Telling the NAPCS story through data
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) partnered with Industrial Resolution to overhaul its Charter Schools Data Dashboard, aiming to modernize its data storytelling capabilities, increase usability for stakeholders, and reduce operational bottlenecks within the research team.
NAPCS is the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement.
Charter schools are free, public schools that are open to all students. The NAPCS mission is to lead public education to unprecedented levels of academic achievement by fostering a strong charter school movement. Their vision is that every family can choose a well-funded, high-performing public school that delivers an excellent education for their children.
project snapshot
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) partnered with Industrial Resolution to overhaul its Charter Schools Data Dashboard, aiming to modernize its data storytelling capabilities, increase usability for stakeholders, and reduce operational bottlenecks within the research team. The existing dashboard had several limitations including static, infrequently updated visualizations, limited interactivity, and no straightforward export options for users. The site also suffered from outdated styling and inflexible content templates that hindered the ability to publish and maintain timely content.
Discovery and Research
The project began with a thorough information gathering phase involving interviews with NAPCS staff. Several common pain points emerged: the existing system’s complexity, reliance on CSV uploads in specific formats, lack of dynamic filtering or user-friendly downloads, and the internal dependency on the research team for report generation. This feedback informed our core goal: to build a dashboard that was not only visually engaging and self-service-friendly but also integrated well with the organization’s existing tech stack.
Solution Evaluation and Selection Process
We evaluated several content management systems (CMS) and data visualization tools to find a solution that balanced functionality, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness. The organization was already embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem, using Microsoft SQL Server and paying for premium access that included many Power BI features.
Given that they did not have developers on staff, a low-code solution was essential. Power BI allowed us to train their team to connect directly to the database, create custom visualizations, and publish dashboards to the web—without writing a single line of code. Previously, they faced a significant bottleneck: every data update required developer intervention to update the website. Power BI eliminated this dependency and empowered the team to manage updates independently.
For content management, we compared Wagtail and WordPress. While Wagtail offered more customization, WordPress was ultimately selected for its user-friendly interface and extensive plugin ecosystem—making it ideal for a non-technical team to maintain and update content efficiently.
Because the data analyses are only published a few times per year, we intentionally avoided overengineering the solution. We didn’t need real-time database connections or complex microservices. Power BI’s ability to work with connected data sources that can be refreshed manually or on a schedule struck the right balance between flexibility and simplicity.
Power BI was also chosen over Tableau, Elasticsearch’s Kibana, and custom-built options for its seamless integration with the Microsoft stack, strong visualization capabilities, and superior cost efficiency.
Implementation and Proof of Concept
A prototype WordPress site was deployed and linked to NAPCS’s Microsoft environment. Using real data from the DataDigestStaging database, we demonstrated Power BI’s ability to render interactive reports that require no login for end users. We validated key technical requirements such as map visualizations, “publish to web” permissions, and styling controls.
Data Architecture and Integration
The dashboard architecture allows for flexible hosting (e.g., WP Engine or Dreamhost) and relies on Power BI’s cloud-based services for visualization, minimizing maintenance overhead. Data can be imported via database connection or Excel/CSV upload, then modeled within Power BI’s semantic layer for filtering and slicing. Embedded reports are published with simple HTML integration into WordPress, allowing fast iteration and update cycles.
Print Media and Special Reports
For printable materials such as Federal Fact Sheets, Power BI’s Paginated Reports feature was recommended. This tool enables consistent design across recurring handouts while maintaining the ability to update content regularly with fresh data.
What story is your data trying to tell?
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.