School Turnaround Cost Analysis Tool Documentation
Data Sources and Assumptions
In this document, we describe the data used in the School Turnaround Cost Analysis Tool. Data in the first two sections, Personnel and Travel, inform computations in the later sections. All of the support activities (Climate Surveys to Inform Planning and Coaching, School Improvement Plans [SIPs], Needs Assessment, and Coaching) incur personnel costs, and the Needs Assessments and Coaching also incur travel costs.
Personnel
Personnel costs were drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) annual mean salary, overall and by state, September 2019. We use the September 17, 2020, point estimate for fringe rates for state and local government workers: 37.8 percent (BLS, 2020a). We convert annual salaries plus fringe into loaded hourly rates by dividing by 2,080 (BLS uses 2,080 as the number of hours in a work year). The source column in the table below provides more detail on specific data points.
| Title | Minimum Qualifications | Annual Salarya | Assumptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| State employees | |||
| District coach | MA or EdD, experience as district leader, experience as school principal and teacher | $115,990 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2019, 11-9039 Education Administrators, All Other,” 2020c |
District coach is at least as experienced as district superintendent, and district superintendent salary is at the 75th percentile for education administrator salaries. |
| School leadership coach, needs assessment team member | MA, administrative experience | $121,500 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019, 11-9032 Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary,” 2020b |
School leadership coach is a successful, retired principal and likely at the 75th percentile for education administrator salaries. |
| Instructional coach | MA, teaching experience | $69,180 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2019, 25-9031 Instructional Coordinators,” 2020h |
|
| Needs assessment team leader | MA, 3–5 years administrative experience (school or district) | $100,340 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019, 11-9032 Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary,” 2020b |
Needs assessment team leader is at least as experienced as a school principal. |
| District employees | |||
| District administrator | BA, experience as lead teacher or principal, district leadership role | $92,150 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2019, 11-9039 Education Administrators, All Other,” 2020c |
|
| School principal | MA, school leader credential, experience as teacher | $100,340 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019, 11-9032 Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary,” 2020b |
|
| School assistant principal | Assistance principal license | $92,150 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2019, 11-9039 Education Administrators, All Other,” 2020c |
|
| School counselor | School counselor license | $61,000 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2019, 21-1012 Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors,” 2020d |
|
| Elementary school teacher | BA, teacher certification, 3–6 years of experience as teacher | $63,930 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2019, 25-2021 Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education,” 2020e |
|
| Middle school teacher | BA, teacher certification, 3–6 years of experience as teacher | $63,550 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2019, 25-2022 Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education,” 2020f |
|
| High school teacher | BA, teacher certification, 3–6 years of experience as teacher | $65,930 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2019, 25-2031 Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education,” 2020g |
|
| School secretary | N/A | $63,180 BLS, “Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2019, 43-6014 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive,” 2020m |
|
| School support staff | N/A | $36,844b | |
| [a] The figures in this table use the national average. When the user enters a specific state, the tool automatically enters state-specific salaries. Users may choose to edit that state-specific salary. | |||
[b] BLS annual mean salary for the following, averaged:
|
Travel
Some turnaround supports—comprehensive school needs assessments and coaching—involve travel to schools and districts by state staff (or other support provider staff). Travel costs assume that staff are based near the state department of education and travel by car to the participating schools and districts. We use the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) fiscal year (FY) 2021 per diem rates for each state, including lodging (if the round trip was more than four hours), meals, and incidentals. We also use GSA’s mileage rates for FY 2020. We assume that instructional and school leadership coaches will visit one school per trip and district coaches will visit one district per trip. Costs may be lower if coaches visit more than one school or district per trip. The tool asks users to provide their own estimates of the average distance and travel time from the state department of education (or other central location) to schools or districts.
| Description | Data | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Driving time 8 a.m. | 1 hour | Based on researcher estimate |
| Driving time 3 p.m. | 1 hour | Based on researcher estimate |
| Driving time round trip | 2 hours | Based on researcher estimate |
| Distance | 100 miles round trip | Based on researcher estimate |
| Mileage rate | $0.575 | Reimbursement for use of private vehicle as of January 1, 2020 (GSA, 2020c) |
| Per diem: hotel | $96 | Standard per diem rates for FY 2021 and location-specific rates (GSA, 2020a; 2020b) |
| Per diem: meals and incidentals | $55 | Standard per diem rates for FY 2021 and location-specific rates (GSA, 2020a; 2020b) |
Climate Survey to Inform Planning and Coaching
The cost estimate does not include collection of data typically available to guide school improvement planning and coaching (e.g., assessment scores, disciplinary information, budget and staffing information), assuming these costs are already absorbed in school and district budgets. However, the cost estimate does include a statewide teacher survey on conditions for teaching and learning: development, administration, and analysis.
| Description | Data | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total budget (2 years) | $200,000 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of public schools in the state | State-specific | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), 2020c |
| No. of teachers in public schools | State-specific | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), 2020b |
| No. of students in public schools | State-specific | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), 2020c |
| No. of respondents | State-specific | 80-percent response rate, based on the minimum response rate not requiring nonresponse bias analysis (U.S. Department of Education, 2016, p. 76) |
| Time for survey participant to respond | 0.5 hours | 30-minute survey (National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, undated) |
School Improvement Plans
The cost estimate does not include the costs for low-performing schools to develop SIPs because that activity is already incorporated in federal funding and requirements. However, states can support the development and use of SIPs by providing an online data system and providing schools feedback on their SIPs. The cost estimate includes development and maintenance of the data system and time for state Department of Education (DOE) staff to provide feedback on SIPs.
| Description | Data | Source |
|---|---|---|
| SIP data system | ||
| Cost to develop and maintain data system | $10,000 | Estimate based on Indistar (undated) and modified based on February 2020 phone consultation with Indistar staff. |
| No. of schools using data system | 468 | Estimate based on number of comprehensive support and improvement schools in each state, from the following sources:
|
| Costs for state DOE staff to provide feedback on SIPs | ||
| Hours spent on feedback per SIP | 2 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
Needs Assessment
The cost estimate includes development of a tool and process for comprehensive school needs assessments, training for state staff or other support providers to conduct the needs assessment and share results with school staff, and time for both state staff or other support providers and school staff to work together on assessing school needs and unpacking and applying the results of the needs assessment to school improvement planning.
| Description | Data | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tool development | ||
| Development budget | $100,000 | $100,000 for developing the tool. Estimate based on costs for similar-scale state instruments. |
| No. of schools implementing needs assessment over a three-year period | State-specific | See SIP documentation |
| Training to administer tool | ||
| Duration of training to administer tool, hours per trainee | 28 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of needs assessment team leaders | 4 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of needs assessment team members (non-leaders) | 68 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of schools implementing needs assessment in one year | State-specific | See SIP documentation. Assume that low-performing schools participate in a needs assessment every three years, so one-third of low-performing schools participate each year. |
| Training to unpack results | ||
| Duration of training to unpack results, hours per trainee | 8 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of unpacking team leaders | 4 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of unpacking team members (non-leaders) | 68 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of schools unpacking in one year | State-specific | All schools participating in a needs assessment also participate in support provider-led unpacking |
| Needs assessment: State DOE or other support provider costs | ||
| No. of team lead hours for preparation | 18 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of team lead hours for administering needs assessment | 14 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of team lead hours for report writing and quality review | 25 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of team member hours for administering needs assessment | 14 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of team members/visits | 3 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| Needs assessment: School costs | ||
| No. of principal hours for preparation | 3 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of principal hours for administering needs assessment | 14 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of secretary hours for facilitation | 14 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of teacher hours preparing for observation, per teacher | 0.50 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of teachers observed | 5 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of teacher hours for focus group, per teacher | 0.75 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of teachers in focus group | 7 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of support staff hours for focus group, per member | 0.75 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of support staff in focus group | 4 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of assistant principal hours on self-evaluation and debrief | 2 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of counselor hours on self-evaluation and debrief | 2 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| Unpacking results: State DOE or other support provider costs | ||
| No. of team lead hours for preparation | 8 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of team lead hours for unpacking results | 14 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of team member hours for unpacking results | 14 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of team members/visits | 1 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| Unpacking results: School costs | ||
| No. of principal hours for unpacking | 7 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of assistant principal hours for unpacking | 7 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of school counselor hours for unpacking | 7 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of teacher hours for unpacking, per teacher | 7 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of teachers | 7 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
| No. of district staff hours for unpacking | 7 | Estimate based on researcher communication with state leaders |
Coaching
In addition to helping schools understand and plan around their needs, support providers can help schools and their districts carry out their improvement plans through coaching for teachers, school leaders, and district leaders. Coaching costs include both travel costs and support provider, district, and school staff time, using estimates from the Personnel and Travel tables.
| Description | Data | Assumptions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. of instructional coaching visits (average) | 72 | Two visits/week through the year; 180 days over 36 weeks; adjust to fit support provider’s plan | |
| No. of school leadership coaching visits (average) | 36 | One visit/week through the year; 180 days over 36 weeks; adjust to fit support provider’s plan | |
| No. of district leadership coaching visits (average) | 9 | One visit/month through the year; 180 days over 9 months; adjust to fit support provider’s plan | |
| No. of hours coaching per visit | 4 | Half day per visit; adjust to fit support provider’s plan | |
| No. of schools in district (state average) | 13.7a | ||
| NOTE: All three types of coaching are documented in a single table in this document. However, the tool provides separate estimates for per-school costs for each type of coaching. [a] This number is the national average. When the tool user enters a specific state, the tool automatically enters the state-specific number of schools per district. Tool users may choose to edit that state-specific information. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), 2020a, 2020b, 2020c. |
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