Authorizer Board Development

Advancing Authorizing Together

Get the experienced support you need!

You are a difference maker for kids and communities! Being great at your job requires being proactive, establishing values and expectations, following policies and procedures, navigating the legal and political environment, effectively communicating, and so much more. And it’s essential to get these decisions right.

That’s where our team thrives! Work with a team of experts who know what it’s like to walk in your shoes having real-life experience being and working with authorizers and boards of all types and sizes. Let us guide you through the process!

The Process

Strategic Planning Around Your Vision
External Analysis & Evaluation
Balancing School Support & Accountability
Strengthening the Authorizer, Board, School Relationship
Aligning Governance & Operations

Meet with one of our experts and discover if this is the right fit for you!

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Our Authorizing Board and Commission Development includes:

Authorizing agency self-assessment:

Uncover the strengths and areas of growth of your agency, with optional customization to include community-specific questions.

Our unique self-assessment is built off of the same strands as the Education Board Partner’s Self-Assessment of Charter School Governing Boards to provide sector-wide alignment on critical elements of success.

The Key Standards Include:

1 Focus on student outcomes
2 Exceptional leadership and effective partnerships
3 Invest in exemplary governance
4 Act strategically, be accountable
5 Manage financial resources wisely
6 Ensure an effective and well-run organization
7 Center of equity in authorizing

The self-assessment is anonymous and takes an average of 8 minutes to complete. There are 50 questions with four open-ended responses. To ensure that the questions are relevant to your legal structure and terminology is accurate, we provide an opportunity to review and customize prior to dissemination.

Once results are compiled, we present the findings through three key areas:

Strength: Where all members believe that the work is high-quality and fully developed

Growth: Where all members believe that the work needs improvement

Disconnect: Where there is a significant variance in responses

The board members will discuss findings through a facilitated, inquiry-based discussion and develop a priority list of action steps. An opportunity to assess again at a later time can be included.

Authorizing agency self-assessment:
Uncover the strengths and areas of growth of your agency, with optional customization to include community-specific questions.

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Analysis of Board Conduct:

In-depth review of recent board meetings with a specialized focus on transparency, adherence to legal requirements, balanced approach to decision-making, and bias

We will watch up to five hours of live-stream or pre-recorded board meetings where high-stakes decisions are made. We will analyze based on transparency, bias, and autonomy. We will provide a concrete analysis of the use of time, public comment, and discussion.

Based on the analysis, board members and the staff leadership team will identify key action steps to address any uncovered growth areas. The facilitator will work with leadership (usually the board chair and staff leadership) to introduce new processes, protocols, or policies and reassess at a future board meeting.

Analysis of Board Conduct:
In-depth review of recent board meetings with a specialized focus on transparency, adherence to legal requirements, balanced approach to decision-making, and bias.

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Facilitated Discussions:

Customized and personalized board development conducted over multiple virtual meetings or a single in-person retreat to build report, strengthen understanding of roles and responsibilities, and develop or refine transparent processes and policies.

From the basic rules of effective governance to the nuances of charter school authorizing, a program will be designed to meet the unique needs of your board or commission. Our inquiry-based approach will center on the legal requirements and encourage multiple perspectives with the single goal of refining processes in the best interest of public charter school students and families. Focusing on the charter life-cycle, discussions will begin with the application process, annual oversight (financial, academic, operations, and legal compliance), renewal, and closure, as well as general practices and policies for effective organizational oversight.

Facilitated Discussions:
Customized and personized board development conducted over multiple virtual meetings or a single in-person retreat to build report, strengthen understanding of roles and responsibilities, and develop or refine transparent processes and policies.

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360 Board Review:

Learn what your stakeholders think of your agency’s processes and support of a vibrant charter school sector.

Our 360 Board Review includes three assessments of board or commission oversight, all aligned to seven key standards that align with the standards developed by Education Board Partners for charter school boards:

1 Focus on student outcomes
2 Exceptional leadership and effective partnerships
3 Invest in exemplary governance
4 Act strategically, be accountable
5 Manage financial resources wisely
6 Ensure an effective and well-run organization
7 Center of equity in authorizing

The assessments include:

An authorizing Board or Commission member self-assessment
An authorizing staff assessment of the Board or Commission
A charter school leader and charter school board assessment of the Board or Commission

The assessments are anonymous and take an average 8 minutes to complete. There are 50 questions with four open-ended responses. To ensure that the questions are relevant to your legal structure and terminology is accurate, we provide an opportunity to review and customize prior to dissemination.

Once results are compiled, we present the findings through three key areas:

Strength: Where Board or Commission, staff, and stakeholders all believe that the work is high-quality and fully developed

Growth: Where Board or Commission, staff and stakeholders believe that the work needs improvement

Disconnect: Where there is a large variance in responses among Board, staff, and stakeholders

Through a facilitated, inquiry-based discussion, the board or commission members will discuss findings and develop a priority list of action steps.

360 Board Review:
Learn what your stakeholders think of your agency’s processes and support of a vibrant charter school sector.

LEARN MORE

Put Our Experience and Expertise to Work for You!