An Afton Partners Blog
For the second consecutive year, Afton’s Scott Milam and Katie Morrison-Reed hosted an expert panel on sustaining innovative public-school models. This panel discussion built upon the discussion from a year prior at iNACOL, as four of the six panelists had previously shared their experiences and thoughts on sustainability on the prior year’s panel. As personalized… Continued
In 2017, Afton worked with the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to improve the agency’s process to allocate Title I Part A funding to its 400+ LEAs, and Afton shared its learning here. Since this initiative, Afton’s team has delved into federal funding allocation processes and identified common challenges in multiple states across over a… Continued
This is the third 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. A detailed analysis of sources and uses of funds for the first year of the Raising Blended Learners grant program reveals: Sites plan… Continued
This is the second 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. After reading this blog, the reader will: Understand the benefit of providing in-person financial workshops to grant applicants Understand how finance involvement in… 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
In a small suburban district outside of Chicago, the city of North Chicago is proving how public school districts can offer choice to families in a fiscally responsible way. North Chicago Community Unit School District 187 serves over 3,500 students, 88% of whom are eligible for free and reduced lunch, 27% of whom are English… Continued
This paper takes the first systematic look at costs associated with implementing personalized learning schools, how leaders of these schools choose to allocate their funds, and what it might take to make personalized learning financially sustainable on public dollars. Researchers at CRPE, in partnership with Afton Partners, studied 16 charter elementary and secondary schools with a wide range of personalized learning models from across the country… Continued
Over the past decade, the demand has grown for high-performing public charter schools in cities across the country. However, one hurdle charter schools face to meet the demand for their schools is financing and managing facilities. Afton Partners spoke to the Chief Financial Officers at two high-performing charter management organizations (CMOs) – John Murphy at… Continued
Afton Partners’ Scott Milam and Katie Morrison-Reed facilitated a conversation with leading practitioners from school districts across the country on best practices to implementing and sustaining innovative personalized learning models at iNACOL’s 2015 Blended and Online Learning Symposium in Orlando, Florida. Through Afton’s work with school districts from coast-to-coast, the team recognized unique innovations happening… Continued
Across the county, skilled educators are implementing truly innovative approaches to teaching and learning. At Afton Partners, we’ve had the privilege to work with over 100 school districts and charter management organizations (CMOs) that have implemented blended learning school models to strengthen individualized curriculum and improve outcomes for students with varying academic abilities… Continued