Educational technology products offer potentially effective means of supporting teaching and learning in K-12 classrooms. But for any given instructional need, there are likely to be numerous product options available for purchasing. What can school districts do to help ensure that good selections are made? In a recent, comprehensive study of…

Too many students spend their days in buildings with unhealthy air, have limited opportunities for physical activity, and have inadequate access to fresh water, nutritious food or a school nurse. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) recognizes the need for schools to support the whole child and specifically acknowledges the importance of health…

Great teachers, principals, and other school leaders (collectively, educators) matter enormously to the learning and the lives of children. The Title II, Part A program is designed to provide students from low-income families and minority students with greater access to effective educators. It is critical that State educational agencies (SEAs) and…

"School Budget Hold'em" is a game designed to help school districts rethink their budgeting process. It evolved out of Education Resource Strategies' (ERS) experience working with large urban districts around the country. "School Budget Hold'em" offers a completely new approach--one that can turn the budgeting process into a long-term visioning…

To address the economic crisis facing the nation, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law on February 17, 2009. ARRA provides $787 billion in new funding; of this amount, more than $16 billion can be used to support asset-building programs and services for the individuals and communities most…

Procedures and exemplary results for a resource allocation approach to determining mentally retarded clients' need status are outlined. The authors suggest this approach results in standard client characteristic data helpful in evaluating programmatic, cost, and outcome variables. (Author/CL)

The primary assumption behind the development of this guide is that program managers, faced with the responsibility of designing and planning an educational program, or modifying an existing resource system, might profit from a better understanding of the nature of needs assessment. The first section of this guide presents an overview of needs…

Offers strategies for increasing library budgets, based on the pragmatic realities of funding decisions. Strategies discussed include: associating library needs with a more influential constituency; allowing service to deteriorate to intolerable levels; using influential patrons as spokesmen for the library; and appealing to funders' priorities…

This guide is designed to help school districts develop a consolidated plan for programs and resources. It outlines the importance of generating a consolidated plan to reduce duplication, identify children's needs, and coordinate funds from various programs. Consisting of 10 modules, the guide addresses all components of the planning process and…

The Grand Blanc (Michigan) Community School District sets budget priorities by (1) surveying students, taxpayers, and teachers to learn their preferences for current programs and services; (2) determining the costs of state-mandated programs; (3) listing nonmandated programs and determining their costs; and (4) considering proposed new programs.…

The zero-based budgeting approach is designed to achieve the greatest benefit with the fewest undesirable consequences. Seven basic steps make up the zero-based decision-making process: (1) identifying program goals, (2) classifying goals, (3) identifying resources, (4) reviewing consequences, (5) developing decision packages, (6) implementing a…

This paper is addressed to those who want to start their own child care center, and provides guidelines for doing so. It identifies the first things to be considered--planning and conducting a community needs assessment to analyze the competition in the area and make the decision of opening a day care center, and gathering information from a…

In order to develop a financial plan for and identify constraints on the production of distance learning materials, a total human resources development (HRD) plan must be produced, and endorsed by the highest level of management. The HRD plan sets out the human resources needed to secure the organization's future in terms of people and their…

The educational administrator must often straddle the gap between empirically sound and politically expedient decisions, employing policy assessment as a hedge against adopting ill-conceived policies. The resource allocation model (RAM) attempts to remedy this dilemma by tying program evaluation and policy analysis into a single conceptual yet…

As an outgrowth of work to establish collaborative relations and to develop strategies for creating, monitoring, evaluating, and improving community programs, this planning guide has been developed to help Urban League chapters and others plan and implement programs for local needs. The guide is organized into the following nine steps: (1) build…