WestEd provides rigorous and high-quality school finance and fiscal equity research and technical assistance, supporting clients with district budget analyses and forecasting, cost analyses, and funding formula and accountability system design and evaluation. Led by national experts in school finance, our team ensures that resources are used strategically, equitably, and sustainably to meet student needs.
How We Help
Through research and technical assistance, we support clients in ensuring that education resources are used effectively, equitably, and sustainably.
Through this service, our team can support preK–12, early childhood, higher education, and Tribal systems with
- statewide studies of funding adequacy and equity;
- education cost modeling;
- funding system design, evaluation, and implementation support;
- fiscal policy analyses;
- funding/expenditure impact analyses;
- resource allocation reviews; and
- technical assistance on the strategic, equitable, and sustainable use of resources.
Our team includes national fiscal equity experts, former school district financial officers, state fiscal analysts and policy advisors, seasoned researchers and evaluators, and dynamic facilitators and coaches. Collaborating closely with state and local leaders, we ensure that our rigorous, cutting-edge research translates to clear, actionable findings and guidance.
Service Delivery
- Online, onsite, or hybrid
Who Will Benefit
- LEAs
- Institutions of higher education
- State agencies
- Tribal governments
Over the last several years, we have engaged WestEd in supporting Utah’s implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding Formula, a new funding formula for school districts directing additional resources to high-need student populations, including students from low-income backgrounds and English language learners.
WestEd was an effective and supportive technical assistance partner that worked alongside staff at the SEA through various stages of implementation, including the formula’s construction, assessment, and selection of effective monitoring activities and efforts to assess the formula’s impact in its first few years of implementation.
— Dr. Sydnee Dickson
Utah State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Featured Experts
Kelsey Krausen
Sean Tanner
Alex B. Jacobson
Connecting Research With Practice
With limited budgets and rising costs, schools need to make every dollar count. Education systems face many of the same fiscal pressures as the overall economy, such as inflation and rising labor costs, plus unique factors involving shifting student demographics, declining enrollment, and increased expectations that schools provide a larger range of services. Yet research shows that districts vary widely in the cost-effectiveness of their spending decisions.
Moreover, although research shows that advancing fiscal equity leads to improved long-term outcomes for students from disadvantaged communities, many states and school districts have persistent inequities in school funding.
WestEd’s school finance experts help state and local leaders make data-driven decisions that advance equity, cost-effectiveness, and fiscal sustainability—maximizing every dollar’s impact on improving student outcomes.
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Insights & Impact
Resources
Browse our high-quality publications and resources designed to inform and engage professionals in a variety of fields including K–12 education, early childhood, and health and justice.
