Senior Advisor / Charter School Quality

About the role: The Arkansas Charter School Office oversees the state’s charter schools on behalf of the Department of Education. For the next three years, this position will add experienced hands to that work. The Senior Advisor will spend much of the week in schools and in training sessions: preparing charter school leaders and board members for their responsibilities, helping the Charter Authorizing Panel build the knowledge it needs, and gathering and analyzing the evidence that the office and the Panel use to make decisions. This is a support role. The Arkansas Charter School Office sets the priorities, and the Senior Advisor helps put them into practice and offers advice along the way. By the end of the grant, the training, tools, and practices built together should be part of how the office works every day. Where this role fits The Senior Advisor is employed by the National Charter Schools Institute and works from the Arkansas Charter School Office under the direction of its leadership. Decisions about charter schools stay with the bodies that hold that authority under Arkansas law: the Department, the Charter Authorizing Panel, and the State Board of Education. What you will do1. Train charter school leaders and governing boards. Training is one of the most important parts of this job. You will design and lead sessions that help board members and school leaders understand their responsibilities and carry them out well. For boards, that means governance roles and fiduciary duties, oversight of academic and financial performance, the charter contract and performance framework, and what the board is expected to do during monitoring, intervention, and renewal. For school leaders, it means performance expectations, reporting requirements, and preparation for opening and renewal. You will also help applicants understand what a strong application requires. Training will take place in regional sessions, onsite with individual boards, and online. When site visits or performance data show that a board or leadership team needs more help, you will follow up with support aimed at that need.2. Help build the capacity of the Charter Authorizing Panel. Working with office leadership, you will learn what Panel members need by asking them, observing Panel meetings, and reviewing recent decisions and the records behind them. You will then help deliver support that fits those needs. That could include orientation for new members, sessions on the charter contract and performance framework, guidance on reading Annual Performance Reports and renewal analyses, and training on national authorizing standards and hearing practice. You may also prepare decision guides and briefing templates that help members apply criteria consistently. This work happens at the office’s direction and respects the Panel’s independent authority.3. Do field work in schools You will conduct and support site visits across the charter portfolio, including pre-opening readiness reviews, annual monitoring visits, renewal visits, and follow-up on intervention conditions. Using the office’s protocols, you will gather evidence through classroom observation, interviews, and document review, and write it up so that office staff and leadership can rely on it. When you see the same issue in several schools, you will bring it back to the office so it can be addressed early.4. Turn evidence into analysis You will help prepare Annual Performance Reports, monitoring reports, and renewal analyses by checking evidence, applying the performance framework consistently, and drafting clear summaries. You will also look across the whole portfolio for trends, risks, and schools that may need attention, and write short analytic briefs for office leadership, the Panel, and the State Board. Your analysis informs their decisions, and the decisions remain theirs to make.5. Build practical tools You will develop, test, and improve the tools the office uses day to day: site-visit protocols, evidence rubrics, review templates, report formats, training materials, and portfolio tracking tools. Each tool is built with the people who will use it, tried in the field, revised, and documented so it keeps working after the grant ends.6. Advise on implementation You will advise office leadership on putting Arkansas charter law, rules, the charter contract, the performance framework, and Department priorities into practice. You will draw on national authorizing practice and on what you see in the field, point out risks and gaps, and lay out options with their tradeoffs. When asked, you will help prepare materials for Panel and State Board meetings and attend those meetings to answer technical questions. Year 1: Get to know the portfolio, the office’s current practices, and its priorities. Join office staff on field work and analysis. Complete a needs assessment with the Charter Authorizing Panel. Work with office leadership to decide which training and tools are needed most, and begin building them. Year 2: Carry a full load of field work and analysis. Run a statewide training calendar for charter school leaders and board members. Deliver Panel support based on the needs assessment. Refine tools based on how they work in practice, and move their day-to-day use to office staff. Year 3: Office staff lead site visits and analysis using the tools built under the grant, with your support and quality checks. Continue training for school leaders, boards, and the Panel. Finish documentation and a transition plan so the work continues after the grant.

What we are looking for: You have worked in charter authorizing, school quality review, or a closely related field, and you know what good evidence looks like. You are as comfortable in a school building as in a boardroom. You can lead a training session for board members and executives, write clear and balanced analysis, and give candid advice while respecting that the final decision belongs to someone else. Required

• A bachelor’s degree and substantial experience in charter school authorizing, oversight, or accountability; school quality review; or a closely related field
• Hands-on experience conducting school site visits and gathering evidence through observation, interviews, and document review
• A record of designing and leading training for charter or public school governing boards and school leaders
• Strong analytical skills with academic, financial, and operational data, as well as qualitative evidence
• Clear, precise writing
• A working knowledge of charter school governance and of how school autonomy and public accountability fit together
• Sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to work well in a supporting role inside a public agency
• Willingness to travel regularly across Arkansas Preferred
• An advanced degree in education, public administration, public policy, law, business, or a related field
• Experience working at or with a charter authorizer, state education agency, or school quality review organization
• Familiarity with national authorizing standards, Arkansas charter law, and the Department’s performance framework
• Experience reviewing charter school finances or audits
• Experience building protocols, rubrics, templates, or data tools that an organization uses regularly
• Experience coaching governing boards or school leadership teams Strengths that matter most Evidence discipline - You know what a finding requires, gather it carefully, and document it so others can rely on it. Analytical judgment - You turn data and field observations into clear, balanced analysis that decision-makers can use. Field credibility - School leaders and boards trust you, and you keep the authorizer’s independence. Training delivery - You lead practical, engaging sessions for board members and school leaders and adjust them to each audience. Practical design - You build tools that people actually use, and you improve them based on how they work in practice. Advisory skills - You give candid, well-reasoned advice and respect that the decision belongs to someone else. Clear communication - You write and present clearly for boards, school leaders, office staff, and public bodies. What success looks like by the end of the three years:
• Charter school leaders and board members across Arkansas have been trained in their responsibilities and know what is expected of them.
• Charter Authorizing Panel members have received support matched to the needs they identified.
• Office staff carry out site visits and analysis consistently, using protocols they helped build.
• The evidence behind authorizing decisions is more complete and better documented.

How to apply: Compensation is based on experience and the scope of the position. To apply, send a résumé and cover letter to search@charterinstitute.org.