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Five Issues around Using Academic Return on Investment (A-ROI) to Inform and Improve Decisions: Part II – Uncertainty

 in Theory  tagged Return on Investment by

In the first post of this series, I discussed validity of A-ROI as a measure of cost-effectiveness. In this post, I focus on uncertainty embedded in A-ROI results. In the business world, ROI is largely treated as an accounting measure with certainty, but the certainty only applies to the accounting period. That is, for a three-year investment, the ROI result is a both accurate and precise representation of its profitability over those three years only. Consumers of ROI information are admonished about risks when applying it to the future or other contexts. Generally, little is provided about those risks other […]

Five Issues around Using Academic Return on Investment (A-ROI) to Inform and Improve Decisions: Part I – Validity

 in Theory  tagged Return on Investment by

You can download a pdf version of this article at https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED603587. Please note that this web version was updated later with the following reference added. Biancarosa, Gina, Anthony S. Bryk, and Emily R. Dexter. “Assessing the Value-Added Effects of Literacy Collaborative Professional Development on Student Learning.” Elementary School Journal 111, no. 1 (September 2010): 7–34. https://doi.org/10.1086/653468. INTRODUCTION Return on investment (ROI) is a concept that originated in the business world in the early twentieth century. According to the Hagley Museum and Library, the concept and the formula were first developed in 1914 by Donaldson Brown, the Assistant Treasurer of the […]

Response to Readers: How to Address the “It’s all for kids so it is all important” Mentality

 in Communication  tagged Budget Decision by

From a reader I am a business official in Arizona and I really enjoyed your article in the September ASBO International School Business Affairs publication. I agree with much of the process you described in the article. I have been working for school districts for over 20 years and have always struggled with the program prioritization process. I often run into the “it’s all for kids so it is all important” mentality. Unfortunately, when you try to use quantitative data alone you also get skewed results.  I was wondering if you could share more detail about how you implement this process? Thank you in advance […]

Ten Key Concepts of Cycle-based Budgeting — Part I

 in Theory  tagged Budget Decision / Budgeting Model by

Cycle-based Budgeting (CBB) is built on ten key concepts, which you will see throughout this web site and in the toolkit. You can use these ten terms to help explain to your colleagues what CBB is about, why it can be helpful, and how to do it.  Due to its length, this post is divided into two parts. In this part, the following five key concepts are presented: Operation Expenditures vs. Investment Expenditures Investment Item Investment Item Owner Investment Cycle Expected Return OPERATION EXPENDITURES VS. INVESTMENT EXPENDITURES Differentiating certain budget items as investments sets the conceptual foundation for approaching those […]

How to Prioritize Programs for Funding Decisions?

 in Application  tagged Budget Decision by

This article was written in collaboration with Dr. Fiona Hollands, Associate Director and a Senior Researcher for the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. It appears in the September 2018 issue of School Business Affairs, published by the Association of School Business Officials International. PDF version download Each year during the budget season, district and school leaders have the opportunity to make budgetary adjustments to make sure limited resources are used both effectively and efficiently to help achieve the organizational mission. Of the myriad types of budget adjustments, one leaders frequently face has to do with selecting a limited […]

Track Investment Using MS Word and R

 in Application  tagged CBB Tool by

One key component of implementing Cycle-based Budgeting (CBB) is a technology system that allows the investments to be documented, tracked, and analyzed. Ideally, an online system that connects an institution’s financial data, outcome data, and its strategic plan should be used. Undoubtedly, it is a big and complex task to build, deploy and use such a system, which is probably why no vendor products are currently available in the market that serve the purpose. In JCPS, we developed an online system using the Microsoft SharePoint platform to implement CBB. This system has many nice features that render a good user […]

Empower Leaders to Make Strong Budget Decisions by Improving System Deficiencies

 in Theory  tagged Budget Analysis / Budget Decision / Budgeting Model by

This article appears in the January 2018 issue of School Business Affairs, published by the Association of School Business Officials International. Please note that the article was originally written in September of 2017. Click on this link to download the published version.    As stewards of the taxpayer money, district leaders often take most, if not all, of the blame for not using those tax dollars effectively and efficiently to improve student outcomes. What the public does not always recognize and appreciate, however, is how difficult it is for district leaders to make informed budget decisions and how much they […]

Digital Promise Selected CBB Toolkit for Its Edtech Pilot Framework

 in Announcement  tagged CBB Tool by

The Edtech Pilot Framework provides a step-by-step process to help education leaders and technology developers run successful educational technology (edtech) pilots. CBB Toolkit is listed under both the Plan and Negotiate/Purchase steps. Also, I will be attending the upcoming AASA Annual National Conference on Education, February 15-17, 2018 in Nashville, TN. I have a round table session on Friday afternoon. Title: Cycle-based Budgeting & Continuous Improvement: Three Years of Lessons Time: 2/16 from 2:30 to 3:30 Venue: Table #6 in the NCE Marketplace at the Music City Center Convention Center Hope to see you there.

MS Word Version Investment Tracking Form Added to the Toolkit

 in Announcement  tagged CBB Implementation / CBB Tool by

Considering that SharePoint and InfoPath based Investment Tracking Form is not a viable solution in many districts, I added a new Investment Tracking Form developed in Microsoft Word to the CBB Toolkit. You can also download the form by clicking on this MS Word icon . This version includes three critical elements that are often missing in a typical Investment Tracking form: 1) cost per pupil, 2) measurable target outcomes, and 3) review cycle. Compared to the web-based solution (SharePoint and InfoPath), using the MS Word based form has many limitations. With that said, it does provide the following features: […]

A Decision Tool and Two Decision Rules

 in Application / Theory  tagged Budget Decision / CBB Implementation / CBB Tool by

Acknowledgement: the author thanks Dr. Buchanan for his critiques that helped improve this post.   The CBB Decision Tool has been uploaded to the Toolkit. This tool is intended for two purposes: ⚑ Provide two simple but powerful data points for making program funding decisions ▸ Cost per pupil ▸ Total number of programs a cost center will be implementing concurrently ⚑ Play what-if scenarios to see the resulting implications for budget and program implementation CONTEXT Ideal School District adopted CBB in 15-16 school year. After two years of implementation, 9 CBB-accounted programs totaling $21.98 million will reach the end […]