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.
The Four Key Elements of a Comprehensive Marketing Communications Audit
Volume 47 No. 4 // April 1, 2022
One of the most significant challenges private schools face is competition for the attention of their constituents. Between advertisements, social media, text messaging, and emails, we are exposed to thousands of messages each day.
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AP Programs Considering Your School’s Purpose and Outcome Statements
Volume 47 No. 4 // April 1, 2022
In four previous I&P articles, ISM questioned whether Advanced Placement courses suit the nature of a private school and suggested that moving beyond AP is a viable alternative as schools seek to provide a high-quality, unique curriculum.
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Your Next Board Retreat: Scenario Planning
Volume 47 No. 4 // April 1, 2022
In the previous article, we explored the idea of generative governance. We asked you to imagine a Board retreat marked by robust, future-focused conversations—groups of Trustees engaged in substantive debate, creatively exploring a unique challenge.
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How to Best Design Your Employee Interview Structure
Volume 47 No. 3 // March 1, 2022
Although most administrators understand the critical role of hiring, they lack formal training in the best ways to interview and evaluate candidates. Schools use various steps in their hiring process but ultimately depend on the interview as the critical step in determining candidate fit.
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Build an Inspiring Case for Giving for Your Annual Fund
Volume 47 No. 3 // March 1, 2022
As Director of Development, you know your case for giving is a core element of any fundraising campaign, whether it is for annual, capital, or major gifts. The case for giving articulates your values and mission in a form that allows donors and prospects to make a direct, emotional connection with your school.
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Why Faculty Compensation Cannot Be Tied to ISM’s Growth and Evaluation Framework
Volume 47 No. 3 // March 1, 2022
Boards and school administrators often inquire about ISM’s growth and evaluation process with the intention of tying it to faculty compensation structures, inspired perhaps by corporate incentive programs or public school systems that link pay raises to student test scores or other metrics.
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Getting Buy-In and Engagement for Advisory Programs
Volume 47 No. 3 // March 1, 2022
Building an effective advisory program is an important aspect of fulfilling your school’s mission and delivering on your Purpose and Outcome Statements. However, teachers often describe advisory as an “add-on” duty, placing it akin to duties like “carpool” and “lunch supervision.” So, while from a “mission” perspective, advisory programs serve a critical role, there are factors that make it feel to faculty as if it is of secondary importance.
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Advisory Angst: Four Reasons Advisory Programs Aren’t Living Up to Expectations
Volume 47 No. 2 // February 1, 2022
While ISM has advocated advisory programs for years and has written about them extensively, it is fair to ask, “Are they working?” The high frequency rate that we observe schools annually modifying or adding to their advisory program suggests they are not effective, given the amount of angst constantly associated with them.
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Assessing the Quality and Impact of an Employee Growth Goal
Volume 47 No. 2 // February 1, 2022
ISM’s growth and evaluation framework for School Heads, administrators, and nonteaching staff clarifies that growth itself is not to be evaluated, so employees are free to try new things and take risks without fear of failure. However, not all growth goals are created equal. ISM designed the following rubric to help you and your employees assess and strengthen your own growth goals, and to help your trained growth plan coaches have productive, objective conversations with the employees they’re coaching.
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Management and Retention Guidelines for Student Records
Volume 47 No. 2 // February 1, 2022
Any school can face a court situation where its records can be perused and questioned. All student records are crucial assets and proper maintenance of them is essential. As the School Head and the Board Chair, ensure that your school has a policy on records management and retention. Without one, you cannot assure that important documents and materials are in proper order and readily available—for administrative, fiscal, historic, and legal purposes.
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