There has been a growing debate over the role state education agencies should play in our K-12 system. A just-released ERS report makes the case that we shouldn’t be focused on expanding or limiting the role of states but on ensuring they are more strategic in how they support districts and schools.
In “Spinning Straw into Gold: How state education agencies can transform their data to improve critical school resource decisions,” authors Stephen Frank and Joseph Trawick-Smith explain that SEAs collect key data for compliance and accountability purposes from districts but don’t typically help school leaders use that data in meaningful ways. “The fact that many states collect these data but don’t turn it into something schools can use to be more strategic in areas such as staffing, scheduling and budgeting, just doesn’t make sense. They could be turning straw into gold, but sadly most states are not. We hope the ideas presented here help SEAs shift their strategies,” said Frank.
For more, see the report, here: http://www.erstrategies.org/library/spinning_straw_into_gold?utm_source=Spinning+Straw+into+Gold+Release&utm_campaign=Rescheduled+SBB+Webinar+%2864+contacts%29&utm_medium=email
