An Afton Partners Blog
This is the first installment of Afton’s blog series, “Lessons Learned from the Raising Blended Learners Initiative in Texas,” where we share our experiences, findings, and thought evolution over the course of the RBL initiative. Engaging Finance early in the development of new school models allows school design teams to: Empower school leaders with financial data to… Continued
In February 2018, Afton Partners joined Edunomics Lab, the Building State Capacity and Productivity Center, and the Council for Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) who hosted a one-day conference for over 30 State Education Agencies (SEAs). Afton led a session focused on how state agencies can play a role in fostering the usage of per-pupil financial data at the local level. We reflected on the role of State Education Agencies in fostering effective use of school site-based expenditure reporting. Our conclusion was that SEAs can do a lot to encourage effective use of this data, including training, issuing reporting guidance, clearly defining roles/responsibilities between state/local, and leading dialogue on the value of the reporting. Continued
Recently, Afton completed its engagement with the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) with a plenary speech and breakout sessions at the annual MEGA conference for Title I administrators. The plenary speech provided an overview of the state’s corrected Title I allocation process for LEAs; further details and Q&A were provided in the breakout sessions. Earlier… Continued
Afton Conducts Professional Seminar on Innovation in Education for the University of Virginia’s MBA/MED Program Key takeaways: Finance is only one of several pillars for assessing and sustaining innovation in education. Real-world content, including case studies, lessons learned, and application of financial best practices, is becoming increasingly valuable to help cultivate financial acumen in education… Continued
Panel of national experts at iNACOL conference offer specific examples, case studies for operators October 24, 2017 Blog Summary: The panel of national experts offered opinions and guidance based on their experience in implementing innovative school models. Some key takeaways from the session included: Focus on change management and communications: move beyond individuals and change… Continued
In July 2017, Afton was awarded a two-year contract with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to act as the “Site Level Facilitator” as part of the Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) Fiscal Equity and Return on Investment (ROI) project. Afton is working with ISBE and a designated Advisory Group to enable school… Continued
This is the final installment of Afton’s five-part blog series, “How Districts Can Afford High Quality Schools, Despite Enrollment Decline,” aimed at recognizing school district financial challenges associated with enrollment decline and offering some actionable recommendations for school districts facing enrollment loss, with or without charter schools. As we’ve outlined throughout this series, Afton identified 8 ways… Continued
This is the fourth installment of Afton’s five-part blog series, “How Districts Can Afford High Quality Schools, Despite Enrollment Decline,” aimed at recognizing school district financial challenges associated with enrollment decline and offering some actionable recommendations for school districts facing enrollment loss, with or without charter schools. As we outlined earlier in this blog series, Afton identified… Continued
This is the third installment of Afton’s five-part blog series, “How Districts Can Afford High Quality Schools, Despite Enrollment Decline,” aimed at recognizing school district financial challenges associated with enrollment decline and offering some actionable recommendations for school districts facing enrollment loss, with or without charter schools. As we outlined earlier in this blog series,… Continued
This is the second installment of Afton’s five-part blog series, “How Districts Can Afford High Quality Schools, Despite Enrollment Decline,” aimed at recognizing school district financial challenges associated with enrollment decline and offering some actionable recommendations for school districts facing enrollment loss, with or without charter schools. SOLUTIONS TO AFFORDING QUALITY SCHOOLS At Afton, our… Continued