There’s nothing easy about educational budget planning. But when you’re tasked with helping ensure that your teachers get the professional development they need, figuring out how to work around common budget planning challenges isn’t just another obstacle—it’s your job.
Educational spending is on the rise. Per-student expenditures at public elementary and secondary schools were 15% higher in 2014-2015 than they were in 2000-2001, according to the most recent data from the National Center for Educational Statistics. Those expenditures include everything from salaries and employee benefits to classroom services and supplies. These days, it’s hard enough to find room in the budget for coffee in the teachers’ lounge, let alone sustained professional development.
Of course, professional development isn’t just something you can push aside until you get more funding. And that’s where Alludo comes in. Here are three budget planning challenges our platform can help you work around to achieve better training and better teaching practices.
Challenge 1: A disconnect between your budget and your long-term goals
A lot of districts struggle to find a balance between their short-term expenditures and their long-term objectives. But progress is important, and if your budget only focuses on immediate needs you’re not going to achieve the necessary gains your students—and your district—require.
How we can help: Instead of allotting funding to a one-time workshop or training course, Alludo lets you invest in a solution that trickles out improvements at a consistent pace. Teachers manage their professional development on their own time, meaning you get closer to your long-term goals even while you’re focused on your short-term necessities.
Challenge 2: Difficulties with accountability
District boards want to know not just what you’re using your funding for, but why. Showing clear value behind your spending decisions isn’t always easy though, especially when it comes to professional development. Accountability requires that you provide markers of progress, not just proof that the training happened.
How we can help: We’re all about helping you demonstrate the value of your professional development expenditures. With our digital badges, teachers get instant rewards for their progress, and you get a visual representation of who is achieving what and when. It’s an easy way to track professional development spending on an individual level, and to see the big picture outcomes of your investment.
Challenge 3: Ensuring solutions are scalable
When there isn’t money to waste, it’s crucial that your professional development budget gets activated as efficiently as possible. Whether you’re overseeing the roll-out of teacher training for one school and a dozen staff, or an entire district and hundreds of teachers all with different training needs, your professional development platform better be able to flex with your needs and budget.
How we can help: Since Alludo allows administrators to easily manage professional development curriculum on a centralized system, the amount of effort required for serving training is the same no matter the number of participants. Plus, since Alludo’s training is self-directed and remotely accessible, resources aren’t required for assembling teachers at costly and inefficient group seminars; instead, teachers advance at their own pace, and access the specific and personalized training that’s most relevant to them.
Meet your 2019/2020 budgeting obstacles head-on. Sign up for a free Alludo demo and learn how you can reduce costs (and spend on what matters) all with one fun and easy platform.
