Learn practical strategies to handle emerging trends and leadership challenges in private schools.
No matter if you’re a School Head, Admission Director, Development Director, Board member, or any other private school administrator—Ideas & Perspectives, ISM’s premier private school publication, has strategic solutions for the pervasive problems you face.
- Tuition not keeping pace with your expenses? In I&P, explore how to use strategic financial planning to create your budget and appropriately adjust your tuition.
- Enrollment dropping off? Discover how to implement the right admission and enrollment management strategies that engage your community—and fill your classrooms.
- Trouble retaining teachers? Learn how you can best support your teachers using ISM’s Comprehensive Faculty Development framework. Your faculty members will become more enthusiastic about their roles—which ultimately improves student outcomes.
- Fundraising campaigns not as successful as you’d hoped? Implement ISM’s practical advice and guidance to build a thriving annual fund, construct an effective capital campaign, and secure major donors—no matter your community size or location.
- Not sure how to provide professional development—for you and your staff? Learn ways to develop and fund a successful professional development strategy. You can improve teacher-centered satisfaction and growth, which in turn strengthens student-centered learning.
- Problematic schedule? You can master the challenges of scheduling with the help of ISM’s practical advice, based on our experience with hundreds of schools and our time-tested theories.
- And so much more.
I&P has shared targeted research, up-to-date insight, and sound theory with school leaders since 1975. More than 8,500 private school decision-makers find the answers to their schools’ administrative and governance matters in our advisory letter. We give you the strategic answers you need.
As an ISM Silver or Gold member, you not only receive issues online and in print 10 times a year, but you have access to more than 600 articles in our web archive. Need help? It’s at your fingertips! Learn more and sign up for ISM's membership here.
Search
See the articles from our latest issue of Ideas & Perspectives.
Terminating At-Will or Under Contract: Fairness and Due Process Are What Count
Volume 35 No. 4 // March 15, 2010
“We’re in an at-will state. We can let someone go at any time for any reason.” “We simply didn’t renew their contract. We don’t need to give a reason.” While these refrains—heard from school administrators on a regular basis—are both true as far as they go, they don’t tell the whole story regarding the risks of dismissing an employee at a private-independent school.
1. Already a member? Click here to login.
2. Not a member? Click here to become a member.
3. Not sure? We'll help you figure it out.
Family Satisfaction and Retention in the Current Economic Climate: 2010
Volume 35 No. 4 // March 15, 2010
ISM recently conducted its second annual nationwide survey of parents of children attending private-independent schools. Again this year, the survey was designed to address school concerns about the current economic situation and the effect it might have on re-enrollment. A total of 11,385 people responded; last year, there were 13,291 responses.
1. Already a member? Click here to login.
2. Not a member? Click here to become a member.
3. Not sure? We'll help you figure it out.
The 21st Century School: Curriculum and Technology
Volume 35 No. 3 // February 18, 2010
The 20th century curriculum paradigm was dominated by the power (and needs) of publishers who took a considerable amount of time to develop textbooks and drove a profitable mass market in educationally acceptable knowledge. The 21st century curriculum paradigm is far more anarchic, with “textbook” knowledge being accessible and created through “social production”2 (collaborative work with open platforms) and largely available for free.
1. Already a member? Click here to login.
2. Not a member? Click here to become a member.
3. Not sure? We'll help you figure it out.
‘Priority’ Students: The Unpleasant Side of ‘Demand in Excess of Supply’
Volume 35 No. 3 // February 18, 2010
One of second-tier markers of the ISM Stability Markers® is “demand in excess of supply.” While it would be desirable for every grade to be described this way, ISM has always viewed this Marker as critical when it describes the situation at the school’s traditional “entry” grades (e.g., pre-kindergarten, sixth, ninth)—the first grade of the school and the grade(s) where it expands, either through attrition or by design, the number of seats available for new students.
1. Already a member? Click here to login.
2. Not a member? Click here to become a member.
3. Not sure? We'll help you figure it out.
The Growing Importance of Technology in Parent Communications
Volume 35 No. 3 // February 18, 2010
ISM conducted a survey of private-independent school parents from 37 schools, and 7,986 families responded. One of the survey questions concerned satisfaction with the use of technology at their schools. The survey results indicated that: 77.59% of the respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their school’s “use of technology in the classroom”; and 81.38% of the respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their school’s Web site.
1. Already a member? Click here to login.
2. Not a member? Click here to become a member.
3. Not sure? We'll help you figure it out.
When Is a Volunteer Not a Volunteer
Volume 35 No. 2 // February 2, 2010
Mrs. Smith, who has been the Administrative Assistant for the School Head for the last 10 years, is overseeing the sign-in table on “Parents Night” for the ninth year. Once again, she will not be paid for this activity. It began innocently in 2001, when the school was much smaller, and she said, “I can help out tonight.” Since then, there has developed an expectation by the Head and the faculty that she will continue to “volunteer” each year for the event.
1. Already a member? Click here to login.
2. Not a member? Click here to become a member.
3. Not sure? We'll help you figure it out.
Faculty and Staff Use of Social Media: Sample Policy
Volume 35 No. 1 // January 7, 2010
Social media—including sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, and other online discussion forums—has extended its reach into many areas of modern life, including (or especially) the lives of students, as well as teachers and administrators. While the origins of these services are social in nature (i.e., not job-related), they have evolved to the point where certain uses of these outlets may impact the reputation and well-being of your school and its members (for example, if they inadvertently serve as a conduit facilitating inappropriate relationships between students and faculty/staff). Due to this possibility, the use of social media resources becomes part of the school’s appropriate purview with respect to employees.
1. Already a member? Click here to login.
2. Not a member? Click here to become a member.
3. Not sure? We'll help you figure it out.
Baker's Study of Vouchers: Implications for Private-Independent Schools
Volume 34 No. 16 // December 15, 2009
Rutgers University professor and school finance expert Bruce D. Baker conducted a recently published study titled Private Schooling in the U.S.: Expenditures, Supply, and Policy Implications. Here are three of the major findings.
1. Already a member? Click here to login.
2. Not a member? Click here to become a member.
3. Not sure? We'll help you figure it out.
The 21st Century School: Budget
Volume 34 No. 16 // December 15, 2009
The question of fair, competitive compensation is a primary concern when developing your school’s budget. Your school’s ability to attract the best candidates is a prerequisite for excellence in the classroom, and compensation is a piece of that puzzle.1 As we continue our discussion of the 21st Century School, it is clear that private-independent schools must not only provide financial support and appropriate time for ongoing and effective professional growth and renewal, but also compensate faculty competitively.
1. Already a member? Click here to login.
2. Not a member? Click here to become a member.
3. Not sure? We'll help you figure it out.
Why the Worst (and Best) Teachers Matter
Volume 34 No. 15 // December 2, 2009
For several years, ISM has pushed academic administrators (typically Division Directors, Department Chairs, and School Heads) to recognize that faculty culture (defined as the pattern of customs, ideas, and assumptions driving the faculty’s collective set of professional attitudes and behaviors) is the critical determinant of a school’s “excellence.” The contention is that the top of a culture cannot escape the bottom.
1. Already a member? Click here to login.
2. Not a member? Click here to become a member.
3. Not sure? We'll help you figure it out.