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 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act: The Not-So-Simple Health Care Privacy Rule
Volume 28 No. 2 // February 10, 2003
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was designed primarily to enable employees who change or lose their jobs to move seamlessly from one employer health plan to another. HIPAA mandated that health care providers issue a "portability certificate" to an employee covered under a health plan." This rule ensures that the employee (and other insured dependents) are covered under the new employer's health plan without any pre-existing condition restrictions or other waiting periods.
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PILOTs and SILOTs: To Pay or Not to Pay—Is That Even the Question?
Volume 28 No. 1 // January 13, 2003
Several recent articles aimed at nonprofit organizations—including private-independent schools—have discussed the topic of PILOTs (Payments In Lieu of Taxes) and SILOTs (Services In Lieu of Taxes). (See, for example, “In Lieu of Taxes: What Can Schools Do When the Taxman Comes Knocking?” Independent School, Spring 2002, and “Navigating PILOTs: Increased Pressure for ‘Voluntary’ Nonprofit Tax Payments,” The Nonprofit Quarterly, Summer 2002.) But these articles have not taken their “heads up” far enough
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Keep Ergonomics in Mind When Integrating Classroom Technology
Volume 27 No. 16 // December 21, 2002
The widespread use of computers in schools, for all its benefits, has one major drawback: repetitive strain injuries (RSIs). Improper use of the computer puts students at risk for developing such debilitating injuries as carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis. This article will discuss how schools can keep their students healthy while integrating computer technology in their classrooms. As Head of School, direct your school’s Safety Committee to consider the following guidelines and take measures to prevent potential ergonomic problems.
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Energy Alternatives: Wind Power
Volume 27 No. 16 // December 21, 2002
Energy improvements can potentially save our nation’s schools $1.5 billion each year – while creating a better learning environment for students and faculty. Boards of Trustees should consider wind energy as a potential means of saving substantial energy costs.
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Maximize Your Return on Investment: ‘Market’ Your Commitment to Professional Development
Volume 27 No. 15 // November 28, 2002
ISM recommends schools invest annually between 1.5% to 2.0% of their total operations budget in the professional development of their faculty (Stability Marker No. 8). Schools use this investment as one strategy in creating a strong faculty culture that translates to a demonstrable improvement in student performance. In addition, ISM research indicates that linking your faculty evaluation system with ongoing professional development is the key to retaining and recruiting teachers.
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Creative Ways to Demonstrate Programmatic Success
Volume 27 No. 14 // November 4, 2002
Parents should use direct, research-based elements (high quality teachers, low student-to-teacher ratio, student achievement, etc.) when choosing a private-independent school. But, their selection process also focuses on your school’s competitive advantage. As the Marketing Director, you face the challenge of validating the successes of the school’s programs in comparison with other schools.
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Acclimate Former Corporate/Military Personnel to Your School’s Culture
Volume 27 No. 14 // November 4, 2002
Researchers predict that both public and private schools across the nation will continue to experience a shortage of teachers. To combat this problem, you may wish to expand your pool of teaching candidates and new administrators to include former military and corporate employees. This article discusses how to smooth the way for these skilled individuals as they enter your school environment.
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Five Questions Parents Should Ask': The Question Beyond the Questions
Volume 27 No. 14 // November 4, 2002
In an August press release, the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), along with 34 other organizations, announced a list of five questions "for parents to ask as a more substantial way of assessing the quality of a child's education. The questions were designed for parents of school-age children attending public or private schools as an alternative to top ten lists and rankings based on test scores."
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Calculating Hard Income Coverage
Volume 27 No. 13 // October 14, 2002
ISM has long recommended that private-independent schools generate sufficient hard income to cover a substantial percentage of annual operating expenses. Our recently published the ISM Stability Markers® self-scoring instrument facilitates this and several other key recommendations by providing a self-rating structure through which the Board and senior administration can assess the school’s current degree of coverage while DetermineYour School’s Best Approach to Planning: Stability Markers and a Self-Scoring Process in the future.
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Professional Development and Your Senior Administrative Staff
Volume 27 No. 12 // September 27, 2002
As Head of School, you are aware that your senior administrative staff members tend to give little thought to themselves. As a group, they comprise a selfless lot, devoting untold hours to providing services to your students and to your faculty, parents, and alumni. You may have in the past encountered difficulty in persuading them to attend appropriately to their professional growth and development.
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