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AASA is your advocate, with the resources you need to support all of your initiatives.
User-friendly resources for school leaders
AASA toolkits provide pertinent information for the most pressing issues. They help you communicate important messages to key constituents. Many AASA toolkits are members-only resources. If you are not a member of AASA, join today!
AASA Releases Back to School Toolkit: Telling the Good News!AASA members can use AASA’s latest back-to-school toolkit to highlight the successes of our nation’s schools and the students they serve, both in and out of the classroom. Resources include talking points, a presentation, sample press releases and op-eds, and more!
Sequestration and the Schools. AASA released its latest toolkit, designed to help explain sequestration and to support member advocacy efforts.
Driving K-12 Reform Through a College-Access and Success Agenda. The toolkit offers resources and strategies to use college enrollment data to, in our words, 'Own It, Understand It, and Act On It' for the purpose of improving K-12 and post-secondary outcomes. The toolkit has a self-assessment to gauge the current college going culture in your district, case studies, articles, and, on the final page, bold text links the reader to AASA webinars, federal regulations, and other resources that can help you and your team.
Making Progress: Rethinking State and School District Policies Concerning Mobile Technologies and Social Media. Download PDF here.
Advocacy Toolkit. The 2011 AASA Legislative Toolkit is a great guide for you to use on Capitol Hill as well as at home when advocating for high-quality education on behalf of all children in your district.
Art Therapy Toolkit Art Therapy is making a positive difference in K-12 educational outcomes. For practical examples on how to implement an art therapy program to address retention, special needs, bullying, autism, socialization and more, explore this new toolkit created by the American Art Therapy Association. You'll find art therapy programs that are working in urban, suburban and rural areas and funding strategies to put them in place.
Help for Your Budget Woes. A School District Budget Toolkit. In a recent survey, AASA members asked for budget help in these tough economic times. Check out AASA's new budget toolkit, for examples of best practices in reducing expenditures, ideas for creating a transparent budget process, wisdom on budget presentation, and suggestions for garnering and maintaining public support for the district's budget. The toolkit contains real-life examples of how districts large and small have managed to navigate rough financial waters and offers encouragement anyone currently stuck in the rapids. This toolkit is available to AASA members only.
AASA Toolkit: Cost-Effective Financing for School Construction and Renovation Helping school districts access tax-credit bonds to finance the construction and repair of public schools.
AASA Toolkit: Supporting the Military ChildGuidance for school leaders on meeting the unique educational needs of children whose parents are deployed or in transition.
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Resource Collection This Resource Collection provides school system leaders with a comprehensive list of facts, resources, policies, case studies and specific steps to take to improve IAQ.
Back-to-School
2009 Making the School-Community Connection Work Toolkit (August 2009)Designed to give school and district leaders tools to make school-community communication easier.
2008 AASA/NSPRA Back-to-School Toolkit for School Leaders (August 2008)Designed to help members of AASA and NSPRA engage in positive communications throughout the school year with key audiences.
2007 AASA Back-to-School Toolkit for School Leaders (August 2007)Designed to help school leaders spread the message about what's right with public education. Includes information about the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the impact of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on public schools.
Legislative
2009 AASA Educating the Total Child Legislative Toolkit (March 2009)Support AASA’s Educating the Total Child campaign, advocate for the 2009 AASA Legislative Agenda and get up-to-speed on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Other Toolkits
Asthma Communications Toolkit (May 2009)A one-stop online resource for school leaders to obtain information, forms and templates to communicate about asthma management in schools with staff, parents, the community and the media.
Special Edition on Bullying at School and Online (December 2008)Developed in partnership with Education.com, offers resources and tools to help parents take an active role in addressing bullying.
AASA Energy Summit Toolkit (November 2008)Provides practical solutions to help school leaders address the energy challenges they face in their districts, with materials adapted from the 2008 AASA Energy Summit.
Systems Thinking for School System Leaders Toolkit (February 2008)Designed by the AASA Center for System Leadership to help school leaders become more familiar with the basic tenets of systems thinking and with the value of the systems thinking approach in leading and sustaining school improvement.
Liberty's Apprentice - Public Schools: The Bedrock of Our Democracy (February 2008)A powerful new toolkit from the AASA Center for System Leadership that highlights the role public schools play in teaching democracy to our youth and creating informed citizens.
Blueprints: A Guide to Public School Plans 403(b) and 457(b) (January 2008)Designed to help school leaders effectively implement the final IRS 403(b) regulations for public school employee retirement plans.
Afterschool Programs and School System LeadersThrough this project, AASA identified school districts with afterschool programs — both successful and troubled — seeking to understand what bureaucratic barriers these districts have faced and the behaviors of their school administrators and program leaders that helped to avoid and overcome barriers.