Education Policy Practice

SchoolBus

Comprehensive Approach:  Connecting Education Reform to other Human, Community, and Economic Development

Sosne Kondé Policy Solutions, PLLC, applies 20 years of experience of keen legal and policy analysis to every challenge. 

Advocating for Twice-Exceptional Students: When we represent parents of children with special needs, we provide legal counseling, facilitation expertise, and advocacy skills in each situation.  This approach can lead to more effective implementation and sustainable results.  See 2E Legal Practice.

Consulting with School Systems:  Recently, we directed a project on the feasibility of how the Hopi Tribe could develop a comprehensive educational system on the Hopi Reservation.  We managed a team of expert consultants in their fields of governance, educational services, behavior management and counseling, language and culture, educational technology, and community and family engagement, among others.  For our Feasibility Study report, a summary of promising practices across tribal education departments, and an analysis of tribal education codes, see the Hopi Department of Education and Workforce Development website.  We are proud to announce that the Hopi used our report to move forward in historic ways; in 2019, the tribe enacted a new Hopi Education Code and officially created a new, comprehensive Hopi School District. 

Performance Reviews: In another example, consulting for the State of Texas Legislative Budget Board, we focused on family and community engagement as a critical factor in comprehensive education reform of a rural school district.  Read the final report on the Dalhart ISD Performance Review.  For the Maryland State Department of Education, we reviewed and evaluated after-school programs funded by the 21st Century Community Learning Center program.

In the Classroom: To complement our educational consulting, we stay in the classroom too!  Our affiliate, Kondé Strategies, LLC, runs Creative Writing clubs in Fairfax County elementary schools and an annual Creative Writing Summer Camp.  The Elementary Book Club we run is also a favorite among parents and children who love to read and discuss books.

Policy Analysis: Education is one of the most complicated fields because it is so multi-faceted, including historical context, national and local politics, community priorities, underlying issues, and individual decisions and actions.  Some issues seem to last forever without resolve (like how to address systemic discrimination), while new challenges arise every day (like school shootings or Covid-19).  Within that challenging realm, our director is starting a new project to showcase and discuss some of more complicated policy issues.  Follow the Kondé Policy Blog here.

Education Reform: Education reform has always been a major focus of our director’s work — whether it was advising the Congressman during her legislative tenure on Capitol Hill, facilitating policy development of local elected officials with the National League of Cities, or advising current clients.  However, education reform doesn’t happen in a bubble; it is connected to other human, community, and economic development.