Jamie Garwood

Jamie Garwood

2021 NACSA Leader

Director of Charter Schools, Ball State University

Dr. Jamie Garwood currently serves as the Director of Ball State University’s Office of Charter Schools (OCS). Prior to coming to Ball State, she helped develop and open a social justice charter school. Jamie also served as a founding board member of the Indiana Charter School Board, an authorizing body. Additionally, Ms. Garwood has more than 15 years of experience working in the non-profit sector, with accomplishments that include launching a community-wide literacy initiative to close the 3rd grade reading gap and developing one of the largest Real Men Read mentoring projects in the country. Jamie is an experienced evaluator of both schools and non-profit programs, including serving as an evaluator for federally funded 21st Century Learning Center (CCLS) after school programs. Dr. Garwood earned a Doctorate in Education Leadership by conducting a study of Indiana’s K-12 voucher program. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs, both focusing on education and social welfare research and policy.


Most Recent Posts
No Shortcuts to Student Success: The Case for Statewide Annual Assessments
When I think about why I’ve dedicated my career to advancing and strengthening the ideas and practices of authorizing, I think about the students I’ve met over the years—bright, curious...
Raising the Bar: NACSA’s Updated State Policy Recommendations
NACSA believes that strong laws enable strong authorizing. In turn, strong authorizing leads to strong public education outcomes for students, families, and communities. That’s why we regularly update our state...
A New Path Forward: NACSA’s Bold New School Application Guidance
I’ll never forget a foundational principle I learned nearly two decades ago, while authorizing in Indianapolis: It should be hard to gain approval to start a new charter school. But...