Return on Investment

The Stephens Group is active in many districts in helping them create strategic plans for information and technology.


The Stephens Group has created a formula for calculating Return on Investment (ROI) for emerging technologies that school districts are considering investing as part of the planning process. District stakeholders work collaboratively to score different emerging technologies they are considering using white papers published by The Stephens Group. The formula helps district determine the Total Cost of Ownership of the technology they are considering and the projected Student Benefits. Stakeholders then chart their results on a graph. This is helpful because it allows for stakeholders to engage in meaningful discussions about the technologies they are considering and makes it easier to prioritize and make decisions in the planning process.

The process was piloted in the New Berlin School district in January 25th with approximately 30 stakeholders. The process took one day to complete. The outcomes of the meeting were helpful in creating a three year information technology plan and budgeting for technology needs.