APA has worked with Maryland policymakers since the early 2000s to keep a cutting edge school funding system in place. The state’s Blueprint for Education has its foundation in the firm’s 2017 adequacy study; with staff providing technical assistance for the Kirwan Commission to develop funding system components including the ECE delivery funding model, targeted funding for high concentration of poverty schools, and a new teacher career ladder. The state continues to contract with APA to help with the implementation of the Blueprint.

APA conducted adeqaucy studies for the Nevada Legislature in 2006 and for the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) in 2018. Following the 2018 study, Nevada adopted the Pupil Centered Funding Plan (PCFP). APA has continued to provide technical assistance to NDE and the Commission on School Funding to support the implementation and refinement of the PCFP. Components of the new funding formula and the targeted level of funding are based upon APA’s work.

Through its work for the Vermont Legislature, APA and its partner the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) examined the governance and funding of career and technical education (CTE) in Vermont. The study team conducted extensive stakeholder engagement, document and policy reviews, and state finance data analysis, resulting in ten distinct recommendations to reduce barriers to enrollment and improve the quality, duration, impact, and access to CTE in Vermont.

Working with the Colorado School Finance Project, APA has helped support districts during their implementation of ESSER funding. The study team has helped districts capture how funds have been spent across the three ESSER funding streams, creating documents that help archive how students have been served. APA’s created surveys that have examined the impact of districts’ ESSER investments and identified ESSER investment successes along with ongoing challenges to be addressed by districts and the state.

APA contracted with Early Learning Ventures (ELV) to independently research the return on investment that ELV offers early childhood education (ECE) providers. The finding displayed that childcare providers that use ELV save an average of $11 for every $1 spent. APA developed a data collection tool and interview protocol comparing the savings of ECE providers before and after the use of ELV services. The study team also provided recommendations on program changes that would also provide benefits to ECE groups.

APA worked with Valley Settlement in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado to create a cost model associated with creating a new early childhood center (ECC). The client wanted to understand the variation of costs depending on the age range of students served, hours the center is open, and the type of subsidies offered to families. The data utilized in the model is specific to the area location and the adjusted for the costs of living and inflation. The model allowed the client to formulate different scenarios and understand both their start-up costs and ongoing costs.

APA was hired by the Alaska State Legislature to undertake a structural review of Alaska’s current funding structure, including interviews with district stakeholders to understand how the current school finance structure affects individual districts, examined other states’ approaches, conducted an equity study, analyzed student performance, including the relationship between need, funding, and performance, examined the state’s sources of revenues, and developed recommendations for the state to consider.