Overview
Through strategic resource allocation analysis and applied research, including budget reviews and finance studies, we uncover opportunities for improving educational performance and equity. In addition, we work with leaders to develop a customized implementation plan for how to align system structures, policies, resources, and processes with the state and/or district educational goals.
We bring our expertise and a holistic approach to help leaders enact sustainable, transformational change within K–12 education, as well as in early childhood education, higher education, special education, and other educational systems.
This is one of the most robust and thoughtful and meticulously researched studies on school finance in the country and in the history of school finance litigation. WestEd should be commended on this incredible body of work.”
– Rick Glazer, Executive Director of the North Carolina Justice Center, in reference to WestEd’s North Carolina Education Finance Study
How We Can Help
Our staff have deep expertise in strategic resource allocation, applied research, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement. We use these strategies to illuminate systems — including organizational, fiscal, and value systems — within a state or district. Through a collaborative process, we then determine how the state or district’s structures, policies, resources, and processes can more effectively serve its goals.
Strategic Resource Allocation
Strategic resource allocation ensures that resources are aligned with evidence-based practices and with your short- and long-term goals. To support this effort, we provide services including:
- School funding formula reviews
- Adequacy cost studies (e.g., cost function analyses, professional judgment panels)
- Technical assistance
- Implementation planning and support
- Program resource reviews (e.g., for special education programs)
Systems Planning
We help leaders develop high-quality strategies to support systemic improvement and advance equity. We provide:
- Strategic planning and system redesign
- Stakeholder engagement
- Implementation planning and support
- Analysis of governance and accountability systems
- Coaching on continuous improvement methods and implementation
- Organizational reviews (structures, processes, etc.)
Projects
Projects
We have partnered with state, regional, and school district leaders nationwide to build organizational capacity for strategic resource use and systemwide improvement.
Below is a list featured projects which illustrate the depth and breadth of our work. To see a full, alphabetized list of our projects, select
“show more.”
Arkansas Cost Adequacy Education Finance Study
WestEd has partnered with Augenblick, Palaich, and Associates (APA) to produce an education finance study for the State of Arkansas. This includes cost function analyses and professional judgment panels to examine the relationship between spending and student outcomes, as well as case studies of districts that are “beating the odds,” and mixed-methods research to recommend a definition of college and career readiness for the state.
California Bright Spots/Continuous Improvement Models
WestEd developed and piloted a mixed-methods research methodology to identify “bright spots” or “continuous improvement models” — schools or districts whose underserved student populations are outperforming statistical expectations. After using this methodology to identify an exemplary district, WestEd worked with the district and its local county office of education to begin organizing learning visits and scaling the district’s successful practices.
North Carolina Education Finance Study
WestEd conducted a cost adequacy and resource allocation study for the State of North Carolina, including researching: how much funding is needed to provide a “sound basic education,” how to revise the state funding formula to improve equitable distribution, and what supports and/or systems need to be in place to ensure the funds are spent efficiently and effectively.
Orange County Office of Education Professional Development on Improvement Science
Through a combination of in-person and virtual sessions, WestEd partnered with the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) to build the capacity of OCDE coordinators to use principles of improvement science to help determine the impact their work is having on districts and their Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) improvement efforts.
Utah Education Finance Study
WestEd is conducting a study evaluating Utah’s school finance system to determine the extent to which current funding formulas meet their intended purposes and provide equitable access to education in the state. The study also provides recommendations regarding how existing resources could more effectively be leveraged to meet the state’s goals and raise student achievement.
Resources
Budgeting for Educational Equity Podcast S2E7: School Closures and Consolidations in California: Deepening Our Understanding
Budgeting for Educational Equity Podcast S2E6: Advancing Equity Through Locally Driven Funding Formulas: LAUSD’s Groundbreaking Student Equity Need Index (the “SENI”)
Budgeting for Educational Equity Podcast S2E5: A New Era of School Business in California: Innovative Thinking About Where We’re Headed—with CASBO CEO Tatia Davenport
Budgeting for Educational Equity Podcast S2E4: Seizing the Moment to Expand Access to Student Services by Maximizing Interagency Collaboration and Funding Sources
Budgeting for Educational Equity Podcast S2E3, Part 2: Big Lifts and Launches: Resource Equity and Other Key Considerations for Implementing Major New Initiatives Like UPK and UTK—A Local District Perspective
Budgeting for Educational Equity Podcast S2E3, Part 1: Big Lifts and Launches: Resource Equity and Other Key Considerations for Implementing Major New Initiatives Like UPK and UTK—A Statewide Perspective