UW–Madison’s Saldaña Wins Grant to Reimagine How Schools Coordinate Resources
June 30, 2026 | By Karen Rivedal, Office of Research & Scholarship Communications
Christopher Saldaña is working to create a new national model for how resources serving students are delivered.
UW–Madison Assistant Professor of Education Finance and Leadership Christopher Saldaña is part of a team that has been awarded a $75,000 Vision Grant from the Spencer Foundation to develop a major research initiative focused on improving how K–12 schools, districts, and community organizations coordinate resources to support students. Saldaña will co-lead the planning project alongside Louis Gomez, distinguished professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Tammie Causey-Konaté, educational research consultant and CEO of ImpactEd Enterprises.
Although work on the 12-month planning grant will begin in Wisconsin, the team aims to create a scalable national model for resource coordination that can be adapted by school systems across the country.
Public school districts in the United States collectively spend nearly $1 trillion each year on education, including not only classroom instruction but also youth development programs, mental health services, and other student supports. As districts increasingly partner with nonprofit and community-based organizations to expand these services, coordinating resources across multiple agencies has become both more important and more challenging. Fragmented systems can limit the effectiveness of available resources and reduce their impact on the students who need them most.
Saldaña describes coordination as a critical but often overlooked aspect of education systems and improvement.
“Coordination is a particularly important process to focus on, but one that does not receive as much attention as it should,” Saldaña said. “Attention is often paid to how school districts spend — for example, through teacher compensation or educational programming — but far less attention is devoted to the budgeting, resource allocation, and coordination processes that undergird educational programs in supporting student success.”
The project seeks to better understand how educational systems can organize resources and partnerships to provide more comprehensive support for students.
“Our goal is to ensure that the organizations and resources students need work in concert with one another so that all students have access to the high-quality educational opportunities they deserve,” Saldaña said.
About the Researcher:
Christopher Saldaña is an assistant professor of education finance and leadership in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. His research examines K–12 school finance policy, resource allocation, and educational opportunity. Saldaña uses quantitative and qualitative methods in his research.
About the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER):
WCER at UW–Madison’s #1-ranked School of Education is one of the world’s oldest and most productive education research centers. WCER has supported researchers and scholars in developing, submitting, conducting and sharing grant-funded education research for over 60 years. Visit wcer.wisc.edu for more information.
