Charting the Course

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.

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

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

• Educational advocacy services
• Special education advocacy
• IEP meeting support
• 504 plan advocacy
• Parent advocacy coaching

Headquarters

HQ city

Lothian

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Transcription Services: IEP meeting transcription services charged per recorded minute, with rush processing available. Useful for dispute resolution processes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core 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

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• 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

• Facebookfacebook.com/ChartingTheCourse
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/charting-the-course-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Charting the Course