Overview
Project Context
Advancing a national ecosystem for high-quality instructional materials for multilingual learners
English Learners Success Forum (ELSF) plays a critical national role in expanding educational equity for multilingual learners by strengthening the instructional materials market—ensuring that materials adopted in classrooms authentically center students’ cultural and linguistic assets. As states, districts, publishers, and funders grapple with shifting policy, adoption cycles, and fiscal constraints, ELSF operates at the intersection of supply and demand, helping the field move toward more coherent, high-quality, and equitable instructional systems.
NorthStar Education Partners partnered with ELSF to develop a forward-looking strategic plan that positions the organization for its next phase of impact—grounded in ecosystem leadership, financial sustainability, and a long-term vision for market transformation.
Objectives
ELSF partnered with NorthStar to:
- Articulate a long-term ecosystem vision for instructional materials for multilingual learners
- Identify a small number of strategic bets to concentrate ELSF’s market-shaping influence
- Translate those bets into clear supply-side, demand-side, and enabling strategies
- Strengthen financial sustainability through aligned pricing and revenue models
- Equip leadership with decision tools to prioritize partnerships, states, and investments
Partner
English Language Success Forum (ELSF)
About
ELSF is a collaboration of researchers, teachers, district leaders, and funders who are passionate about improving the quality and accessibility of instructional materials for English learners (ELs).
Mission Statement
The mission of ELSF is to expand educational equity for multilingual learners by increasing the supply of high-quality instructional materials that center their cultural and linguistic assets.
Key Activities & Deliverables
NorthStar led a collaborative, ecosystem-informed planning process that included stakeholder engagement, market and policy analysis, design sprints, and financial modeling. Key deliverables included:
- A refreshed theory of action grounded in a 2035 ecosystem vision
- Clearly defined strategic bets with guardrails and success criteria
- Decision-making frameworks for sequencing state engagements and evaluating opportunities
- A flexible, multi-year financial model aligned to philanthropic and fee-for-service realities
- A branded strategic plan, implementation roadmap, and monitoring tools
Impact
- Clear strategic focus around how ELSF drives systems-level change
- Strengthened alignment across staff, leadership, and board around high-leverage bets
- Increased ability to proactively shape state adoption cycles
- A sustainable financial strategy supporting growth from approximately $7M to $9M+
- A clear bridge from vision to execution, enabling disciplined and adaptive implementation
Read more case studies and learn how NorthStar Education Partners is transforming education through strategic partnerships and innovative approaches.
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