Charting the Course
Charting the Course LLC is a Maryland-based, founder-operated educational advocacy firm providing non-attorney IEP/504 meeting support, advocacy planning, record review, and dispute guidance to parents of children with special education needs across Maryland's Southern and DC Metro Counties.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersLothian, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Charting the Course does
Charting the Course LLC is a privately held, founder-operated educational advocacy firm headquartered in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, serving families with children who have special education needs across Maryland's Southern and DC Metro Counties. Founded by Beth Ann Hancock, a parent of two children who navigated the special education system herself, the company delivers non-attorney advocacy services covering IEP and 504 Plan meeting attendance, advocacy planning, records review, progress monitoring, dispute resolution guidance, alternative-schooling options, and referrals. Services are charged via a mix of one-time fees ($895 onboarding), per-meeting fees ($450 for IEP/504 meetings, $300 for continuation meetings), an annual renewal ($300), hourly billing ($175/hour), and per-minute transcription ($1/minute), with a pro-bono hours program for families receiving FARMs or SNAP benefits. The firm is positioned as a horizontal-segmentation consumer service targeting parents of children with ADHD, ASD, ODD, emotional disabilities, and executive-functioning or social challenges, and acquires customers through Facebook, email, content marketing, workshops, and referrals from licensed clinical social workers and healthcare providers.
The business operates without any proprietary technology platform, API, or AI tooling; delivery is entirely human-labor-based and dependent on the founder's credentials (COPAA SEAT 2.0, Parent's Place of Maryland LEADers, Maryland Coalition of Families Family Leadership Institute, Arc Maryland Partners in Policymaking, NAMI Family Support Group facilitation). Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer, with a free 20-minute consultation offered as the top-of-funnel conversion mechanism. Pricing is publicly disclosed, and customer testimonials suggest an individual-parent and healthcare-referral customer mix rather than enterprise contracts. Operating scale is small (1-10 employees), there are no funding rounds, no subsidiaries, no parent company, and no patents, trademarks, or formal partnerships recorded.
Strategic posture is that of a regional sole-practitioner services micro-business: growth is constrained by founder bandwidth and Maryland geography, with modest expansion optionality across additional counties, an annual-renewal subscription layer, and a possibly-in-development digital tool referenced as COMPASS. The firm has no disclosed revenue, no technology moat, and no institutional customer base, making it best characterized as a lifestyle professional services practice rather than a venture-scalable venture.
Charting the Course firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Charting the Course
- Legal name
- Charting the Course LLC
- Website
- https://chartingthecourse.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Charting the Course LLC is a Maryland-based, founder-operated educational advocacy firm providing non-attorney IEP/504 meeting support, advocacy planning, record review, and dispute guidance to parents of children with special education needs across Maryland's Southern and DC Metro Counties.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Charting the Course industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Educational Advocacy Services
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- IEP/504 Planning, Case Management & Compliance (EDAJAKAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Family Advocacy, Parent Training & Support Services (EDAJAKAK), Parent & Caregiver Training for IEP Navigation (EDAKACAJ), Special Education Due Process, Mediation & Dispute Resolution Support (EDAKACAH), IEP Goals, Accommodations & Modifications Design (EDAKACAE)
Keywords
Where Charting the Course is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lothian
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Charting the Course business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Educational Advocacy Services: Professional advocacy services including IEP/504 meeting attendance, advocacy planning, record review, progress monitoring, dispute options guidance, and parent coaching. Services charged via hourly rates and flat fees per meeting type.
- Onboarding and Annual Retainer: New client onboarding fee covering comprehensive records review, needs assessment, and advocacy planning. Annual renewal for active clients providing ongoing outside report review throughout the school year.
- Transcription Services: IEP meeting transcription services charged per recorded minute, with rush processing available. Useful for dispute resolution processes.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | New Client Onboarding |
| Subscription | Annual | Active Client Annual Renewal |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | IEP/504 Meeting Attendance |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Continuation Meetings |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Hourly Services |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Meeting Transcription |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Charting the Course product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Charting the Course provides non-attorney special education advocacy services to Maryland families, guiding parents through IEP and 504 Plan processes, attending school meetings, organizing educational records, monitoring IEP goal progress, advising on dispute resolution options, and connecting families with specialist referrals. The firm also offers parent coaching, group training sessions, and guidance on alternative educational placements such as private schools and homeschooling.
Product overview
Charting the Course is a non-attorney educational advocacy service provider offering a portfolio of core services to help Maryland families navigate the special education process. The company's main service modules include: Advocacy Planning (vision development and action planning), School Meetings (IEP/504 attendance and support), Record Review (document management), Progress Monitoring (IEP goal tracking), Dispute Options (conflict resolution guidance), Training and Social Opportunities (parent education), Alternative Options (private school/homeschool guidance), and Referrals (connecting with specialists). These services are priced through a combination of flat fees (Onboard Fee at $895, IEP/504 Meetings at $450/meeting, Annual Renewal at $300) and hourly rates ($175/hour) for additional services like coaching, transcription ($1/minute), and continuation meetings ($300). The company is led by founder Beth Ann Hancock and serves families in Maryland's Southern and DC Metro Counties.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Advocacy Planning
- School Meetings (IEP/504) Provides planning, attendance, and follow-up support for IEP and 504 Plan meetings at school. Targeted at parents who hire an advocate to represent their child's interests during formal school meetings.
- Record Review Document management service that helps parents make sense of special education paperwork, highlights important information, and creates organizational systems. Targeted at families overwhelmed by the volume of special education documentation.
- Progress Monitoring Tracks IEP goal progress through the school year to ensure goals are being reported objectively and accurately, with team reconvening assistance when needed. Targeted at parents who need ongoing oversight of their child's IEP implementation.
- Dispute Options Guides parents through dispute resolution options including timelines, costs, deadlines, and possible outcomes when disagreements arise with school teams. Targeted at parents in conflict with school districts over services or placements.
- Training and Social Opportunities Group training sessions and parent connection opportunities throughout the year covering the special education process. Targeted at families seeking education and peer community around special education navigation.
- Alternative Options Assists parents in exploring alternative educational options including private schools and homeschooling, demystifying choices outside of public education. Targeted at parents considering placements outside the public school system.
- Referrals Connects families with local and national specialists and resources to build a comprehensive team of professionals for the child's educational success. Targeted at parents seeking a broader professional support network.
- General Coaching Guidance and coaching for families wanting support without having an advocate present at IEP meetings, charged at an hourly rate. Targeted at parents who want education and strategy but are not yet ready for direct in-meeting advocacy.
- Meeting Transcription Transcription service for IEP meeting recordings at $1 per recorded minute, including search capability, timestamps, one-week turnaround, and rush processing availability. Targeted at families needing accurate written records of meetings, especially for dispute resolution.
Quantifiable outcome
- Free 20-minute consultation available to discuss needs
Companies that use Charting the Course
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Charting the Course technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Charting the Course partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Charting the Course competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA): National professional association and training body for special education advocates and attorneys; Beth Ann holds its SEAT 2.0 credential and cites its Code of Ethics, making COPAA the industry-shaping standards body whose member firms are Charting the Course's peer cohort.
- Wrightslaw: National publisher of special-education law information, training materials, and advocacy guidance for parents and advocates; competes indirectly by enabling parents to self-advocate rather than hiring a service provider like Charting the Course.
Regional players
- The Arc Maryland: Maryland disability advocacy chapter where Beth Ann completed the Partners in Policymaking course; provides system navigation, self-advocacy training, and family support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities — comparable in serving the same Maryland IEP families but at a broader, mission-driven scale.
- Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC): Virginia-based parent training and information center funded under IDEA that helps families understand special education rights and navigate IEP/504 processes — directly analogous mission and service set, just across the Potomac in a neighboring state.
- Disability Rights Maryland: Maryland's federally funded Protection & Advocacy system providing legal advocacy and rights defense for individuals with disabilities; overlaps with Charting the Course on special-education dispute resolution but operates at a higher legal-services tier that Charting the Course refers cases into.
- Maryland Coalition of Families: Maryland statewide family peer-support organization for children with behavioral health needs and Beth Ann Hancock's former employer; serves overlapping families and counties with peer support, advocacy navigation, and resource referrals similar to Charting the Course's offering.
- Parents' Place of Maryland: Maryland parent training and information center that delivers workshops, individual advocacy support, and IEP navigation services; runs the LEADers parent-training program Beth Ann completed, making it a direct functional peer within the same catchment area.
Emerging players
- Understood.org: National digital resource for families of children with learning and attention issues, offering IEP/504 explainers, templates, and toolkits; an emerging self-service alternative that addresses the same parent-education pain point as Charting the Course's coaching and training services.
Broad incumbents
- National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD): National advocacy organization driving federal policy on learning disabilities and supporting families through resources and referrals; a larger, broader incumbent in the same advocacy-and-family-support space as Charting the Course.
- WrightsLaw / Pete & Pam Wright: Established national authority on special-education law publishing guides, training programs, and advocacy resources widely used by parents and advocates — operates at significantly greater scale and brand recognition than Charting the Course within the same parent-advocacy domain.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Charting the Course social profiles
Digital presenceCharting the Course financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Charting the Course leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Charting the Course funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Charting the Course M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Charting the Course
What does Charting the Course do?
Charting the Course provides non-attorney special education advocacy services to Maryland families, guiding parents through IEP and 504 Plan processes, attending school meetings, organizing educational records, monitoring IEP goal progress, advising on dispute resolution options, and connecting families with specialist referrals. The firm also offers parent coaching, group training sessions, and guidance on alternative educational placements such as private schools and homeschooling.
Is Charting the Course a public or private company?
Charting the Course is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Charting the Course founded?
Charting the Course was founded in 2021. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Charting the Course based?
Charting the Course is headquartered in Lothian, United States, in the North America region.
How does Charting the Course make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Educational Advocacy Services are the primary driver. The others are onboarding and Annual Retainer and transcription Services.
Who are Charting the Course's main competitors?
Others on record are Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) and Wrightslaw. Regional players are The Arc Maryland, Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC), Disability Rights Maryland, Maryland Coalition of Families and Parents' Place of Maryland. Understood.org is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) and WrightsLaw / Pete & Pam Wright.
Does Charting the Course have an API?
No public API is recorded for Charting the Course.
What industry is Charting the Course in?
Charting the Course's product category is Educational Advocacy Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAJAKAB, IEP/504 Planning, Case Management & Compliance, with a secondary code of EDAJAKAK, Family Advocacy, Parent Training & Support Services. Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8200.