As schools and district leaders spend down their ESSER funds, they’re forced to make difficult choices about the solutions, programs and positions they’ll continue to fund over the next 2 to 5 years. Facing the prospect of tighter operating budgets, school leaders want to know: how can we they sustainably support impactful programs once ESSER sunsets? CB&A received nearly 150 questions related to this topic, and asked four administrators to share their insights on budgeting, strategic planning, making purchasing decisions, and school climate in the wake of the ESSER downslope during our January Expert Series event.
Panel guests included:
- Leo Brehm, former CIO/CTO of Sharon Public Schools in Sharon, MA
- Suzy Brooks, director of instructional technology at Mashpee Public Schools, Mashpee, MA
- Dana Castine, director of instructional services, Florida Union Free School District, Florida, NY
- Paul Dietrich, academic coach, Fairview Middle School, Gonzales Unified School District, Gonzales, CA
I’ve distilled key takeaways from the event. These will help you earn the attention, trust and business of district leaders this year.
Funding and Budgets
1. What funding sources will you seek to replace ESSER and what programs or solutions will be impacted most?
Administrators on the panel emphasized the importance of planning intentionally.
- School leaders should know which of their current programs, solutions, and positions are supported by ESSER funds and understand what the impact will be if they can’t find new funding sources for them. Likewise, suppliers need to know if schools have purchased their products or services using ESSER funds over the past 3 years.
- By measuring program effectiveness, districts can better allocate dollars to the programs that have proven to be most impactful.
ESSER funding was always intended to be temporary — school and district leaders have had ample notice and planning time for how to address the ESSER draw-down. Our guest administrators suggested looking at all of the funding sources available to your school or district, including E-rate and other federal programs. If you belong to a local consortium, you could seek funding at regional centers like BOCES in New York.
2. How can a vendor or provider helpfully share potential funding options for their products? Is that useful?
Vendors who can provide administrators with funding sources, grant opportunities, and grant application language greatly increase their odds of getting their solutions extended or adopted.
“Every bit a vendor can put together for a school system is helpful,” Brooks the director of instructional technology, said.
What administrators say they don’t have time to review are long eBooks or guides. If they’re just learning about a product for the first time, they prefer slick, bulleted one-page documents that can help them understand what funding they’re eligible to apply for.
Technology products should also include information on data privacy, Castine, the director of instructional services, added.
Education Company Relationships
What is something you wish a previous education sales representative had the foresight to do? Conversely, what is something that immediately turns you away from a company or product?
Education sales representatives who put their relationships with administrators before sales get high grades.
“It should be relationships before products,” said Brooks. “The product is not going to sell itself – it’s the connection.”
Customer service teams should also work hand-in-hand with sales representatives. Quarterly check-ins can help educators ensure they’re using a platform efficiently and taking advantage of any new features.
“The companies that stand out are the ones building relationships and providing adequate communication around training, and helping organizations work their solutions to fidelity,” Dietrich, the academic coach, said.
Another bonus: sales representatives who connect administrators to local districts already using their products provide a helpful service—and help drive product adoption.
“It should be relationships before products,” said Brooks. “The product is not going to sell itself – it’s the connection.”
“If we can contact them and understand what their success has been or what challenges they had implementing the program, it puts us ahead of the game,” Castine said.
Overly-aggressive sales and marketing campaigns turn school leaders off. Before vendors send school leaders an email, they should make sure they include the right name in the greeting. They should also avoid sending multiple emails or including language that makes school leaders feel guilty for not immediately replying.
How do you evaluate outcomes for edtech solutions?
Administrators want to know what about a particular program or solution positively impacts students more than other edtech products on the market, Dietrich said.
“If I can receive consistent, frequent data at the end of the quarter, semester or year, that can help me decide if this is something that I really want compared to what’s out there,” he said.
Internally, school district leaders should create their own key performance indicators and seek teacher feedback to ensure a solution is meeting expectations and making an impact, Brehm, the former CIO/CTO, said.
“If I can receive consistent, frequent data at the end of the quarter, semester or year, that can help me decide if this is something that I really want compared to what’s out there.”
“Customer success professionals could help administrators by outlining what success looks like for their particular district and making sure they’re working toward it,” he said.
Strategic Priorities
What shifts in strategic priorities do you anticipate in 2024/2025?
Districts’ strategic priorities vary widely. It’s important to understand that administrators aren’t always looking for standalone curriculum, professional development, or technology solutions—they’re often looking to put together solutions to enhance programs they already have in place.
In Brehm’s district, the priority has shifted to meeting teachers where they are to help achieve strategic goals, such as tiered instruction and home-to-school connections through accessible communication methods. Leaders in his district are looking at tools that leverage artificial intelligence to help teachers do their jobs more efficiently and streamline workflow.
What are your top priorities around AI, and what plans and policies have you put into place so far?
“Instructional AI provides students with more live feedback,” Dietrich said. “If they’re typing an essay, it’s giving them feedback as they’re typing. It’s only going to grow exponentially.”
Perhaps one of the hottest technology topics this year, AI emerges as a top priority for administrators, many of whom are working on crafting policies to address best practices and acceptable usage. Right now, some administrators are getting more requests for instructional artificial intelligence rather than generative artificial intelligence.
“Instructional AI provides students with more live feedback,” Dietrich said. “If they’re typing an essay, it’s giving them feedback as they’re typing. It’s only going to grow exponentially.”
As AI evolves, leaders said they are grappling with the speed at which it’s moving. Still, they said districts need to address its benefits and implications to ensure their students are ready to use it at college, in the military and in their careers.
School Climate
How is your district tackling human resources challenges?
Teacher recruitment and retention continues to take top priority as administrators look at creative ways to meet the needs of their students. From hiring veteran teachers to creating co-op opportunities for aspiring teachers, school leaders are looking to support experienced educators and grow their pipelines.
When experienced teachers leave, how do districts ensure their students are getting a good education and that they’re able to grow incoming teachers without sacrificing quality?
Building a strong relationships with local teacher credentialing programs and providing internships for university students are ways you can prepare teachers for next-generation classrooms, Dietrich said.
In Mashpee, a group of recently-hired veteran teachers have enhanced the culture of the district, Castine said. The district had typically recruited new teachers, but changed its point of view after looking at resumes and filling positions.
“They’ve [veteran teachers] been more expensive to hire, but it’s been awesome because their level of expertise is higher and we’ve seen positive improvements in our departments,” she said.
Districts that can afford to pay more for teachers still have an advantage, but the education profession is shifting and could potentially expose students to the teaching profession earlier, Brehm said. Cooperative opportunities for students in their junior and senior years of college could help prepare them for the workforce before they graduate.
“They’ve [veteran teachers] been more expensive to hire, but it’s been awesome because their level of expertise is higher and we’ve seen positive improvements in our departments.”
Some smaller districts are looking at ways technology can help bring individualized, small-group and large-class learning to students. Tapping into distance learning has helped some schools find upper-level math and physics teachers, Castine said.
“We could leverage some of that to make sure we’re filling some of the teacher shortage gaps in the next 2 to 5 years,” she said.
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Watch the insight-packed 45-minute CB&A January Expert Series Event, “Ask an Administrator Anything”, here.
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