School Budget Hold’em:ERS, November 3rd, 2011
Education funding decisions should never be left to chance. School Budget Hold ‘em 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.
Turnaround Brief #1Education Resource Strategies, March 15, 2012
This is the first in a series that compiles and analyzes the results of our Sustaining Turnaround at Scale Summit held in October 2011.
Resource Mapping Summary Report:Education Resource Strategies, January 17, 2012
ERS’ public presentation to the Denver Public Schools Board of Education. See an example of resource mapping results and how this kind of analysis can reveal a road map for how to most effectively and efficiently meet goals for improving instruction.
Sustaining Turnaround at Scale - Session Summaries
A brief description of every panel presentation from the ERS Summit, Sustaining Turnaround at Scale.
Memphis White Paper:ERS, October 27, 2010
If your school district is facing a budget issue, it might surprise you to learn that the solution might very well lie in a game of cards. That certainly was the case earlier this year for the city schools of Memphis, Tennessee.
Act Now to Transform School Systems by Karen Hawley Miles and Karen Baroody
PIE Network, September 2011
This article identifies seven priorities that could help districts invest in transformation. It then reviews the barriers that prevent change and the steps state policy makers can take to overcome the barriers.
Restructuring Resources for High-Performing Schools: by Karen Hawley Miles and Karen Baroody with Elliot Regenstein
Education Resource Strategies
At this time of continued budget shortfalls when every dollar spent on education must yield maximum returns in student outcomes–states’ policies and regulations often inadvertently trap precious resources—making decision-making for districts even more difficult. Education Resource Strategies with EducationCounsel identifies four areas where state policymakers can make a big difference…
A Strategic Spending Review of Syracuse City School District: by Stephen Frank
ERS, May 2011
ERS final report summarizing research on the Syracuse City School District (SCSD) and the participative community “work-out” process that was held in response to research results.
Seven Strategies for District TransformationERS, September 2010
Learn about the seven key strategies for districts to improve student performance at scale.
School Design:ERS, October 2010
See how to align your resources with strategic school designs across your district.
Turnaround Schools:ERS, September 2010
Help ensure that efforts to turnaround the worst performing schools lead to sustainable improvement for the students.
School Funding Systems:ERS, September 2010
Use existing resources more effectively by shifting spending, targeting cuts, and laying the groundwork for long-term change.
The Strategic School: by Karen Hawley Miles and Stephen Frank
Corwin Press 2008
Learn how schools can best use the resources they already have.
Education Resource Strategies, January 13, 2011
With escalating education costs in a time of declining school budgets, ERS articulates for state leaders opportunities to shift scarce funds toward the most critical areas. ERS Executive Director Karen Hawley Miles gave this presentation in Chicago at the conference Moving Forward with a Transformative Education Agenda hosted by the…
Turning Around the Nation’s Lowest Performing Schools by Karen Baroody
Center for American Progress, January 2011
Released with the Center for American Progress, this paper will help district leaders systematically implement a district-level turnaround strategy.
This issue of VUE includes an article by ERS’ Executive Director Karen Hawley Miles and Manager Naomi Calvo on how “strategic decentralization” and weighted student funding can transform school districts, empower principals, and increase student achievement.
ResourceCheck™ Tool:ERS, July 2010
Take an online self- assessment to learn how your district’s resource use measures up to best practice.
The purpose of the summit was to provide a forum for districts to share ideas on school funding, discuss what is and isn’t working, and spark new approaches.
In March, 2010, ERS brought together a group of urban education leaders for a two-day summit to explore innovative approaches for allocating student funds based on student need. These summaries came from posters used for an opening gallery walk to the summit. You will find information about each districts size,…
by Karen Hawley Miles
Harvard Education Press, 2010
This chapter of Smart Money: Using Educational Resources to Accomplish Ambitious Learning Goals, edited by Jacob Adams, provides a framework for describing strategic school resource use and the typical sources of resource misalignment. It describes key categories of resource decisions and trade-offs school leaders might consider…
Strategic Professional Development Review by Regis Anne Shields and Karen Hawley Miles
Harvard Education Press, 2009
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 buying. This chapter, from A Grand Bargain for Education Reform edited by Theodore Hershberg and Claire Robertson-Kraft, details…
The results of a Resource Use Analysis conducted by ERS for the School District of Philadelphia between 2007 and 2009.
Don Hovey, April 26th 2010
ERS articulates for states what we know about district resource use and how states’ policies can best help district efforts. ERS Director Don Hovey gave this presentation in Miami at the Governors’ Education Policy Advisors (GEPA) Institute for the National Governor’s Association on April 26th, 2010.
ERS, April 2010
ERS has partnered with a number of districts on implementing weighted student funding, which is also known as fair student funding or student-based budgeting. This presentation serves as an introduction to this budgeting process.
Breaking the Cycle of Failure in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools by Jonathan Travers and Barbara Christiansen
ERS, April 2010
How one district is harnessing the critical levers of school leadership and teaching excellence to turnaround schools in the context of a larger school system.
ERS, 2008
Paper and tool that helps leaders understand and manage the drivers of small school spending.
ERS, 2008
Do districts have to spend more to create small schools? This report finds that three large urban districts spend more on small high schools than on large high schools—but they don’t necessarily have to. While this higher spending is not necessarily undesirable, it is also not always sustainable, particularly given…
ERS, 2007
This web-based tool allows district leaders to test a variety of scenarios for resource use, and focus resources more strategically on their highest priority needs.
by Karen Hawley Miles
New American Schools
This article provides insight into how school systems nationwide are seeking to place more accountability for student performance with educators at the school level.
by Karen Hawley Miles
New American Schools
This article presents a framework for districts and schools to use when examining school infrastructures to better support academic success.
by Karen Hawley Miles
Educational Leadership, September 2001
The focus on creating accountable standards-based schools is pushing districts and schools to more clearly define their goals and priorities for student learning. This analysis focuses on realigning spending and staffing in five ways by defining priorities for student performance.
by M. Roza & Karen Hawley Miles
Center for American Progress, July 2008
This paper released by the Center for American Progress explores the costs involved in expanding learning time for all students.
by Karen Hawley Miles
New American Schools
This article explores how districts can realign spending to support schools in raising student performance.
Center for American Progress and Education Resource Strategies, April 2009
This paper, written with the Center for American Progress, gives state and district leaders 15 concrete ways to use all resources—current and new—for long-term transformation.
by Karen Hawley Miles
Education Week Commentary, February 23, 2009
Schools are bracing for budget cuts of from 5 percent to 10 percent this year, with more to come. At the same time, however, the federal economic-stimulus package being readied for distribution includes more than $100 billion for education. Districts and states will use this emergency federal funding to backfill…
by Ann Doss Helms
The Charlotte Observer, January 28, 2009
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools must take dramatic measures to improve its lowest-performing schools, Superintendent Peter Gorman and a consultant told the school board Tuesday.
And leaders must figure out how to do that while slashing spending in a recession, Gorman added. The board spent almost 31/2 hours Tuesday wading through data, preparing…
by Johnell Johnson
News 14 Carolina, January 28, 2009
CHARLOTTE—As Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools faces down major budget cuts, a national consulting firm is offering advice on how to run the schools more efficiently and save money- but it could mean larger class sizes.
Last month CMS trimmed 5.3 million from its budget for this school year with things like a…
Boston Globe, June 23, 2008
BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick has charged a panel of educators, businessman and financiers to investigate ways to increase efficiencies and shortterm revenues in state school funding. The governor also called for the creation of a “Readiness Passport” for children that could be used as a resource for parents and…
ERS, 2008
Download copies of resource worksheets from the book, The Strategic School: Making the Most of People, Time, and Money to measure how you currently use your resources and consider strategies for improving allocations to better support student learning.
Calculate how you currently use people, time, and money to support…
ERS, 2008
Download copies of resource worksheets from the book, The Strategic School: Making the Most of People, Time, and Money to measure how you currently use your resources and consider strategies for improving allocations to better support student learning.
Calculate how you currently use people, time, and money to support…
by Stephen Frank
Press Release, January 26, 2008
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Stephen Frank
469-831-3815
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
WATERTOWN, Mass., January 26— In this era of tight budgets, schools and districts are under increasing pressure to make every dollar count. Many educators believe small schools are one answer to poor performance and low graduation rates…
by James Walsh
Minneapolis Star Tribune, June 20, 2007
The St. Paul school board on Tuesday approved a $629-million budget for the 2007-08 school year that pumps $12.5 million more than expected from the state into the schools—mostly in the form of additional money for special education.
But what has St. Paul officials really excited is thhat the district…
by Howard Blume
Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2007
The Los Angeles school district gets more of its money into the classroom than most urban school systems, but doesn’t use those funds nearly as well as it could, according to a study commissioned by the district and the teachers union.
The results were released on the same day that…
by Stephen Frank and Jonathan Travers
ERS, 2007
ERS, 2007
by Karen Hawley Miles, Stephen Frank
EdWeek Commentary, December 20, 2006
To the Editor:
As signatories to the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s report “Fund the Child,” we never viewed its recommendations as the “100 percent solution.” In fact, we agree emphatically with your Commentary authors Bruce Baker and Michael A. Rebell that implementing a weighted-student formula is not a silver bullet…
by Karen Hawley Miles
Thomas B. Fordham Institute, June 2006
This manifesto outlines the inequities and inefficiencies of the current school finance system and proposes using a weighted student funding system in which dollars follow individual students, vary according to their needs, and allow flexibility at the school level with results-oriented accountability.
by Karen Hawley Miles
This paper released by the Center for American Progress explores the costs involved in expanding learning time for all students. 2006
by Karen Hawley Miles
New American Schools
This article compares the different levels of resources between schools within districts and how to change the method for allocating resources to a student-based approach. Published in Peabody Journal of Education, Winter, 2005.
by Karen Hawley Miles, Kathleen Ware, and Marguerite Roza
Phi Delta Kappan, 2003
Traces the Cincinnati Public School district process of moving to a system of student-based budgeting: funding children rather than staff members and weighting the funding according to the schools’ and student’s needs.
by Dan Weissmann
Catalyst Chicago, May, 2002
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