ERS’s work is incredibly powerful and gets at the heart of resource allocation alignment for school districts. Working with ERS was a highlight of my experience in D.C. and is a critical factor in my entry plans as a new superintendent. Not only does this research have immediate actionable implications, but also reflects ERS’s integrity in data analysis and willingness to support our linking resources to those strategies that best serve teachers and students.
– Meira Corstanza, Supt.,
St. Paul
Public Schools,
former Chief of Accountability,
Washington, DC School District
Washington, DC Public Schools
Project Goals and Analysis
In August of 2005, the District of Columbia Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Clifford Janey, asked ERS to examine spending and activities at both the system and school level to determine how the DCPS could best allocate current resources to improve student performance. ERS analyzed:
- The current levels of funding for each type of student and school
- A comparison of DCPS spending to other urban districts
- Funding levels for different student populations and the key drivers of any inequity
- Opportunities to redirect resources at the school level
Recommendations and Next Steps
Based on this review, ERS identified several opportunities for focusing more time and money on the district’s highest priority goals:
- Serve students with special needs in more integrated environments through push-in instructional models, better integration of students with disabilities into regular classrooms, an increase of in-system placements, and a reduction in self-contained special education classes.
- Increase organizational and operational efficiency, especially in the areas of finance, data processing, and human resources. Reduce excess building capacity by consolidating select small schools. Renegotiate the transportation contract/ explore using outside contractors to improve operational efficiency and accountability.
- Implement a more coherent system-wide professional development strategy. Increase flexibility of school-level resources and build principal capacity so that they can strategically manage resources in research-based ways.
Project Goals, Analysis
ERS’s work has included identifying a variety of instructional and organizational strategies in which resources can be more effectively used at the school level to achieve high quality instruction, individualized attention, and a core academic focus. Among the identified areas are:
- Creative Block Scheduling to increase class time and adapt class size and teacher load, especially in core academic areas
- Flexible Grouping during class time that places students in groups according to specific needs and skills
- Looping to keep a group of students with the same teacher(s) for two consecutive years, creating continuity and more tailored, individualized instruction
- Collaborative Planning for teachers for at least 90 minutes per week to share and improve teaching practice, centering around shared curriculum, formative assessments, and other measures of student work and outcomes
- Expert support for teachers around key instructional goals through coaches and mentors
Next Steps
ERS will continue to work with the DCPS to conduct a more detailed analysis of professional development activities, provide planning and support to implement many of the initial recommendations, and provide assistance in communicating study results to stakeholders.