FiDWiG Meeting Resources
Please contact us at edunomics@georgetown.edu for accessible versions of the meeting resources.
April 25, 2023
Using Expenditure Data in Resource Allocation Reviews (RARs)
February 9, 2023
3 Actions for States to Drive Districts to Use Better Data in Budgeting
February 9, 2023
October 18, 2022
School Spending & Outcomes Snapshot: Data Displays That Work
August 25, 2022
What an SEA Can Do in the Face of Unstable Financial Times Ahead
April 21, 2022
Tracking and using ESSER data to inform financial decisionmaking- April 2022 FiDWiG
February 17, 2022
All about SEA finance and data capacity and tracking ESSER spending – February 2022 FiDWiG
December 13, 2021
Six mistakes we’re seeing with ESSER funds. What’s the role of the SEA? – December 2021 FiDWiG Meeting
September 9, 2021
ARP ESSER Maintenance of Equity Q&A with Ian Rosenblum, Acting Assistant Secretary, OESE – September 2021 FiDWiG Meeting
Maintenance of Equity presentation slides September 9, 2021
Maintenance of Equity Q&A recording September 9, 2021
June 15, 2021
Financial Decision-Making and Transparency: State ARP ESSER plans and FY 20 school-by-school spending – June 2021 FiDWiG Meeting
May 27, 2021
Federal ESSER dollars in the context of school-by-school spending – May 2021 FiDWiG Meeting
March 25, 2021
Decision-making around American Rescue Plan (ESSER III) funds – March 2021 FiDWiG Meeting
February 4, 2021
Financial decision-making; ESSER II; Hold harmless – February 2021 FiDWiG Meeting
December 8, 2020
State of the States – ESSA State Data Tracker: December 2020 FiDWiG Meeting
October 30, 2020
Financial Impacts of a Pandemic: October 2020 FiDWiG Meeting
September 25, 2020
Financial Decision-Making: Exploring Resource Allocation Across Schools. September 2020 FiDWiG Meeting
August 18, 2020
Are the data reported in a way that can be used for school improvement? August FiTWiG meeting
In this webinar we cover whether the data are reported in a way that can be used for school improvement and federal funding updates.
June 30, 2020
Nearing the finish line: Taking stock of where we are! June FiTWiG Meeting
In this webinar we cover which states published ESSA school-by-school spending data by the deadline, which states use the IFR, and whether the data can be used to compare how spending varied across schools in a district.
April 6, 2020
School spending data during COVID April FiTWiG Meeting
In this webinar we cover the implications of the CARES Act and COVID, reporting and successful use of PPE data, and states questions about reporting data and calculating attendance.
March 4, 2020
Combined FiTWiG and SBA Network Meeting
In this webinar we interview Jim Blew and Chris Rinkus from the U.S. Department of Education and discuss how states are fostering transparency, analysis and action regarding the school-by-school spending data.
January 16, 2020
Getting it all done (in time)
In this webinar we address states questions about data validation and facilitating conversations linking school financials with outcomes.
Presentation Slides January 16, 2020
Webinar recording January 16, 2020
December 21, 2019
Closing out the year: ESSA’s anniversary, state questions and federal updates
In this webinar we provide updates on report card monitoring from the Department of Education, discuss the controversy around the elimination of the school spending data from the CRDC survey and address state questions.
November 12, 2019
Are your data buried? Should SEAs correct errors in the media?
In this webinar we explore the accessibility of states financial data, tips for making data more accessible and explore ways SEAs can correct errors if they are reported incorrectly in the media.
October 7, 2019
The Intersection between Financial Transparency and the School Level Financial Survey (SLFS)
In this webinar Stephen Cornman and Stephen Wheeler discussed the changes to the SLFS and how it could impact states collecting and reporting of the financial transparency data. We also discussed the timeline for state releases of their 2018-2019 financial data, what states are displaying on their report card and a checklist for conducting data validations.
August 8, 2019
Financial intersections and the opportunity
Dr. Roza explores how SEAs can use the emerging school-by-school financials in other SEA efforts including Supplement-Not-Supplant’s requirement for a “resource allocation methodology” and in ESSA required Resource Allocation Reviews.
July 10, 2019
Financial Transparency: What do school boards need to know?
Dr. Roza and Carrie Stewart, Afton Partners, share what school members need to know about upcoming release of financial transparency data and provide tips for preparing board members to communicate about and use school-level spending data to improve schooling.
June 10, 2019
When the rubber meets the road… Putting all these plans into action
In this webinar Dr. Roza reviewed what research indicates principals and districts know about finance and how to engage them as users of per student expenditure data. Sara Shaw (member from Illinois ) shared examples of the types of data and reporting planned for the Illinois report card.
May 14, 2019
Financial Transparency: What does success look like?
Dr. Roza provided an overview of a recent media scan capturing all coverage in state and national outlets related to school by school financial reporting. The conversation then moved to discussing various scenarios that SEAs may find themselves in related to the press and the general public, and how states might respond.
April 4, 2019
ESSA requires SEAs to report school-by-school spending.Taking Stock as SEAs Begin Releasing Data.
In this webinar examine early state releases of school-by-school expenditures in those states where data are now available. We shared how leading states are incorporating financial transparency data in school and district report cards. Edunomics will assess what can be learned from these early adopters and applied to states that plan to publish in late 2019 or early 2020.
April 2, 2019
ESSA DRAFT Report Card Guidance
This meeting features an overview of recently-released (March 28, 2019) ESSA report card guidance that features a 10-page section on school by school spending reporting. We also spend some time answering questions from SEAs.
March 7, 2019
School by School Spending on Report Cards: Lessons from Early States
This meeting reviewed existing state report cards that include school by school spending data and encouraged states still in the developing stages to learn from existing examples. We also spent some time at the end discussing the answers to state questions. If you'd like access to the recording, please email Katie.Hagan@Georgetown.edu.
February 7, 2019
Beyond Transparency: Visualization that will lead to participation
This meeting focused on transparency initiatives in other public sectors and what we can learn from them to apply to financial transparency. We had a guest speaker - Chris Adams from Balancing Act - share his expertise and research on the topic.
We experienced technical difficulties during this webinar and therefore do not have a recording.
January 15, 2019
Visualization Updates and State Questions
This webinar provides an overview of the recently-release WA state report cards which include school by school spending data. We also do some tracking on state visualization plans and answer state questions about pre-k spending, charter schools, and indirect costs.
December 12, 2018
SEA and LEA Collaboration on School Spending Reporting: A Case Study
During this presentation, we shared the details of a recent collaborative project with the NV State Education Agency and Clark County School District related to financial transparency.
November 19, 2018
Tracking State Progress
We spent several of the last few meetings collecting information on states across various categories, so we put it all in a tracker and reviewing it with the SEAs on the call to allow them to see what their peers are working on and make any corrections.
October 30, 2018
Resource Allocation Reviews – Part 2!
Six months after reviewing this policy with FiTWiG, we revisited the topic of resource allocation reviews within ESSA to remind the group of the connection between that ESSA policy and the financial transparency reporting requirement.
October 9, 2018
Office Hours
In this office hours session we heard from CO, ME and UT about private dollars, measuring ROI for schools, and visualization examples embedded in report cards. We also did some minimal state tracking updates on commonly asked questions.
September 19, 2018
Financial Transparency Displays
Visualization is increasingly important to states as they consider how this data will be used by stakeholders. This webinar lays out a framework to consider when designing visualizations, and reviews actual examples of financial transparency displays against the framework.
August 29, 2018
Tricky Issues
In advance of this meeting, NJ asked how many states were planning to allow some LEA choice in school spending recording (vs following prescriptive SEA rules). We also covered ways in which SEAs can account for shared services across districts, and how SEAs are planning to capture the data.
August 6, 2018
Office Hours
Katie provided an update and overview of the STATS DC conference, then MI, NJ, and MT posed questions to the group about supplement not supplant, reporting by federal grant codes, and budget transparency in relationship to expenditure transparency. We also went over a state tracking update.
July 16, 2018
Communicating About Financial Transparency
We shared some recent communication research focused on the financial transparency requirement and then applied the research to some real examples from state and district communication.
June 19, 2018
7 Equity Analyses Districts Can Do (to prepare for school level financial transparency)
Greater resource equity is probably the most talked-about use of school level financial data. In this webinar, we explore seven kinds of analyses districts can do right now to examine whether resources are allocated equitably within districts, and if not, what might be causing the inequity.
June 6, 2018
Data Plans: Details Matter
Many states that did not already have access to school level finance data needed to put into place new procedures and policies in order to gain access to a reliable data set. Those policies and procedures were referred to as data plans in the FiTWiG and this webinar reviews some best practices to keep in mind when drafting and publishing a data plan.
May 15, 2018
How Ready Are You for FT Reporting? Use the Checklist to Find Out
Edunomics created a checklist for the various moving pieces SEAs need to accomplish before the data is public. This webinar walks through the checklist and solicits state input.
May 3, 2018
Office Hours
Office Hours usually do not have any particular topic or structure. Instead, states are asked to submit their own questions or comments for discussion amongst themselves. In this office hours session, we review some common mistakes in state data plans, check in on exclusions, and discuss some special case scenarios like pre-K and special education spending.
April 17, 2018
Resource Allocation Reviews
ESSA includes a few requirements related to resource allocation, and this meeting explored the requirement on the SEAs to review resource allocation in districts that serve significant numbers of schools identified as needing improvement. The webinar lays out a framework for states to use to begin planning these reviews.
March 29, 2018
Taking Stock
At the time of this meeting, Edunomics had received a lot of questions about where states were on particular aspects of meeting the requirement. We spent the first portion of the meeting going over some state tracking questions, such as enrollment counts and data plans, and then used most of the rest of the meeting to review whether and how to allow LEAs make decisions around what expenditures get coded and at what level (site vs. site share of central).
March 14, 2018
Checking for Data Validity
This webinar covers a few different topics, but the main content is on how to do data validity checks to ensure SEAs receive accurate data from LEAs. We also covered some state check-ins on the IFR and data plans and shared some early findings from communication research.
February 26, 2018
Office Hours
Office Hours usually do not have any particular topic or structure. Instead, states are asked to submit their own questions or comments for discussion amongst themselves. In this office hours session, CA, IL, and TN pose questions for the group. CA asks about how to meet FT requirement from a charter school context, IL asked about media outreach and coverage, and TN requested info from states about data collection and storage. We ended the conversation by checking in to see how many states are on track to aligning data with the IFR.
January 23, 2018
Spotlight on Equity
Ary Amerikaner from the Education Trust (and formerly of the Obama administration) shared how advocacy groups plan to use the per-pupil expenditure data to advance equity agendas in the coming years.
January 11, 2018
Happy New Year – annual refresher
To kick off the year, we spent the meeting reviewing some key potential tasks and highlights from the prior year of meetings, with specific to-dos for both new states and “veteran” states. This video also has a high-level overview of the IFR and details for the in-person meeting.
December 19, 2017
Office Hours
Office Hours usually do not have any particular topic or structure. Instead, states are asked to submit their own questions or comments for discussion amongst themselves. In this office hours session, states sent questions about how to: code school nutrition expenses, handle payments to regional centers/service centers, and account for outlier expenses.
December 4, 2017
IFR Criteria
Over the course of a year, FiTWiG members created the Interstate Financial Reporting (criteria) that, if met, will enable cross-state per-pupil expenditure data comparisons, and guarantee a high quality of data in each individual state. This webinar is one of several that go through the IFR in its entirety but is different from others in that it is the most finalized version. For a document version of the IFR, please go here.
November 17, 2017
Supplement Not Supplant & Financial Transparency
Melissa Junge and Sheara Krvaric from the Federal Education Group (PLLC) join the Edunomics Team to share insight on the relationship between ESSA’s financial transparency requirement (FT) and the supplement not supplant (SNS) requirement. Melissa and Sheara highlight the differences, but also explain how states can, if they would like, use FT to meet SNS.
November 3, 2017
Staying the Course & Illinois highlight
Marguerite and Katie spend the first half of this call reviewing some key concepts and checking understanding of the group around some high level elements related to meeting the financial transparency requirement. The second half of the call is focused on lessons learned from Illinois, specifically related to the internal advisory group the state is convening to meet the requirement.
October 19, 2017
Office Hours
Office Hours usually do not have any particular topic or structure. Instead, states are asked to submit their own questions or comments for discussion amongst themselves. In this office hours session, states gave updates on their own progress and brought several challenges to the group. We covered what is in the law (requirements), how states are addressing debt service and other potential exclusions, and whether or not to include pre-k.
October 4, 2017
IFR Criteria – Approaches to Central vs. School Level Cost Assignment
This is another in a series of webinars exploring the IFR (criteria). Over the course of a year, FiTWiG members created the Interstate Financial Reporting (criteria) that, if met, will enable cross-state per-pupil expenditure data comparisons, and guarantee a high quality of data in each individual state. This webinar focuses exclusively on included vs excluded expenditures, and how states can think about costs shared across schools. For a document version of the IFR, please go here.
September 19, 2017
State Activity Thus Far
In this webinar, we share the results of a survey given to all FiTWiG members, tracking progress on key elements that may help states meet the FT requirement (accounting tools, working groups, communication efforts, data analyses, reporting, training, etc.).
September 7, 2017
Equity Analyses
It’s widely assumed that the FT requirement will create greater awareness around equity patterns within school districts. In this webinar, we explore the various ways in which states can think about their role in conducting, or preparing districts to conduct, these types of analyses.
August 25, 2017
Common Reporting Standards
This is second in a series of webinars exploring the IFR (at this point it was referred to as common reporting standards). Over the course of a year, FiTWiG members created the Interstate Financial Reporting (criteria) that, if met, will enable cross-state per-pupil expenditure data comparisons, and guarantee a high quality of data in each individual state. This webinar is one of the first, so the focus is on collecting feedback from participants about the various elements laid out as potential standards or criteria.
August 8, 2017
Office Hours
Office Hours usually do not have any particular topic or structure. Instead, states are asked to submit their own questions or comments for discussion amongst themselves. A number of states sent questions in advance, and the majority of the discussion revolved around the role of the state agency in setting (or not setting) rules around LEAs coding expenditures to school or central levels.
July 24, 2017
Demonstration of SLFS Converter Tool
The Edunomics Lab developed a tool that states can use to meet the financial transparency requirement using the NCES School Level Finance Survey (SLFS) and the School District Finance Survey (F-33). Watch this webinar for a demonstration of the tool, and hear feedback from the state of Michigan, who sampled the tool in advance of the webinar.
July 12, 2017
ESSA Updates & SLFS
The first part of this webinar serves as an introduction to the FiTWiG to new members, reviewing the law and the related elements (or lack thereof). We also cover the School Level Finance Survey at the end of the webinar for those who are interested in learning more about it.
June 20, 2017
Working with LEAs on Developing Data Reports
OH and MA presented their efforts around creating school level spending data visualizations. Both interacted with stakeholder groups to do so, and shared those lessons with the FiTWiG.
June 8, 2017
What does (or doesn’t) your visualization tell you?
This webinar presents states with a series of visualizations and asks participants to evaluate each against a specific set of questions. The intention of this webinar is to expose states to various types of data visualizations that exist around per-pupil expenditure, and get states thinking about how/if their own initial thoughts on visualization differ after reviewing the ones in the webinar.
May 16, 2017
Demo of Expenditure Allocation Tool
A key question since the beginning of exploring this topic has been whose role it is (SEA or LEA) to determine how non-school based (central) expenditures are (or are not) assigned to school sites. Some states take a prescriptive approach and do all cost assignment for districts, while others are less prescriptive and leave it up to districts to determine. ERS developed a tool that can help districts with some of these decisions, if it’s left up to the LEAs.
May 3, 2017
Common Reporting Standards (Strawman)
We spent the past couple of meetings reviewing some sample data outputs to consider what states want the financial transparency data to be able to do/answer, specifically in hopes to reach some consistency across states on a bare minimum collection that most could follow and build on if needed. In this meeting, we take that feedback and attempt to consolidate it into a strawman. States provide helpful feedback.
April 20, 2017
Towards Common Reporting Standards (part 2)
This webinar is a slight repeat of the one on April 7, with some additional time and prompting built in to solicit state feedback on the initial concept of creating general criteria states can use when collecting and reporting data.
April 7, 2017
Common Reporting Standards (part 1)
This webinar focuses on the development of common reporting standards among working group states to facilitate data comparisons across states. We walk through the potential goals states may have for reporting school level expenditure data, and then run some numbers from actual states to demonstrate priorities expressed by states in prior meetings. The data is presented in various levels of detail, and a discussion is had about the limitations of data at that level.
March 28, 2017
Need Data Now – How good is good enough?
The focus of this meeting was on how states that still did not have access to school level data could begin getting data needed to run early analyses. There was a particular urgency around this meeting because it was before the Department of Education issued a one-year extension for states to meet the requirement. States were previously operating under the assumption that they had to have a plan in place by August 2017. The webinar outlines three ways that states can go about obtaining needed data, and highlights the benefits and potential drawbacks of each.
March 7, 2017
Office Hours
Office Hours usually do not have any particular topic or structure. Instead, states are asked to submit their own questions or comments for discussion amongst themselves. For this particular office hours, we provided an update on the logistics and future of the working group.