Ask ISM's Health Care Reform Specialist

Business and Operations // February 4, 2016

Q: We give our employees who do not take our health insurance an additional $100 a month. I am now told that this will go against us when we talk about the cost of health insurance. Why am I being penalized for this policy?

Read More

Facilities: More Than a Line Item

Business and Operations // February 4, 2016

Having dedicated faculty is one of the biggest—ISM research indicates that it’s the biggest—indicator of student success and satisfaction. But little learning can be done in facilities that aren’t conducive to learning, as the Detroit Public Schools have found out. After recent teacher “sick outs” shutting down dozens of schools to protest lack of support and resources, news exposés have revealed serious health and safety threats to students due to deteriorating buildings.

Read More

Managing Bias on Campus

Business and Operations // February 3, 2016

Being biased is a natural part of being human. Our experiences, culture, and lifestyles have shaped our conscious and subconscious biases. However, when it affects decision-making and disrupts your school’s culture, it becomes problematic—possibly, legally problematic. Schools especially are driven to cultivate an environment of diversity and difference. As empowering as diversity can be, these natural biases can also make your school vulnerable to biased situations without proper guidance, nurturing, and education/HR training.

Read More

?Burnt Out Parents. Burnt Out Employees.

Business and Operations // February 3, 2016

Schools don’t allow for much faculty and staff flextime. Your students need your faculty and staff to be there when they’re on campus, and planned events must happen when they’re scheduled. Managing employees from a local coffee shop just isn’t possible. Yet, according to a survey done by Bright Horizons Family Solutions, 98% of parents say they are burnt out—and it’s affecting their views on their careers.

Read More

The Questionable Necessity of Snow Day Make Ups

Academic Leadership // February 2, 2016

After Winter Storm Jonas paralyzed much of the East Coast on January 23, school cancellations for slippery roads, power loss, and facilities damage were rampant. Remembering the storm-tossed winter of 2013-2014, during which the United States saw a “polar vortex” causing double-digits of school days missed, the question of snow days arises once again—and whether they need to be “made up” at all.

Read More

The Midyear Scramble for Teachers

Academic Leadership // February 2, 2016

The prospect of needing to hire teachers in the middle of the school year provokes monstrous headaches for most Division Heads. No matter how solid your faculty community is in September, circumstances can change at any moment. Medical leave, unexpected departures, and necessary firings all affect your school’s ability to keep your students taught by the best instructors available—and the pool of teachers available to jump into your school in the middle of the year is significantly smaller than that for September starters. Still, there are some unconventional and creative ways to accommodate your immediate need for qualified applicants without skipping steps to properly vet your incoming teachers. Here are four ways in which you can lessen your midyear hiring headache.

Read More

College Expectations and Your Strategic Academic Plan

Board of Trustees // January 22, 2016

The recent PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools indicates shifting attitudes concerning the value of higher education. According to the survey, fewer than half of the parent respondents (48%) considered college education as “very important.”

Read More

Forming the Finance Committee

Board of Trustees // January 22, 2016

The budget is a chief responsibility of the Finance Committee, and budgetary activity is ongoing. Oversight of the current budget is simultaneous with development and approval of the next year’s budget. This duty alone calls for members with specific skills and backgrounds.

Read More

School Visions: Superfluous or Helpful?

School Heads // January 21, 2016

Here at ISM, a lot of our theory and best-practice advice comes from our focus on a school’s mission. We consider the school’s mission a statement of why the institution exists, a “filter” through which every decision must be run. Everything from scheduling to facility expansion to financial aid comes from how a school interprets its mission. But many organizations have a “vision,” in addition to its mission. When a school already has its mission—its core focus and primary compass pointing the community toward the “ideal” learning environment—a vision feels superfluous, at least initially. Done correctly, however, a school’s vision articulates how a school will fulfill its root mission, making it an interesting (albeit optional) part of the school’s strategic plan and marketing strategy.

Read More

19 Qualities of Superior Academic Leadership

School Heads // January 21, 2016

Leaders often possess a raw, natural charisma and energy, being the centers around whom others naturally congregate. But, there are distinct qualities which conscientious leaders—particularly academic leaders—actively cultivate to better both themselves and those around them. These people are the ones for which you should watch as you enter this year’s hiring and promotion season.

Read More