Funding Tips for K-12 Data Analytics and MTSS Solutions

According to the 2022 PowerSchool Education Focus Report, 91% of district instructional leaders say using data helps identify student needs and take appropriate action. Yet 63% of classroom educators say there’s too much student learning data and not enough time to understand it to improve the quality of instruction.

Tools explicitly built for K-12 data analytics and multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) practices allow educators to see all that data together in one clear view. Because data analytics and MTSS solutions are relatively new, finding funding and justification for budgetary spending can be challenging. Here are ways to fund quality solutions to meet today’s data needs.

For an in-depth discussion of this topic, watch the on-demand webinar with experts on education funding, data analytics, and MTSS here.  

Gaining access to education technology funding starts with understanding the different available sources and their intended purposes. State and local money for general funds account for 90% of a school or district’s budget. These funds are the most flexible of the different types and are used for anything that has to do with running schools, including facilities, transportation, curriculum, and education software. It’s important to note that 80-90% of these funds is typically allocated to salaries, benefits, or other employee costs.

State grants vary widely both in amounts and purpose. To find out which funds are available for analytics and data systems, you have to watch the different programs within your state closely and stay updated on state departments of education websites, social media channels, and email listservs.

Federal funds—from ESEA/ESSA, IDEA, and Perkins—make up 10% of education funding. Because so much of state funding is appropriated to people, federal funding is critical for edtech purchases. Read on for specific ways to leverage federal funding for edtech, and specifically data analytics and MTSS solutions.

Here’s a breakdown of federal funding uses: 

• Title I ($16.5 billion annually): for economically disadvantaged school populations to help ensure equitable and high-quality education 
• Title II ($2.1 billion annually): for educator improvement and growth to recruit, retain, and grow educators 
• Title IV ($1.2 billion annually): for improving conditions for student learning and technology usage

The final, and currently most intriguing, source of federal funding is ESSER I, II, and III funds totaling $190 billion. These one-time funds cover a variety of uses to make up for lost learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

ESSER funds must be obligated by September 2024, and halfway through the spending window, districts have only spent an estimated $45 billion. Over 90% of district administrators report facing challenges deploying stimulus funds effectively, and McKinsey & Co. estimates that nearly $20 billion will go unspent. 

Many districts have expressed concern about navigating what’s called the ESSER “fiscal cliff,” which is when ESSER funds end and you’re stuck with reoccurring annual costs for things like software subscriptions. Here are tips to help ease that transition: 

• Budget with sustainability in mind, and make sure that edtech throughout your schools or district is being utilized 
• Watch edtech adoption and usage to ensure products are addressing your key initiatives and strategic priorities 
• Prioritize professional learning and implementation costs, which can save you in later years so that you can avoid additional training. Tech directors tell us they devote 10-20% of the overall solution budget to professional learning and training for staff.  

Data analytics solutions are relatively new in K-12 education but quickly gaining ground in driving student success. These powerful systems turn data into action with automated, seamless collection, analysis, and visualization processes. A single system is ideal for analyzing and visualizing multiple sources of data across departments and functions.

An MTSS framework ensures that every student receives the instruction and support they need to be successful academically and to support their well-being as a whole student. A quality framework depends on data from multiple factors to see the whole child and make sure they have every opportunity to thrive. It can be difficult and impractical for staff to consistently pull data together from all these systems, which is why a single MTSS solution is critical to review student data, select and monitor interventions to support students, assess effectiveness, and determine the next steps.

Here’s a breakdown of federal funding options to support purchasing a data analytics or MTSS solution:

Title I Part A funds are intended for strengthening instruction for students at risk of not meeting state academic standards, non-academic needs impeding academic growth, and promoting meaningful parent and family engagement.  

• A data analytics solution meets these needs by bringing together data to help educators identify student needs, steer interventions, and choose professional development (PD) programs.

Title II Part A funds are for improving the quality and effectiveness of educators, increasing the number of effective educators, and providing low-income and minority students greater access to effective educators.  

• A data analytics solution meets these needs by helping educators better understand student learning progress and needs to inform instructional planning, collaboration, and PD. Also, insights and predictive capabilities can inform staffing needs, including hiring and retention.  
• An MTSS solution can help by bringing student interventions, engagement, and wellness data into one digital platform.

Title IV Part A funds are for providing access to a well-rounded education, improving school conditions, and using edtech in teaching and learning.  

• A data analytics solution meets these needs by supporting decision-making around staffing, instruction, and interventions to ensure all students have access to a rigorous personalized education and the resources needed for positive life outcomes. 
• An MTSS solution helps educators use technology to support student health and well-being and strengthen access to well-rounded curriculum through responsive targeted supports. 

ESSER funds are for addressing learning loss and student mental health resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring continuity of learning and opportunities, and all activities allowable under the Title programs.  

• A data analytics solution meets these needs by identifying and addressing student learning and mental health needs to mitigate pandemic impacts.  
• An MTSS solution: 
  • Collects and analyzes student screening and assessment data to drive instructional shifts​ 
  • Brings disparate student learning, health, and wellness data sources into one place, enabling​ a fuller, more holistic picture of student needs
  • Tracks key academic and behavioral intervention programs’ efficacy​ 
  • Cultivates consistent data and planning practices across schools 

Modernizing your school systems involves bringing your critical digital products up to date with features like interoperability, flexibility for changing education needs, and ease of use for better staff, student, and parent adoption.

The top key factors for modernization are always student learning and wellness needs. Students come first before the funding, so it’s always a balance of what can you do for students versus what can you afford. With multiple factors, it’s important to be mindful of how you can push towards a longer view of system modernization for better analytics to support tiered models of student supports in classrooms. 

Tips to modernize your systems include: 

• Balance what drives decision-making. Consider all key factors, including funding, student learning and wellness needs, staff needs, current context, and leadership priorities. 
• Understand that available funds and their allowable uses vary widely. There are always caveats and new approaches to using funding streams.  
• Ask your leaders and colleagues questions like “How can we fund this?” and “How can we connect our priorities to funding source allowable uses?” 
• Think about finding funding based on the alignment of new strategies to district priorities. Find points of resonance with what’s essential to leadership, educational colleagues, the community, and parents.  
• Consider phasing modernization so it all doesn’t have to happen right away, but over the next one to two years.

As you’re thinking about making a case for a large, medium, or small investment in a data analytics system or multi-tiered system of support system, consider all these factors and proactively find points that resonate with everyone involved. Try to get ahead of some of the objections that may arise that could stifle the effort to move forward in your modernization journey towards better solutions, data, educator options, and informed decision-making. 

Understand your school or district’s strategic planning, be able to connect the new technology innovation you’re proposing to those priorities, and demonstrate how it can improve student outcomes and increase operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Be ready to make a case for the return on investment. Do your research and prepare yourself to be a champion so that you’re ready to answer every question when you have funding conversations.