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.
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See the articles from our latest issue of Ideas & Perspectives.
Your Parent Education Plan: Predictability and Support
Volume 31 No. 6 // May 10, 2006
In a previous article, ISM stated that the goal of a Parent Education Plan (PEP) is to move today’s parents from a "contract" mentality to a "sense of community" mentality. It is important to understand the precise meaning of the phrase “sense of community” before attempting to implement an effective PEP. Though possessing several programmatic elements, a strong PEP focuses on augmenting and facilitating a healthy parent culture. This culture (more than the various programmatic elements) will draw parents into a closer orbit around your school.
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The Top 12 Federal Employment and Benefits Laws Every School Administrator Should Know
Volume 31 No. 6 // May 10, 2006
As a School Head or private-independent school administrator, a myriad of legal and regulatory issues flash across your radar screen on a regular basis. With the barrage of administrative tasks, staying up-to-date on human resources laws may not seem a priority. However, having a solid understanding of the regulations pertaining to employment and benefits issues may make the difference between adroitly nipping an issue in the bud and allowing a situation to fester into an expensive lawsuit that could threaten the viability of your school.
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Large Non-Cash Gifts: Donations of Real Estate
Volume 31 No. 5 // April 17, 2006
In today’s investment market, real estate is likely to be one of the most stable and highly appreciated assets in a donor’s portfolio. That’s because in almost every part of the country, land has consistently held or increased value through the ups and downs of the market and national crises. Savvy investment managers and donors include real estate in their investment plans. Schools should be aware of this fact and be prepared to ask for and accept gifts of real estate. The benefits can be enormous in terms of additional acreage for your campus or additional funds for your capital needs. The benefit for the donor can be equally as great
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Purpose and Outcome Statements: Capture the Essence of Your School
Volume 31 No. 5 // April 17, 2006
While a mission statement is valuable, no matter how beautiful the wording, it is frequently inadequate. Over the years, ISM has found that private-independent school mission statements are seldom viewed as completely satisfactory by any constituent group, whether it be the faculty and staff, the administration, the parent body, alumni, or others with an interest in the school (e.g., prospective lead donors).
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Sustainable Leadership for Private-Independent Schools
Volume 31 No. 5 // April 17, 2006
At any given moment, the Board may be operating highly effectively. The same is true of the School Head and Management Team. The problem, however, is always how to sustain high-level leadership over time. As changes occur, when the Board President finally rotates off, or the Head accepts an appointment elsewhere, or a new facility is proposed or a program added, what will ensure that the direction and vitality of the school is not lost?
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Management and Leadership Training for Academic Administrators (Part Two)
Volume 31 No. 4 // April 1, 2006
In Part One of this two-part series, eight critical ingredients and six steps were offered as a foundation on which to build management and leadership education and training systems for your Academic Administrators. Part Two provides a recommended sequence of School Head decisions and actions. The implicit opportunity, both for organizational enhancement and for individual professional growth, is enormous in its potential impact throughout your school. Moreover, its results are cost-effective.
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Faculty and Support Staff: Mutual Respect and Support
Volume 31 No. 4 // April 1, 2006
Support personnel may seem invisible in a school. These employees—personnel who are not administrators or faculty—may not appear to be as highly valued, nor as integral as the faculty to the school’s mission and to the education of children. Their roles are largely indirect. But this in no way diminishes their importance in your school’s culture. Take steps to build the faculty/support staff relationship, with the ultimate objective of improving opportunities for students in your school.
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Price, Product, or Process: How Do You Define Your School?
Volume 31 No. 4 // April 1, 2006
Borrowing originally from concepts advanced in the for-profit sector, ISM has for a decade taught a basic competitive-marketing truth: private-independent schools can compete on the basis of price, product or process, but not on the basis of all three at the same time. The implications of this truth for strategic planning would be hard to overstate. As you, the Board President, prepare for your next planning event, take responsibility for assisting your colleagues in working from a marketplace stance that fits your school’s actual competitive platform.
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The 2004–05 School Head Compensation Survey: Focus on Salaries and Bonuses
Volume 31 No. 3 // March 8, 2006
In the spring of 2005, ISM surveyed School Heads about their jobs and compensation. We randomly selected 934 Heads from our I&P subscribers; 468 responded. This article examines Heads’ salaries and bonuses; subsequent articles will focus on Heads’ benefits.
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Re-examine Advanced Placement in Light of Your School Mission
Volume 31 No. 2 // February 14, 2006
Nearly 15 years ago, ISM wrote that private-independent schools “should examine their policies on Advanced Placement (AP) offerings carefully. On the one hand, these courses provide students with challenging, standardized materials, parents with reasons to boast, and schools with credibility. On the other hand, they also can place a lid on a school’s creative potential, short-change students, and lead to a marketing dead end.” This is even truer today than it was in 1991.
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