in five students with an IEP spend most of their time receiving individualized services and supports in a “self-contained” or “substantially separate”... More »

Publications Special Education District Leaders
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
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
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
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
June 05, 2018

Addressing the Teacher Labor Market Challenge in Arizona

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 »

Presentations ESSA Equity State Leaders
March 6, 2018

Toolkit: Advancing Equitable School Funding under ESSA

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 »

Presentations ESSA State Leaders States
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 School Leaders School Design Teaching Leadership School Support & Accountability Turnaround
November 10, 2016

ERS Comments on ESSA Supplement, Not Supplant Regulation

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 »

ESSA Publications State Leaders
October 06, 2016

ESSA Financial Reporting Requirement

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 »

ESSA Publications District Leaders State Leaders
September 2016

7 Tenets for Sustainable School Turnaround

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 »

Publications ESSA State Leaders Turnaround
March 2013

Partners District Story: Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Despite success turning around many of its lowest-performing schools, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District found that nine of its schools were still struggling. To improve these... More »

Presentations Videos Community Engagement
June 7, 2011

Restructuring Resources for High-Performing Schools

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... More »

Publications Special Education State Leaders States

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