Two things are true about child care: It’s important and it’s expensive.
Child care is important. For many children, it is their first experience in a learning program. Children may go to a private child care center, a preschool or prekindergarten program, or a registered family child care home. In all cases, high-quality care and early education can help to prepare them
Michigan’s approach to resource distribution begins with a central idea: student success is most effectively supported when schools have sufficient and strategically aligned resources that are accessible to everyone. This includes organizational capacity to implement selected strategies with fidelity.Federal RequirementMichigan ActionContextOutcomeESSA requires CSI and ATS schools to examine and identify “resource inequities” (Sec. 1111(d)(1)(B)(iv); Sec. 1111(d)(2)(C))Meets requirement through:Resource Allocation Review
Educational leaders are expected to improve outcomes for students, advance equity, respond to emerging needs, and steward limited resources responsibly. To meet these expectations, leaders engage in strategic planning, continuous improvement, stakeholder engagement, and evidence-based decision-making. Yet one of the most powerful levers available to leaders is often viewed primarily as an administrative responsibility rather than a core leadership practice:
ROI has become shorthand for fiscal responsibility—an expectation that every dollar spent should produce measurable gains. In an era of tightening budgets, declining enrollment, and rising student needs, that pressure makes sense. In this blog, SFF introduces a more appropriate frame: Relevant Return on Resources (R3).
ROI has become shorthand for fiscal responsibility—an expectation that every dollar spent should produce measurable gains. In an era of tightening budgets, declining enrollment, and rising student needs, that pressure makes sense. In this blog, SFF introduces a more appropriate frame: Relevant Return on Resources (R3).
ROI has become shorthand for fiscal responsibility—an expectation that every dollar spent should produce measurable gains. In an era of tightening budgets, declining enrollment, and rising student needs, that pressure makes sense. In this blog, SFF introduces a more appropriate frame: Relevant Return on Resources (R3).
Register for our webinar on July 30! Join us for a conversation about how districts can use data to better understand whether resources are supporting intended outcomes.
Register for our webinar on July 16! Join us for a conversation about how states are responding to declining enrollment in rural districts—and what those shifts mean for funding, staffing, and long-term sustainability.
This blog post provides access to a resource that breaks down the real costs behind Early Childhood Education programs and provides researched approaches to conducting these cost studies.
