Education Resource Strategies

Introduction
Choose Your Scenario
Model District Cost Drivers

Elementary Schools
Class Size and Planning Time
Small Group Support
Individual Tutoring
Staffing Strategies

Secondary Schools
Class Size and Scheduling
Staffing Strategies

Professional Development
School-based PD
Individual Careers/Other PD

Compensation and Time
Teacher Compensation
Instructional Time

Reports and Results
Budget Summary
Per Pupil Costs

Research cites teacher quality as a critical school-based determinant for student success. As an important district resource, teachers' experience should be developed strategically. Compensation levels and the allocation of teacher time for planning, instruction, and professional development are ways that districts can influence teacher quality.

Teacher Compensation — High-performing school districts design salary structures that allow them to fill and retain core academic positions with outstanding, high-quality teachers. Formulating an effective compensation strategy enables a district to attract and retain high quality candidates, retain effective teachers, and provide incentives for teachers to improve their teaching practice. The Teacher Compensation page allows you to experiment with changes in salary structure, benefits, and pay scales as possible levers for improving the quality of instruction in high-priority subject areas.
Instructional Time — A school district's ability to maximize instructional time is a key lever in improving student achievement. High performing schools create more time for academic subjects. Research shows that when students spend more time on academic subjects and receive good instruction, performance improves. The Instructional Time page allows you to experiment with different aspects of school schedules, including instructional versus non-instructional time.

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We encourage you to use this model and to share it with anyone else who is dedicated to improving student performance through the strategic use of school resources. Selling this tool is expressly prohibited. See Terms of Use.

This research was supported by the School Finance Redesign Project at the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education through funding by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grant No. 29252. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and are not intended to represent the project, center, university, or foundation.

This strategic resource allocation tool is designed to assist users in evaluating the costs of select educational program elements and alternatives. Neither ERS nor the School Finance Redesign Project endorses the use of any of the specific elements/alternatives contained in the tool, endorses the use of the elements/alternatives in the tool over other elements/alternatives, or guarantees the effectiveness of the tool elements/alternatives relative to improving student outcomes. Users of the tool bear sole responsibility for consequences associated with using the output of the tool and/or implementing the elements/alternatives in the tool.