Prioritize Resources and Initiatives for Strategic Management (PRISM)

Make the most of school district budgets to deliver the best for students

Make Every Dollar Drive Impact

With growing student needs and constrained budgets, school districts must focus on their top priorities and understand which programs work, for which students, and at what cost.

When initiatives, programs, and resources are aligned with a district’s strategic priorities, leaders can maximize the impact of their limited time and funding. To support this effort, we have developed PRISMa comprehensive framework that equips districts with the knowledge, tools and processes to make smart, financially responsible decisions that maximize impact for students.

PRISM includes:

  • A comprehensive district-wide initiatives inventory

  • An in-depth Academic Return on Investment (Academic-ROI) analysis of up to three priority initiatives

  • Access to the Academic-ROI Institute

  • Staffing review (add-on service)

Benefits of the PRISM service:

  • Gain clear insights into how your team is currently using resources

  • Identify opportunities to reduce costs and reallocate resources more effectively

  • Establish a clear path to invest in strategic programs that drive strong student outcomes

  • Make more objective, data-informed decisions with less emotional bias


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Initiatives Inventory

We help districts catalog all programs and initiatives by collecting key data—including design, outcomes, and costs—to evaluate their effectiveness and alignment with strategic objectives. This process identifies data gaps and misaligned or ineffective programs, enabling the reallocation of funds toward the most impactful initiatives.

Academic-ROI Analyses

We work with districts to identify up to three important initiatives for in-depth Academic-ROI analysis. Our team conducts the analyses using our 10-step process, and draws insights. At the end of this step, we provide a report outlining each initiative’s effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, alignment with expected outcomes, and action plans for how to keep it, adjust it, fix it, or eliminate it.

Academic-ROI Institute

To build internal capacity for evaluating program effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, we encourage districts to attend our Academic-ROI Institute. Over a period of multiple months, district teams will build the capacity to integrate data into resource allocation decisions and ensure resources are being deployed for maximum impact.

Staffing Review*

85% of the district budget is spent on staffing. For districts looking to get a clear and accurate understanding of current staffing levels and optimize their spending, we identify opportunities to staff more efficiently and strategically, based on student needs, enrollment levels and strategic goals. *Add-on service.


PRISM Phases of Work

In approximately 6-9 months, the district will understand their programs and initiatives, how they are working, for which students, at what cost, and will be able to make impactful decisions on initiatives across the district.

Featured Insights

  • Blog Post : Empowering Decision-Making Through an Initiatives Inventory

    An Initiatives Inventory is a starting point in strategic budgeting that gives districts a clear, well-structured view of their initiatives to support strategic resource management.

    Read more

  • Interview : Academic-ROI in Action: Optimizing Resource Allocation for Greater Student Outcomes

    Learn how the Academic-ROI methodology equips districts to make data-informed, financially responsible decisions.

    Read more

  • Case Study : Taking a strategic budgeting approach at Fresno Unified School District (CA)

    Motivated by the actionable insights from its Initiative Inventory and Academic ROI analyses, Fresno Unified is now implementing a strategic budgeting approach across the district.

    Read more

Contact us to discuss how we can support you.

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