A rumor spreads at Exempli Gratia Academy (our fictional K–12 day school) that one of the employees has tested positive for Zika virus. Bombarded with questions, the School Head turns to the infectious disease policy in the employee handbook—and finds it all but worthless. The situation spurs the Leadership Team to take a look at this specific item as the first step in a full-scale policy review.

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As a Development Director, you may seek ways to better engage your school’s parents—as volunteers and donors. Parents who are connected to your school’s activities, programs, and mission are your strongest word-of-mouth advocates and your most loyal philanthropists.

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Teacher A: “Our Board members are never here at school, so they have no idea what we do. How can they possibly understand what they should be doing on the Board?” Teacher B: “I know! And none of them has ever been a teacher! Why are they on the Board in the first place?” Have you overheard...

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Stewardship is at the heart of development. It culminates all the efforts you have made to build relationships with your donors—an ongoing, year-round process that continues to involve them, connect them, and honor them for their support.

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As a school explores a schedule change, leadership often appoints a committee to oversee the process. ISM’s research found 63% of schools formed a “schedule change committee” before revising their schedule, whether they used ISM to design their schedule or not. They do this for at least one of three reasons: to gather data, to cultivate ideas and perspectives, and to facilitate teacher “buy-in.” A committee or its members might collect survey data, visit other schools to observe an “innovative schedule” in action, attend an ISM scheduling workshop, and run discussion groups. It may also be charged with developing and modifying prototypes, and then recommending a design to the leadership.

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You, the School Head, employ a 10th-grade female English teacher. She earns $65,000 and has 15 years of experience. You also have an 11th-grade male science teacher. He also has 15 years of experience, but because science teachers are difficult to find and retain, you pay him $80,000 per year. Is this fair?

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Through their gifts, donors have demonstrated their commitment to your school, its mission, and its plans. Now, in the fifth stage of the Donor Cycle,1 recognize these supporters, appreciating and honoring their generosity in ways that ensure they feel reaffirmed and validated about their choice.

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Dramatic change happens slowly in education. The last major innovation, one that changed the nature of schooling, was the invention of the Carnegie unit in 1906. It was adopted so long ago, and has become so ingrained in the way education is done, educators are astounded that 120 hours of instruction is still the unit of measurement for determining students’ progress for the next level. While many people thought the technology revolution would create disruptive innovation for schools, the personal computer and the internet have not impacted the education industry in the way they have in the working world. Online, blended, and computer-adaptive learning have remained largely a supplementary experience, and have not reduced faculty or even the need for brick-and-mortar schools as some had thought. The school experience is still one teacher, in front of a group of students, in a room, delivering a largely standardized curriculum.

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School Heads today rely strongly on the support and guidance provided by their Head Support and Evaluation Committees. Despite this support from the Board, however, the Head’s perennial problem is professional isolation. Heads often express their concerns about the issues they face during the school year—problem parents, the budget, Board relations, fundraising, etc. To lead their schools effectively, Heads must learn how to better delegate authority and to develop a professional support network outside the school. Even though Heads have other administrators to help resolve problems, they often tackle too many issues alone.2 When a Head makes every school concern a personal concern, eventually every problem—no matter whose purview—will come to him or her.

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As Admission Director, one of your various tasks is to develop and maintain productive relationships with the schools that traditionally send students to you each year—your feeder schools. These schools can provide a steady, typically dependable, source of new students. But, beyond that, there are other advantages to having a portion of each year’s new students come from familiar programs.

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