The Context: Meeting and exceeding the financial reporting requirements of ESSA 

Like most states, Illinois historically reported financial data at the local education agency (LEA) or district level. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) introduced new fiscal transparency reporting requirements mandating that states collect and report data at the school (or “site-based”) level beginning with School Year 2018-2019 data. Prior to this, it was rare for districts—let alone their school leaders and communities—to truly understand how much was being spent at which schools. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) used the new requirements as an opportunity to move from compliance-based financial reporting to a model that encourages decision-makers to use data to improve the education system. ISBE contracted with Afton from 2017-2019 to develop new reporting standards and data visualizations to achieve this vision. 

The Goal: Empower schools and communities to assess equity and pursue data-informed improvements 

Afton Partners and ISBE sought to design a system that empowers LEAs and communities to analyze and improve resource equity. The new system would allow educators, leaders, and policymakers to assess student needs and outcomes as they relate to resource allocation. Collectively defining the value of the new system led to a formalized value proposition. With these data, Illinois would: 

• Make resource allocation information more readily accessible to schools and stakeholders. 

• Empower LEAs and communities to assess and improve equity. 

• Enable LEAs and communities to gain a better understanding of the relationship between student outcomes and financial resources. 

• Enable LEAs, schools, and the state to identify evidence-based best practices and opportunities to foster innovation between peers. 

The Approach: Staying true to the value proposition throughout the process 

In alignment with ESSA’s financial transparency requirement, Afton facilitated an advisory group to develop the new site-based expenditure reporting structures toward the value proposition.  

Illinois has a diverse set of school districts when it comes to size, geography, student demographics, and capacity to implement reporting. Therefore, it was important to represent the diversity of the state in design and development. ISBE assembled an advisory group comprised of 25 superintendents, business officials, and association leaders from across the state to ensure that many perspectives informed the planning and implementation. 

Our first and most important step was to define the value proposition of the work at hand (shared above). Through facilitated conversations, the advisory group prioritized empowering communities to have meaningful local conversations and initiate data-driven inquiries that serve students’ best interests. A shared set of principles grounded the state’s approach to achieve the value proposition – importantly including the philosophy that districts know their students best and they should have the right and responsibility to tell their own stories. The guiding principles included: 

• Provide reporting “guidance” rather than formal changes to accounting rules 

• Stay close to “minimum ESSA compliance” 

• Leverage existing reporting wherever possible 

• Couple the financial reporting with state report card data 

• Acknowledge that districts know their data best and can tell their own story 

• This initiative should—and will—evolve over years 

The value proposition and guiding principles informed the development of the guidelines for reporting, accounting requirements, data collection processes, and data visualization plans. Indeed, this was a key differentiator and most powerful lever; weaving the value proposition through every step and facet of the work took it from a compliance exercise to a strategic systems development endeavor. By taking the time to define the value of the end product, the philosophy informing that value, and the guiding principles for how the endeavor should proceed, the state was able to determine its proper role in expenditure reporting guidance and oversight.  

Beyond this, Afton worked with the advisory group to develop specific guidance for expenditure reporting. Given the diversity of their contexts, group members often held different perspectives on the design components. Their differences pushed the group to gather more data from districts and subject matter experts before coming to conclusions. 

After developing the reporting guidance, Afton provided a framework and training for data collection and visualization development. The framework sought to empower data visualization systems that answer key inquiry questions raised by various community stakeholders and deliver the most impactful value to users. Afton then conducted training to help decision-makers learn to use data visualizations in a way that allowed them to achieve the intended value of the data.  

The Outcomes: Singular best-practice reporting systems that center equity and community input 

We are proud to say that several experts cite our final product as best practice. According to The Education Trust, “only one state — Illinois — developed school spending reports that aligned closely enough to the five principles to earn a 100% according to our rating system. No other state includes all the elements that we consider important for understanding whether funding is being spent equitably.” Further, Ed Week stated: “Illinois has been a national leader because of its embrace of public input and its insistence that the data be used to spark dialogue within districts.”  And as observed by the Edunomics Lab, “Illinois stands alone in providing spending comparisons within each district, across districts, and enabling side-by-side comparison of school spending and outcomes.” 

The final product demonstrates the philosophy and provides the value intended. It empowers LEAs and communities to assess and improve equity through meaningful expenditure reporting structures. It also allows schools to provide a contextual narrative that accompanies the data to inform community dialogue, with the underlying mental model that schools know their data best.  

Spending the time to engage stakeholders leads to a more meaningful approach and moves the requirement beyond financial reporting for reporting’s sake toward a meaningful discussion on what fair resourcing looks like. By incorporating diverse stakeholder input, leading with a value proposition, and ensuring its presence at every step, ISBE implemented a truly impactful system that can serve districts and their stakeholders well.  

At Afton, we put people first. Doing so results in stronger research design, more nuanced insights, and better decision-making. We are proud to come alongside communities to co-create both problem-solving processes and actionable solutions in a way that respects and engages those who stand to be most impacted. Ready to get started on yours? Get in touch.