Senior Advisor​/Charter School Quality

NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE | IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

A three-year role helping the Arkansas Charter School Office train school leaders and

boards, support the Charter Authorizing Panel, and strengthen the evidence behind its

decisions.

• Employer National Charter Schools Institute
• Based in Arkansas Charter School Office, Office of School Choice and Parent Empowerment,
• Arkansas Department of Education, Little Rock
• Term Three years, grant-funded
• Direction
  - Arkansas Charter School Office leadership
• Travel Regular travel across Arkansas for school visits and training

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 putthem into practice and offers advice along the way. By the end of the grant, the training, tools, and practicesbuilt together should be part of how the office works every day.

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.

1. 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 applicationrequires. 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 supportaimed 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’sdirectionand 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’sprotocols, you will gather evidence through classroom…