A Guide to Contents
Introduction and Overview: Why Reallocate Resources?
High standards for curriculum content and increased performance for all students are the main goals of today's educational reform. The authors describe several schools that have undertaken innovative practices to reallocate resources to meet these goals.
The Change Process
This section outlines a three-step change process that leads to resource reallocation decisions at the school site.
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Step One: Recognizing the Need for Change
The authors present examples in which policy-makers at the federal, state, district, and local levels have recognized the need for changes in educational issues.
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Step Two: Diagnosing the Need for Change
The authors briefly discuss several processes that districts and schools can use to assess their strengths and weaknesses in order to adopt more effective strategies.
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Step Three: Creating a New Educational Strategy
Decisions about reallocating funds require that schools "look at the total picture." In this section, the authors discuss areas to consider when developing a needs-assessment strategy that will allow change in schools.
Resource Reallocation Strategies
The authors describe resource allocation strategies that can be used by districts or schools to pay for some of the most expensive elements of a new educational plan.
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Resource Allocation at the District Level
While most of the options described in this paper relate to reallocations at the building level, this section notes the potential for reallocating district resources.
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Resource Allocation at the School Level
This section addresses resource reallocation at the school level, including staffing resources and other smaller pots of discretionary resources.
Implications for District, State, and Federal Policymakers
The authors describe the roles that district, state, and federal policymakers can take to reach new achievement goals.
References
Additional Resources
Selected resources including contacts, publications, and Internet sitesÑ are listed.
