District Administration - July/August 2011 - (Page 70)

ResearchCenter EssEntials on Education data and rEsEarch analysis Interdistrict Cooperatives Improve Cost-Effectiveness and Make Common Cents By Caitlin Howley and Kimberly Hambrick Across the nAtion, stAte expenditures on public education are expected to decline in the aftermath of the Great recession of 2007-2009 (national Governors Association and national Association of state Budget officers, 2010). For the fourth consecutive year, despite a temporary boost from federal stimulus funds, governors are proposing deep cuts to education in 2012, and the majority of states plan to spend less in 2012 on education than they did in 2008, adjusting for inflation, despite larger enrollments of students in public schools (Leachman, Williams, & Johnson, 2011). As states and local school districts grapple with the implications of budget cutbacks on the services they can provide to students, strategies for leveraging existing resources are increasingly important. one strategy districts can use to reduce costs without sacrificing quality is to form interdistrict cooperatives to share services, staff and/or purchasing. These arrangements have also been called “clusters,” “collaboratives,” “consortia,” “partnerships,” or “shared resources/services/ purchasing agreements” (eggers, Wavra, snell, & Moore, 2005; Galton & hargreaves, 1995; nachtigal & Parker, 1990; Peed & Wyant, 2007). cooperatives are voluntary, semiformal, interdistrict agreements between two or more school districts for the purpose of sharing resources and services. They differ from intermediate education agencies, which are funded and/or administered by state departments of education to provide professional development and other services to educators in their service re70 July/August 2011 Principles for Successful Cooperatives Based on the experiences of several Midwestern cooperatives, Nachtigal and Parker (1990) suggest these principles for success: • Organize around a common purpose. • Establish the length of members’ commitment to the effort. • Balance the number of participating districts so that resources are maximized but the cooperative does not become a large bureaucracy. • Ensure that distances between districts do not prohibit meetings and shared services or programs. • Keep the cooperative’s organizational structure as uncomplicated as possible, but define roles, expectations and decision-making procedures clearly. • Involve district leaders actively. Although formal leadership is not necessary, assign a facilitator to maintain the cooperative’s momentum. • Involve local communities and school boards in planning and implementation to ensure the effort is valued and supported. • Establish relationships with other organizations (such as institutions of higher education or technical assistance providers) that can assist the cooperative. • Begin with small cooperative efforts to achieve some early successes, and pilot its procedures. • Meet frequently at the beginning to strengthen relationships, discuss important issues, and confirm the importance of the endeavor; thereafter, meet regularly, if less often. • Evaluate, or at least document, cooperative activities and outcomes. District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - July/August 2011

District Administration - July/August 2011
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Facilities News
Inside the Law
District Profile
Administrator Profile
The Social Media Dilemma
Is Year-Round Schooling on Track?
After 50 Years, Ethnic Studies Still Controversial
Finding the Right Purchasing Solution
Look, Listen, Learn
Research Center
Supervisor’s Opinion
Going Mobile
Superintendent’s Insight
Books
Product Focus
New Products
Online Edge

District Administration - July/August 2011