Giving Compass' Take:

• Marissa Norris explains how RAND's education policy game brings together stakeholder groups to ideate solutions to theoretical problems like the need to cut a school budget. 

• How can this model be used in other areas where problem-solving is required? How can funders identify and engage the appropriate stakeholder groups?

• Learn more about the importance of community engagement in problem-solving. 

How would a group of community leaders choose to cut a high school's budget by 4 percent? And what would happen if parents or teachers held the red pen instead?

The RAND Corporation's Pittsburgh office held a game night to find out. The game at hand was “Let's Improve Tanner High School!,” an education policy exercise designed to help researchers understand how interested parties with different perspectives might tackle school improvement challenges—and help them learn about what drives those decisions.

Participants were grouped by their real-life roles—parents, teachers, school leaders, business leaders, and community leaders.

Two rounds were played, with a different scenario affecting the fictional Tanner High School each time. In an interview, Gomez said “this is not a game with pieces or a board—there aren't a lot of visuals—the game is really about ideas and dialogue.”

In the first round, each group was asked how they would accommodate a 4 percent cut in funding.

Some suggested external partnerships to provide services that would be lost due to staff cuts. Others proposed non-traditional ways the school could make additional money such as selling education facilities to a developer or asking community leaders to voluntarily advise and mentor students.

Read the full article about the education policy game by Marissa Norris at RAND Corporation.