Leading, Learning, and Disequilibrium: Defining the Role of a Harbormaster Organization in a System of Schools

Abstract

This capstone examines the role of a new type of nonprofit in education reform efforts. Referred to as “harbormasters” or “quarterbacks,” these city-based organizations represent a shift to locally developed and executed strategies to improve outcomes for preK-12 education. My residency took place within a harbormaster called New Schools for Baton Rouge (NSBR) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. NSBR is a 501c3 organization with a mission to ensure that every child in Baton Rouge has excellent school options. NSBR’s initial goal was to create 12,000 high quality seats for the highest need students in North Baton Rouge, a cluster of neighborhoods where there has been a concentration of low performing schools. As the organization closes in on its original goal, NSBR is leveraging its early success to expand quality choice options for a total of 30,000 high-quality seats for students across the city. With this in mind, NSBR is contemplating the long-term implications of Baton Rouge’s evolving education ecosystem and its own role in the city’s system of schools, which includes four traditional school districts, the state Recovery School District, public charter schools, a diocesan school system, and independent private schools. My charge was to determine the solutions that must be in place for a system of schools to thrive. On a systemic level, the strategic project examined legacy costs (primarily teacher pension costs), enrollment, facilities, and parent engagement. On an organizational level, the strategic project considered how a civic organization like NSBR might position itself to ensure the system has both equity and coherence. In particular, the project asked whether NSBR’s primary lever for driving systemic improvement is managing a competitive portfolio of schools or if NSBR should transition to a more central role in an increasingly decentralized system. In addition to developing frameworks and tools that will guide NSBR’s future course of action, I examined the internal conditions that must exist for organizations like NSBR to address the adaptive challenges facing the sector and determined that success hinges on the capacity to operate as a learning organization and the ability to navigate sustained periods of disequilibrium.