The introduction of college- and career-ready standards (CCRS) profoundly raises the bar for teaching and learning in American schools--and for professional development. Some school systems are rising to the challenge and significantly improving instruction and seeing student learning growth. With the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates…

This "Professional Growth & Support Spending Calculator" helps school systems quantify all current spending aimed at improving teaching effectiveness. Part I provides worksheets to analyze total investment. Part II provides a system for evaluating investments based on purpose, target group, and delivery. In this Spending Calculator…

One of a series of Education Resource Strategies (ERS) publications and tools, this paper explores important ways to organize and invest in Professional Growth & Support that strengthen teaching capacity and effectiveness at the system level. It draws on research, ERS experience with urban school systems nationwide, and detailed analyses of…

There are very real barriers to using people, time, money, and technology well in today's public schools systems. To begin to break down these barriers, the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) has created a framework to prioritize seven urgent restructuring priorities. The authors have found that these areas represent the largest opportunities for…

Billions 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 outcomes--states are frequently tying the hands of districts. While funding adequacy and equity must remain a priority for states, ensuring that limited resources are used as…

School districts across the country are redesigning their portfolios of high schools to include more small high schools. Over the past three years Education Resource Strategies (ERS), with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, partnered with both schools and districts to understand spending in small high schools and document how…

In the Fall of 2006, Education Resource Strategies (ERS), a nation-wide leader in helping school systems make the most of their resources, was invited by Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) to study the use of resources in the district and create priority recommendations to inform the district's strategic plan. Saint Paul is in a situation where…

In the fall of 2006, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the Unified Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that called for a third-party research firm to analyze resource use across the Los Angeles school system. Education Resource Strategies (ERS) was chosen to conduct this analysis. The study was…