October 28, 2025
By Aimee Evan
Every school faces moments when challenges, like staff turnover, enrollment declines, or operational strain, begin to affect performance. Recognizing these signals early is only the first step. WestEd’s Strategic System of Support helps charter schools build the capacity, access the resources, and engage the partners they need to make meaningful change before students are impacted.
To do this, we work with authorizers, charter support organizations, and state education agencies to design and implement systems that connect schools to the right help at the right time, transforming oversight into partnership. Rooted in the Indicators of Distress framework, this approach shifts the focus from reacting to problems to building aligned, proactive supports that strengthen schools and the ecosystems around them.
A Roadmap That Works for All
WestEd has applied the best practices in strategic planning to develop a customizable roadmap that helps charter authorizers build and implement a Strategic System of Support in their context. Our research-based process ensures that leaders can authentically and efficiently engage a wide range of constituents and partners in accessible and fair opportunities to shape the system.
Our process includes structured coaching and facilitated discussions with leaders to make strategic choices that align both tangible and intangible resources behind a small set of actionable statewide, districtwide, or networkwide priorities. At the heart of this work is building coalitions across the charter school ecosystem—authorizers, state entities, support organizations, and associations—so that supports are aligned rather than fragmented.
Using a template as a starting point, we guide partners through a predictable sequence: preparing with early warning data; convening ecosystem partners; imagining a shared vision; assessing patterns of distress and available assets; and then strategizing, planning, and embarking on implementation. A fuller description of this process is outlined in the callout box below.
Together, we translate this roadmap into practical routines—such as cross-partner meetings, referral pathways, and progress monitoring—so that leaders not only set a bold vision but also establish the structures and mindsets needed for continuous improvement, honoring progress over perfection.
7 Domains of Common Indicators of Distress
Early warning signs can appear across multiple domains of a school’s operations. While each context is unique, research has shown common examples:
Leadership
- Frequent turnover of principals or executive directors
- Unclear or inconsistent decision-making authority
- Lack of strategic vision or follow-through on improvement efforts
Governance
- Board disengagement or micromanagement
- Weak financial oversight or failure to meet compliance requirements
- Limited capacity to evaluate and support school leadership
Operations
- Chronic delays in submitting required reports
- Poor record-keeping or inaccurate data submissions
- Ineffective systems for scheduling, transportation, or facilities management
Finance
- Declining enrollment leading to revenue shortfalls
- Cash-flow problems or reliance on short-term loans
- Late payments to vendors or payroll concerns
Talent
- High staff attrition or vacancies in critical positions
- Overreliance on uncertified or inexperienced teachers
- Limited professional development or coaching for educators
Culture
- Rising disciplinary referrals or suspensions
- Evidence of unsafe or disengaged school climate
- Low family engagement or high rates of chronic absenteeism
Instruction
- Stagnant or declining student achievement results
- Weak alignment of the curricula to standards
- Limited use of data to drive instructional decisions
Bringing the Roadmap to Life in Mississippi and Florida
This work has recently come to life in multiple contexts. In Mississippi, the Charter School Authorizer Board (MCSAB), led by Dr. Lisa Karmacharya, recognized the need for coordinated support for schools in its portfolio. Working through each phase of the roadmap, WestEd and the MCSAB convened ecosystem partners—including the Mississippi Department of Education, associations, and technical assistance providers—for an in-person session that marked the first time many of these groups had gathered together around a common table.
Rather than focusing only on diagnosing problems, the group emphasized asset mapping—cataloging the resources, relationships, and expertise already available across the state. This meant identifying not just where schools were showing signs of distress but also what strengths and supports could be mobilized quickly to meet those needs. As Karmacharya explained, “If you identify your areas of distress and identify your assets, you will be able to go the distance you need to go to develop that full system of support for your schools.”
For state leaders like Sonja Robertson, Executive Director of School Improvement at the Mississippi Department of Education, the coalition-building process also shifted perspectives. “Being at the table has opened my eyes and given me perspectives I didn’t have prior,” she reflected. This spirit of collaboration—authorizers, state officials, and support organizations learning side by side—was a milestone in creating a more responsive and aligned system of support for Mississippi’s charter schools.
“What a privilege it has been to work and learn alongside the WestEd team,” said Karmacharya. “I am grateful for the connections and new friends in education I’ve met along the way. Now, it’s our turn … to move forward together, building a Strategic System of Support that will provide our school leaders with the targeted resources necessary to be successful.”
In Florida, WestEd partnered with the Florida Charter Institute (FCI) on an asset-mapping initiative. The final product included categorized and linked resources from national, state, and local entities; organizations by domain and indicator (leadership, governance, operations, finance, talent, culture, instruction); and a decision matrix to guide updates so that the map remains current.
The purpose was to provide schools, boards, and authorizers with an organized repository that could be continually updated to ensure that leaders have easy access to the tools, expertise, and resources they need. This work built a shared infrastructure for capacity building and reduced the guesswork for schools seeking timely support.
Together, these examples demonstrate how a Strategic System of Support can take different forms—engaging in coalition building and asset mapping in Mississippi or building a living resource repository in Florida—but both strengthen the ecosystem’s ability to respond to early signs of distress.
How the Process Works
Building a Strategic System of Support means bringing the whole charter school ecosystem together—authorizers, state entities, support organizations, and associations—around a common roadmap. The facilitated process follows a predictable sequence that is customized to local needs:
- Prepare—Use early warning data to identify school needs and shape the process.
- Convene—Bring ecosystem partners to the table and clarify roles.
- Imagine—Define a shared vision and desired outcomes.
- Assess—Analyze patterns of distress, uncover root causes, and inventory assets.
- Strategize—Select a few high-leverage strategies and match resources to carry them out.
- Plan—Outline concrete actions, structures, and monitoring routines.
- Embark—Launch the system, track progress, and adjust along the way.
This coalition-driven approach ensures that supports are aligned, accessible, and continually improved rather than fragmented or reactive.
Building a Strategic System of Support With WestEd
Although authorizers experience a variety of constraints on supporting schools that are signaling distress, a Strategic System of Support can provide a guided structure to uplift schools facing decline. Such a system coordinates multiple providers to facilitate access to resources that can directly alleviate the most common pressures on schools and reduce the prevalence of indicators of distress within a portfolio.
While a few traditional models of charter authorizing maintain a sanction-only approach to intervention, most charter leaders—whether an authorizer, CMO, or state agency—are considering what it means to offer support as the first rung on the intervention ladder for schools signaling distress. Providing supportive intervention, building an individual’s capacity to self-correct, and solving systemic issues are highly effective in avoiding “failure” in any context.
The Strategic System of Support is intended to offer that “first rung” intervention for charter schools in distress.
If you oversee a portfolio of charter schools as an authorizer, or are part of a CMO, state agency, or support organization and are interested in developing a Strategic System of Support with WestEd, please reach out to Aimee Evan, Senior Research Associate & School Improvement Specialist.
About Our Author
Aimee Evan is a senior research associate and school improvement specialist at WestEd, recognized for her impactful contributions to education. With a strong commitment to enhancing schools and ensuring student success, her expertise is grounded in extensive experience as a teacher, in-depth research, and a proven track record of building leadership capacity to sustain improvement initiatives.
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