The World Economic Forum estimates that 65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist. There’s no doubt that technology is driving this staggering evolution and it will continue to play an integral role in the lives of future generations. It’s our job as educators and administrators to best prepare students for a quickly changing job market, starting with the intersection of technology and education.
What Role Do Fidget Spinners Play in the Classroom?
“Fidget spinners have descended on my classroom. Last week, two students had them. This week, everyone had one!” Sound familiar? One of the hot toys this spring was the fidget spinner, a circular device with a bearing in the middle that allows users to spin it around their fingers. But what role does it play in the classroom?
How Do You Know If Your Schedule Is Toxic?
Your mission describes the rich program your school offers, as well as the outcome you intend for every student. It is why parents chose to enroll their children in your school.
You deliver that mission through your schedule. As an academic leader in your school, you understand the importance of having a schedule that “works.” But what if it doesn’t?
Student Mental Health and Your Advisory Program
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five children has or has had a diagnosable mental health disorder. This may include not only autism, bipolar disorder, and ADHD, but also anxiety, social phobia, depression, and other less-apparent conditions. Unfortunately, many students have not been diagnosed and suffer in silence.
Your International Student Program, Part Two
In the first article in this two-part series, we provided a review of the Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) and Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). In Part Two, we take a look at the enrollment process, admission, on-boarding, and other important areas of potential risk attendant to your International Program.
International enrollment application processes can be more time-consuming than domestic applications. Increase your application fee, if needed, to cover the human resource hours and the postage costs of managing your international pool.1 Many reputable third-party brokers or commissioned based recruiters (as SEVIS classifies them) are available to assist with identifying mission-appropriate international enrollments, the cost of which is typically passed on to either the school or applying family, or both.
How Parents of Disabled Children Can Maximize IEP Meetings
Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings are the most important conversations parents can have with faculty and staff. These mandatory meetings for families with disabled children outline their child’s educational future in regard to how your curriculum impacts their growth.
The True Benefits of Preschool
Perhaps your school has a preschool, or is thinking about adding one. Perhaps you see preschool as a doorway into full enrollment at your school. But is it worth it? In short, does it meet the needs of your families, your students, and your school’s mission?
Academic leaders, parents, and researchers believe a quality preschool program improves skills like simple math and phonics, and prepares children for the social and emotional behaviors as they enter kindergarten and elementary school. For example, a study in Virginia last year, including more than 20,000 students in a government-funded preschool program, indicated that children in the system showed great improvements in alphabet recognition. But do the benefits of preschool extend into student experience in later schooling?
The Department Chair’s Role in Supporting Multiyear Strategic Goals
ISM recommends six-year strategic and strategic financial plans that are completely redone every four years (so Years Five and Six are never implemented, but serve as guideposts for the subsequent six-year plan). Many schools also have an accompanying Strategic Academic Plan aligned with the strategic plan and strategic financial plan, resourced through the annual budget.
Paying Your Summer Program Director
As the Business Manager, how should you think about the Summer Program Director position? It can include diverse roles and responsibilities and so there is no single or simple answer. For some schools, this is a full-time position with over 1,000 students participating over eight weeks. For others, it is a nascent program of two weeks with 80 participants.1 Methods of compensation are equally diverse. A cross-section of typical attitudes includes:
FTE with salary and benefits (usually including extended care through the year);
an addition to a full-time position, such as teacher with a stipend attached; and
for the person directing the program, his or her children attend for free for the summer.
For Parents to Trust You With the Big Things, First Take Care of the Little Things
Schools frequently wish they enjoyed more positive interactions with parents. Teachers often lament the “good old days,” when parents trusted teachers and school administrators almost implicitly—and would not question, let alone protest, the advice or approach of educational professionals.
Parents still evaluate what happens at school through the lens of their own educational experiences, or the experiences of their older children. They may also bring expert information to bear—even the findings of educational research—on their ongoing conversation with school community members about their children’s progress and learning experiences.