WASHINGTON – Today, Digital Learning Now! (DLN) released the sixth DLN Smart Series interactive paper with co-authors from Getting Smart. “Funding Students, Options, and Achievement” recognizes the economic realities of “the new normal” faced by states and districts in funding learning and proposes ways to redesign current school finance systems to center on students rather than institutions.
“Student-centered systems recognize diverse student needs, allow dollars to follow students to the best learning options, create mechanisms to ensure quality, and foster innovation,” said John Bailey, executive director of DLN.
Today’s public education finance systems were created for a bygone era. Consequently, these broken systems are locked in outdated delivery models, stifling innovation in our nation’s public education systems and ignoring the relationship between spending and student learning. We have the technology to connect each student with the schools, courses and instructors best suited to meet his or her individual needs, yet in many states, district lines and funding formulas thwart this progress.
“Today’s finance system lacks the flexibility needed to support the flood of educational innovation,” said Tom Vander Ark, founder and chief executive officer of Getting Smart. “Reorienting the system around students will extend equitable student access to high-quality options that have the potential to personalize and customize learning.”
Carri Schneider, director of policy and research at Getting Smart, stated, “The implementation of college- and career-ready standards and the shift to personal digital learning have created an unprecedented opportunity to redesign the school finance system to set students free to explore a growing slate of learning options.”
“Funding Students, Options, and Achievement” offers practical design principles of a student-centered funding system – tested in policy and in practice on both the state and district level. According to these principles, funding should be weighted (reflecting a student’s individual needs), flexible (keeping funds free from restrictions and program designations), portable (ensuring dollars follow students), and performance-based (rewarding performance and completion).
“The extent to which each student will be able to access innovations like digital learning will depend largely on the manner in which public resources are allocated to schools and students,” said Marguerite Roza, school funding expert and technical advisor on the paper. “As state leaders re-examine their finance systems, the current moment provides a key opportunity to look forward and design a system that’s suitable for our students over the next two decades.”
The paper concludes that evolution in the nature of teaching and learning precipitates corresponding advancements in the way education is funded. Today’s education policymakers have a unique opportunity. Powered by the growth of digital learning and with the implementation of Common Core State Standards on the horizon, these leaders can redesign current school finance systems and free students to choose the schools, educators and courses that match their needs.
Authored by Carri Schneider and Tom Vander Ark of Getting Smart and John Bailey of Digital Learning Now!, the principles within “Funding Students, Options, and Achievement” are designed to assist policymakers as they create student-centered finance systems to represent the changing needs of K-12 students. Education leaders and practitioners in the field are encouraged to submit comments on the draft and engage with the authors through their websites, blogs and social media.
Released in partnership with Getting Smart and the Foundation for Excellence in Education, the DLN Smart Series is a collection of interactive white papers aimed at equipping policymakers and education leaders with the necessary tools for transforming education for the digital age. Each paper offers specific guidance regarding the adoption of Common Core State Standards and the shift to personalized digital learning. The first five papers in the series are also available for download:
- Funding the Shift to Digital Learning: Three Strategies for Funding Sustainable High-Access Environments
- Data Backpacks: Portable Records & Learner Profiles
- Getting Ready for Online Assessments
- The Shift From Cohorts to Competency
- Blended Learning Implementation Guide
Use #SmartSeries and #DigLN to join the conversation, or copy and paste the sample tweets below to spread the word. DLN is also active on Facebook at facebook.com/DigitalLearningNow and Twitter at @DigLearningNow.
- . @DigLearningNow released 6th paper in #SmartSeries paper for schools & districts https://bit.ly/UT5ozO #DigLN #SchoolFinance
- Today’s school finance system has a chilling effect on educational innovation. Read more here: https://bit.ly/UT5ozO #SchoolFinance
- 6th paper in #SmartSeries from @DigLearningNow released today. Find summary, infographic, & full report here: https://bit.ly/UT5ozO #DigLn
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Digital Learning Now! is a national campaign under the Foundation for Excellence in Education with the goal of advancing state policies that will create a high-quality digital learning environment to better equip all students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in this 21st-century economy. The policy framework stems from the belief that access to high-quality, customized learning experiences should be available to all students, unbounded by geography or artificial policy constraints.
Getting Smart™ is an advocacy firm passionate about innovations in learning. We help education organizations construct cohesive and forward-thinking strategies for branding, awareness, advancement and communication, and public and media relations. We are advocates for better K-12 education as well as early, post-secondary and informal learning opportunities for all students. We attempt to accelerate and improve the shift to digital learning. On GettingSmart.com we cover important events, trends, products, books, and reports.
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