Case Studies

Bellwether Education Partners particularly values innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to solving education problems. The following case studies highlight examples of the work we have completed and the impact we have achieved.

Supporting a CMO as it broadens and deepens its impact: IDEA Public Schools
2011 to 2013
Strategic Advising
In the last three years, Bellwether supported IDEA Public Schools in developing a five-year strategic plan to broaden and deepen impact by opening more schools, partnering to develop successful Race to the Top District and i3 applications, yielding over $35 MM, supporting Race to the Top and i3 implementation and project management, and developing a detailed financial model to support IDEA’s growth.

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The Stranahan Foundation
Policy & Evaluation
In 2009, the Foundation Trustees decided to establish a new Strategic Initiative to drive greater impact in an area of particular priority for the foundation and selected education as the focus for that initiative. Bellwether worked with Stranahan Foundation staff and trustees to help them identify and articulate the Foundation’s priorities for strategic investment in education, attract a high-quality pool of potential grantees, select the most promising grantees from that pool, and monitor the impact of their grantees' work and overall foundation investment strategy.

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Teacher Evaluation Paper
Policy & Evaluation
In 2011, Bellwether Education Partners analyzed 5 states’ laws against a set of criteria that we believe reflect a high-quality law. In 2012, we expanded this analysis to include 22 states that passed legislation or established significant new regulations from 2010-2012.

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Charter Management Organizations Paper
Policy & Evaluation
In 2011, Bellwether Education Partners published “Location, Location, Location,” a paper that analyzed the finances of a large, high-performing charter school management organization, and compared how that network’s model would perform financially under cost and funding conditions in different states.

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