| Date |
Title |
| 02/11/2010 |
Mississippi Hires APA for District Merger Study |
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A commission appointed by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has selected APA Consulting to conduct a statewide study designed to determine whether school district consolidation might be an effective strategy to increase efficiency and reduce costs. APA returns to a state where, in the late 1990's, the firm helped design a new public education funding formula. For more information, click here.
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| 01/11/2010 |
APA Evaluates Reach Out and Read Colorado |
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APA has been hired to conduct an evaluation of Reach Out and Read Colorado, a nonprofit organization that aims to make literacy a standard component of child health care. The evaluation will be conducted throughout the spring.
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| 10/22/2009 |
APA Conducts Teacher Working Condition Studies |
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APA Analyzes Teacher Working Conditions. APA recently completed studies for two school districts analyzing the impact of working conditions on the ability to attract and retain high quality teachers. APA recommendations addressed specific areas -- such as professional development , planning time, and teacher collaboration -- that have the greatest impact on teacher retention, especially in high poverty schools. For more information on teacher retention, click here.
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| 09/01/2009 |
APA Supports Facility Use Planning |
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APA is supporting the work of Jeffco Public Schools in Colorado to help the district better understand how school buildings and facilities are currently utilized and to identify potential ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency. For more information on the district's Facilities Usage Committee that APA is working with, please click here.
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| 07/07/2009 |
New District Consolidation Report |
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APA has written a new report summarizing the status and research on school district consolidation across the country. Produced for the Colorado School Finance Project, the report can be found by clicking here.
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| 04/14/2009 |
Court Supports APA Work in New Jersey |
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The Superior Court of New Jersey has issued recommendations to that state's supreme court regarding the validity of New Jersey's new school finance formula passed into law last year. The formula was based in part on recommendations and analysis from an APA costing-out study. Plaintiffs in the case attempted to attack the validity of the professional judgement analysis (which draws upon the input of panels of experienced educators) used in the costing out work. However, in supporting the analysis the court held that while no one methodology can precisely predict the amount of funds needed to meet a specific academic performance standard, "the court is satisfied the Professional Judgement Panel process established fairly and equitably the first step in constructing a constitutionally mandated equitable funding formula for all districts."
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| 03/04/2009 |
APA Produces Special Education Report |
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APA has produced a new statewide report on special education programs and funding in Pennsylvania. The report provides information on how much it costs to educate children eligible for special education programs. It also explains the reasons behind the costs, as well as the potential benefits that appropriate funding for special education can provide to students, teachers, parents, and the state. The report has been endorsed by a wide array of organizations across Pennsylvania. Click here for the full report.
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| 01/14/2009 |
APA Conducts Tax Analysis For Massachusetts Secretary of Ed |
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APA completed a report for Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville examining the impact of state and local taxes and comparing Massachusetts to other states. The report helps policymakers determine how changes in tax policy might allow new revenues to be generated without harming the state's competitive position with nearby states. To see the report, please click here.
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| 01/01/2009 |
Vice President Doug Rose leaves APA |
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APA Vice President Doug Rose has left the firm but will continue collaborating and assisting in our work on specific projects.
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| 11/14/2008 |
APA Assists District with Declining Enrollment |
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The Littleton Public School District has experienced declining enrollment over the past several years, making budget cuts likely if steps are not taken to change the way its facilities and resources are used. APA provided expertise, data analysis, and other support to enable a district-created task force to produce a series of recommendations -- including the repurposing of several schools -- to the district's school board. On November 13, the Littleton Public School Board adopted the task force recommendations pertaining to the repurposing of two elementary schools. Click here for the district's press release. The task force web site is located here. The group's final report is available here.
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| 10/15/2008 |
APA Helps Texas District Develop Alternative Teacher Pay Program |
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APA is working with the Austin Independent School District in Texas to facilitate stakeholder discussions regarding the creation of a new, strategic compensation initiative for educators. Among other activities, APA provides expertise and advice and facilitates meetings of the initiative's steering committee. For more information on the Austin initiative, please click here.
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| 09/23/2008 |
APA Releases Teacher Retention Report |
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With support from the Rose Community Foundation, APA has released a new report identifying a series of best practices for attracting and retaining teachers in hard to staff schools. The report was prepared in cooperation with district and education association leaders from three of Colorado's largest school districts. To view the report, please click here.
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| 07/08/2008 |
APA Recommendations Lead to Historic Increase in Education Funding |
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Pennsylvania has signed into law legislation which, based on APA's recommendations, raises funding for public education by nearly $275 million -- an historic increase for the state. The state also adopted APA's recommendations on how the money can most effectively be distributed to school districts. These recommendations include recognizing higher costs associated with helping children in poverty and English language learners achieve state performance standards. They also include cost adjustments that recognize differences in district size and regional cost of living. Click here for APA's full Pennsylvania costing-out report. Click here for a press release from Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell.
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| 06/10/2008 |
Pennsylvania House Committee Passes Funding Bill |
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Members of Pennsylvania's House Education Committee voted 23-5 to pass legislation creating a new school funding formula. The formula would use APA's costing out study -- completed in late 2007 -- as the basis for calculating the needs of each school district based on aspects such as size and student characteristics. For more information, click here.
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| 05/16/2008 |
APA Conducts Preschool Program Evaluation |
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APA is now working under a contract with the Denver Preschool Program (DPP) to conduct an extensive evaluation designed to help policymakers and DPP leaders understand how the program is functioning. The DPP was created through a voter-funded initiative, and is designed to promote the participation of Denver four-year-olds in high quality preschool experiences. For more information on DPP, visit: http://www.dpp.org/ .
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| 03/18/2008 |
APA Releases County-wide Education Study |
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Creating a new, county-wide cyber charter school and a county-wide research and best practices clearinghouse were just two of the key recommendations that APA identified in a new study of the 16 school districts in York County, Pennsylvania. APA was hired to analyze the districts, interview superintendents, and use research and other data to produce recommendations to help the districts cooperate more effectively. The study, which includes an analysis of York district resource use efficiency, is available by clicking here.
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| 02/26/2008 |
Colorado Ed Commissioner Lauds APA's Closing the Achievement Gap Study |
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Schools that are closing the achievement gap between students from lower and higher socio-economic backgrounds have important common characteristics, according to a joint study conducted by the Donnell-Kay Foundation and Augenblick, Palaich & Associates, Inc. The study examines eight schools in Colorado who have made significant progress in closing the gap, and identifies commonalities across these schools. To view the "Profiles of Success" report, please click here. The report was released in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Education. For a link to the Department's press release, click here.
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| 02/08/2008 |
Pennsylvania Governor Adopts APA Recommendations |
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In his 2008-09 budget address, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell is calling for the Pennsylvania Legislature to support the findings in APA's December 2007 costing out study. The study outlined the resources needed for all schools in the state to reach student performance goals. According to Rendell, "I am proud to report that this budget incorporates the findings of your Costing-Out Study, and includes a new funding formula that phases-in over six years the funds to help all Pennsylvania school districts reach the funding targets established by this ground-breaking research." For the Governor's full address, please click here.
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| 01/22/2008 |
New Jersey Incorporates APA Work |
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New Jersey enacted a new school finance formula in January 2008 that treats all school districts in the state uniformly, replacing a system under which the state dealt with 31 special needs districts set up under the Abbott v. Burke litigation separately. The formula uses a base amount and a series of cost adjustment factors to consider the varying needs of all 616 school districts. APA worked for several years with New Jersey educators to redesign the state aid system and developed the parameters used to determine each district's funding level.
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| 01/18/2008 |
APA Unveils New Web site |
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Welcome to our new site! In January 2008 APA completely revamped and revised its Web site. The new site is more user friendly and contains a variety of new information on APA's projects, clients, and reports. We invite you to browse the site and to provide feedback on its design and content using the "Contact Us" link.
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| 12/14/2007 |
Pennsylvania State Board Releases APA Costing Out Study |
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The Pennsylvania State Board of Education has approved and released APA's statewide costing out study. The study, which used three state-of-the-art research methods, identifies the resources needed for each district in the state to achieve the performance that is expected of them. For more information from the State Board of Education, please click here. For a direct link to the study, please click here.
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