Picus Odden & Associates has vast experience working on school finance issues – design, development, implementation and evaluation – with over three fourths of the states and scores of school districts across the nation. It operated as Lawrence O. Picus & Associates from 2000 to 2013, when it became Picus Odden & Associates. As the developers of the Evidence-Based method for estimating the funding resources needed for all schools to provide every student an equal opportunity to perform at high levels, Picus Odden & Associates offers the skill and knowledge needed to help states, districts and schools identify the level and type of resources and educational strategies needed to dramatically increase student academic achievement.
Since 2000, the firm has conducted school finance studies in several states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Texas. Our model is the basis of the funding systems in Arkansas, Wyoming, Washington, North Dakota and Ohio. We have also conducted equity studies in nearly 25 states, and researched the implementation and impact of school finance reforms in many other states. Both Odden and Picus have served as presidents of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (formerly the American Education Finance Association), a strong indication of the high quality of the firm’s work and reputation.
Picus Odden & Associates has extensive experience working collaboratively with clients to assess and evaluate the operation of state funding systems and to identify those that are succeeding under established criteria such as would be developed through new state finance structures or using an Evidence-Based model that links funding to student learning.
In each of our recent studies, we used our Evidence-Based approach. Picus Odden & Associates developed the Evidence-Based approach for the specific purpose of estimating the level of resources needed to link a state’s education funding system to student learning. It is equally applicable to the allocation of resources among schools within a district to ensure that dollars are translated in effective instructional practices that raise student achievement and reduce achievement gaps.
An overview of their work over the past several years
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Learn more about the Principal Partners, Lawrence O. Picus and Allan Odden.
