District and Charter Systems and Governance

Our Work

We focus on design, implementation, and assessment of system-level policies and practices, including board or charter strategic or growth planning, district strategic planning, strategy implementation, and continuous improvement. We also support organizations that shape education ecosystems, such as authorizers and other policymaking bodies, advocacy groups, charter associations, and national and local funders/intermediaries.

Our focus areas include:

District and Charter Strategic Planning: For 15 years, Bellwether has helped district and charter leaders develop compelling strategic plans and provided support in implementing these plans, measuring progress, and adjusting course as necessary. Bellwether partners with our district and charter clients to do all or any of the following:

• Understand the organization’s current health and performance through a detailed assessment.
• Clarify intended student outcomes (academic and social).
• Identify the highest-leverage strategies to achieve these outcomes and prioritize strategies to support successful implementation.
• Identify opportunities and challenges in the local education landscape that affect the organization’s success.
• Develop a financial model to guide resource allocation aligned with strategic priorities.
• Create a detailed action plan that outlines the specific actions, metrics of success, and timeline for each strategic priority.
• Build capacity of organizational leaders to measure and implement the plan.

Charter School/Network Strategic Growth Planning: The urgency to ensure that more students have access to excellent schools means that successful and promising charter schools should consider growing to serve more students. Bellwether has years of experience supporting successful growth that results in not just bigger organizations, but stronger outcomes for more students. This requires thoughtful planning for the school’s program, staffing approach, financial model, and operational systems. Our support includes:

• Developing a sound plan for growth and expansion for schools and networks of all sizes.
• Convening a cohort of peer schools to build a community of practice around successful growth.
• Supporting a funder or other intermediary in creating a growth strategy across a region, network, or portfolio.

Governance Support: Governance matters for students. Strong boards open opportunities, anticipate and mitigate risk, invest in innovation and results, and keep excellent leaders on the job. In 2023, Education Board Partners, a national nonprofit supporting charter school and education nonprofit boards, joined Bellwether, making Bellwether the nation’s leader in education governance expertise and experience. Our support includes:

• Providing advice, resources, coaching, and hands-on support to executive leaders and boards to build board capacity and effectiveness.
• Partnering with funders, authorizers, and charter support organizations to provide training on effective governance for board members and school leaders across a city, state, or network.
• Providing tools, templates, and resources to the sector.
• Recruiting board members with relevant experience and perspective and matching them to boards.

Ecosystem Policy and Strategy: Bellwether partners with authorizers, other policy bodies, advocacy groups, charter associations, and national funders/intermediaries to sharpen their support to schools and districts. We help identify the greatest needs facing the education field and work with these organizations to create landscape analyses, policy recommendations, and strategic plans to best serve their constituents, and to successfully implement policies that lead to student success.

Our Impact

Strategic Growth Institute Cohort — Excellent Schools New Mexico (ESNM): In alignment with ESNM’s goal to increase the number of high-quality seats, Bellwether facilitated a 20-week growth planning cohort for four schools. We partnered with the schools to conduct a Readiness to Grow Report. The report informed the development of a comprehensive growth plan, with clear priorities for schools’ intended impact and growth approach, a detailed implementation plan, and a dynamic multiyear financial model to ensure financial sustainability through growth. As part of this cohort, leaders also met multiple times to deepen their own leadership skills for growth and build stronger relationships as peer leaders.

District Strategic Planning — Lynn Public Schools: Bellwether partnered with Lynn Public Schools in Massachusetts to develop a three-year strategic plan shortly after a superintendent change, when a clear path forward for all staff was essential. Bellwether conducted a District Health Assessment, reviewing the current state across nine dimensions of running a healthy district. Stakeholder feedback and input was central to the planning approach. Based on that assessment, we developed a multiyear strategic plan, with clear intended impact goals, related strategic priorities, and a detailed implementation plan, including clear owners, actions, and timeline for completion. The superintendent was equipped with a focused plan to drive student success at Lynn Public Schools.

Measurement and Implementation Support — Chicago Public Schools (CPS): Bellwether partnered with CPS to translate the board’s Continuous Improvement and Data Transparency policy into practice. Bellwether partnered with a range of district departments — including academics, accountability, and strategy — to help define measurable indicators of student success and compiled a districtwide implementation plan to use those indicators to understand what’s working and where improvements are needed.

Governance Support — Ingenuity Prep; Massachusetts Charter Public School Association: Bellwether partnered with Ingenuity Prep, a charter school in the District of Columbia, with multiyear governance advising support, including creating board committees, facilitating board strategic planning retreats, and conducting a school leader evaluation. Bellwether also partnered with the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association to facilitate an annual series of 10-12 trainings for school boards and executive directors.

Ecosystem Policy and Strategy — Missouri Charter Public School Association (MCPSA): Bellwether partnered with the MCPSA in the development of its fiscal year 2024-2027 Strategic Plan. This plan will clarify MCPSA’s role in driving quality, define key supports for schools and leaders, and identify strategic pathways for sustainable charter growth in the state. Ultimately, this work will position MCPSA to advocate effectively, support school success, and foster the next generation of high-performing charters.

Our Team

Bill Durbin
Senior Partner

Evan Coughenour
Partner

Akeshia Craven-Howell
Partner and Head of Early Childhood to Career Learning

Kelly Robson Foster
Senior Associate Partner

Carrie Hahnel
Senior Associate Partner

Carrie Chimerine Irvin
Executive Adviser

Anson Jackson
Senior Partner

Nithya Rajan
Partner