State and Federal Systems
State and federal policies and systems influence what happens in schools every day and shape the experience of students in profound ways. Achieving better outcomes for all students requires a deep understanding of the systems that shape education. At Bellwether, we focus on optimizing the roles, structures, and functions of federal and state agencies that oversee public education to ensure success for all students.
Our Work
We’ve spent more than a decade analyzing the systems that shape education, advising government leaders, and supporting advocacy organizations pushing for reforms — all while helping practitioners and the field understand and navigate the broader policy environment. Our experts have spent time as state and federal policymakers, advocates, and implementors, and directly understand the role these systems play in student success.
Our work focuses on identifying challenges — through research, analysis, landscape and ecosystem assessment — and designing solutions, including creating evaluation and measurement systems for continuous improvement and supporting adoption of new initiatives, tools, and resources. Our expertise includes both state and federal education reform, encompassing a wide range of policy processes, from policymaking to rulemaking to advocacy to implementation.
We support partners in a range of areas including:
Policy Analysis and Development: We partner with organizations, policymakers, system leaders, and funders to examine how the intersection of policy and practice at the federal and state levels can improve outcomes from early childhood through postsecondary education. Our team conducts research, convenes experts, and develops policy solutions to help shape the development of organizational policy and advocacy agendas, as well as policy implementation efforts at the state and federal levels.
Strategy and Advising: We support nonprofits, advocacy organizations, system leaders, and policymakers to develop actionable solutions and strategies to implement policy changes that help deliver excellent outcomes for students.
Measurement and Continuous Improvement: We support agencies and organizations to develop and execute the implementation of evaluation plans, landscape assessments, and research agendas to assess what’s working and improve program design and implementation.
Our Impact
Federal Pathways Policy Vision: Over the course of a year, Bellwether partnered with 10 leading organizations to reflect on challenges and opportunities of federal pathways policy. Using our insights from this work, we published six strategy papers that outlined a vision for the future of federal policymaking related to career-connected learning.
Colorado Department of Education: Bellwether supported the Colorado Department of Education’s Postsecondary & Workforce Readiness Team by gathering statewide input and developing recommendations for Colorado’s career advising system. We engaged more than 70 stakeholders — including K-12 and postsecondary leaders, career and technical education staff, workforce providers, learners, and business representatives — to inform the state’s development of a statewide career pathways platform and an updated career advising framework. Our work resulted in a report offering recommendations on platform design and accessibility, technical infrastructure, availability of pathways resources, and a second report proposing a statewide career advising framework grounded in research, stakeholder input, and legislative analysis.
Tennessee State Board of Education: Bellwether helped Tennessee implement a new school accountability law. We worked closely with stakeholders across the state — lawmakers, board members, teachers, principals, superintendents, and state staff — to shape how this new system would work in schools and districts. We held focus groups, ran simulations, and created clear processes to address accountability determinations. The final approach focused on developing practical tools to turn around struggling schools, organizing outreach and open office hours before hearings, and setting in motion a three-year cycle to track and support improvement.
Our Team
Mark Baxter
Partner
Colleen Campbell
Senior Associate Partner
Bill Durbin
Senior Partner
Kelly Robson Foster
Senior Associate Partner
Hailly T.N. Korman
Senior Associate Partner
Nick Lee
Senior Partner
Bonnie O’Keefe
Partner
Andrew J. Rotherham
Co-Founder and Senior Partner
Jennifer O’Neal Schiess
Senior Partner and Head of Portfolios
Our Insights
Get in Touch
We partner with a wide range of clients — from large-scale foundations to school districts to nonprofits to mission-driven companies. Let’s work together to transform education.
To learn more, contact Mark Baxter, who leads our state and federal systems work, at mark.baxter@bellwether.org.
