An oversight partnership is a strategic collaboration between a charter school authorizer and an experienced external organization like SchoolWorks®, designed to support the execution of essential authorizing responsibilities. These partnerships are especially valuable when an authorizing entity faces capacity challenges, such as limited staffing or the loss of key personnel.
In an oversight partnership, SchoolWorks® functions as an extension of the authorizer’s team, working collaboratively to develop and implement oversight processes tailored to the specific context, goals, and resources of the client. This support may be interim—bridging a temporary staffing gap—or long-term, providing sustained capacity and expertise.
An oversight partnership ensures that the authorizer can fulfill its mission to hold schools accountable, support continuous improvement, and safeguard the quality of education for all students—regardless of internal staffing or resource constraints. These partnerships typiucally include a combination of the following services.
SchoolWorks conducts comprehensive site visits designed to evaluate school performance. These visits use structured protocols and observation tools aligned to the authorizer’s accountability framework. The process provides direct, actionable insights into school operations, instructional quality, and organizational health—forming a critical component of high-quality oversight.
We help authorizers make informed decisions by analyzing key performance indicators across academic achievement, student growth, attendance, and financial sustainability. Our team synthesizes quantitative data to identify patterns, flag areas for concern, and highlight promising practices, ensuring that oversight is rooted in evidence and aligned with performance expectations.
SchoolWorks supports authorizers in ensuring that schools meet all regulatory, legal, and contractual obligations. We assist with the development and implementation of monitoring plans, conduct document review, and provide follow-up support to help schools remediate issues promptly. This work ensures accountability and mitigates organizational risk.
Whether building from the ground up or refining existing processes, SchoolWorks collaborates with authorizers to create comprehensive oversight frameworks. This includes developing evaluation tools, monitoring calendars, site visit protocols, and performance rubrics that are aligned with state and local requirements, and reflective of best practices in charter school authorizing.
To promote long-term sustainability, we provide targeted coaching, training, and technical assistance to authorizer staff. This includes professional development on effective oversight practices, collaborative review of oversight activities, and guidance on continuous improvement strategies—all aimed at strengthening the internal capacity of the authorizing office.
Interested in deepening your understanding of charter school oversight? You may find the SchoolWorks Charter School Authorizing Online Professional Development Course helpful.
SchoolWorks® has supported charter school authorizers since 1998. We currently partner with authorizers in over half of the states that have enacted charter school laws.
Our team members have extensive professional experience in the charter school sector – serving as authorizers, leading charter school associations, managing charter school incubators, and more.
Leveraging our extensive experience and utilizing both state charter school laws and national standards as frameworks, our experts deliver outcome-focused support.
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