Why is Evidence-Based Practice Important for School District Leaders?

As school district administrators, the principles of evidence-based practice (EBP) provides a framework for making informed decisions and maximizing positive outcomes for students and staff. As a district leader, promoting the concepts of evidence-based practice can have a positive impact on all district and school improvement efforts. A common misconception is that data is only…

Data Science 101: What is the Difference Between Data and Analytics?

Data vs. Analytics: Do you know the difference? And, how does this apply to a school district environment? As a school district administrator, you may have heard the terms “data” and “analytics” being used frequently (often together or interchangeably), but may not fully understand the difference between the two. It may seem rather basic, but…

Dr. John Gatta Published in AASA’s School Administrator

In the August 2022 issue of School Administrator magazine, published by The School Superintendent’s Association (AASA), Dr. John Gatta, CEO of ECRA Group, contributed an article on the topic of academic return on investment (ROI). The article can be viewed, in context, via AASA’s digital magazine. For your convenience, the article is also posted below.…

Education Talk Radio Interview: Academic Return on Investment

Listen to Dr. John Gatta, CEO of ECRA Group, in this interview with Larry Jacobs on Education Talk Radio, discuss how districts can measure academic return on investment (ROI). Dr. Gatta helps define academic return on investment and outlines several examples and some strategies for measuring ROI. This interview was made possible because of ECRA’s…

Measuring Academic Return on Investment (ROI): AASA Webinar

Dr. John Gatta from ECRA Group and Dr. Erika Schlichter from Huntley 158 presented on the topic of Academic Return on Investment (ROI). In this webinar, Dr. Gatta explained best practices for measuring Academic Return on Investment (ROI) and Dr. Schlichter presented a case study from her school district. This livestream was presented in conjunction…

How to Measure Academic Return on Investment (ROI)

Documenting the Academic Return on Investment (ROI) for programs and school improvement efforts is the essence of evidence-based practice. When evaluating the success of a particular program, districts often ask: “How did students in the program grow?” While this question is important, the answer does not reflect academic ROI. Instead, academic ROI asks:  “How did…

Goal Setting for School Improvement

The fundamental purpose of setting school improvement goals is to assess the effectiveness of improvement efforts. The utility of the school improvement process rests on the inferences one can draw from meeting a goal. For example, a typical school improvement goal may be “increase the percentage of students meeting standards in grade 4 reading by 5%. While this type of goal is specific and concise, the results will provide little to no information as to the effectiveness of improvement efforts. Why? Because increasing grade 4 reading by 5% is likely an arbitrary goal that is unrelated to school performance and not evidence-based.

Equity and Student Growth: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Download Research BriefAt ECRA Group, we celebrate educational leaders and school districts across the nation and their response to a once-in-a-hundred year pandemic. The overnight innovations while under immense pressure and the willingness of all educators to adapt is remarkable. Despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges, significant progress was made. Educational leaders have observed, first-hand, the…