ISM recently updated and reported on its survey database of parent opinion on the factors most influential in families’ choice of a private-independent school. While the perceived quality of the academic program is highly important, several high-ranking factors taken together reflect an emphatic desire for a safe and caring community. “Faculty care and concern” and “Character development/values” were the top two variables. Recognize and take action on the strategic opportunities this information provides by developing and implementing a marketing and communication plan to highlight how your school delivers these institutional qualities, particularly through the mission-based advisory program that engages and supports students in your middle and upper divisions.
Bullying: Seven Ways to Protect Your Students
We’ve talked about digital harassment in the past, but recent events have reminded us that physical bullying is still alive and well. On April 21, a 16-year-old lost her life after a fight (allegedly over a boy) in the girls’ bathroom of a public school in Wilmington, Delaware. Rev. Sandra Ben of Pray Ground Community Church told the Delaware News Journal, “We know [violence] is happening in the streets. But now we are talking about violence happening in a place that normally should be a safe haven.”
Parents choose to send their children to your school, in part because they consider your community safer than the public alternatives. Still, bullying can occur anytime, anywhere—and occasionally, despite your best efforts to educate. (In a moment of cruel irony, this incident occurred in the middle of the school’s anti-bullying campaign season). So this month, let’s talk about the effective ways in which you can keep your school a predictive and supportive space for every student.
Four Hilariously Ineffective Anti-Drug PSAs
Children are smarter and more intuitive than many adults give them credit for. They know when they’re being sold to, no matter the window dressing on it. Therefore, advertising campaigns to help young people avoid addictive substances have occasionally… shot wide of the mark. This issue, enjoy a countdown of some of the most hilariously incompetent efforts to educate our children on the dangers of drugs.
Strategic Financial Aid and Diversity
In previous I&P articles, we have taken a close look at arguments for classifying financial aid awards as “rainy day” and “filling empty seats” for strategic reasons. This article looks in depth at “diversity and/or marketing goal” awards, the third strategic reason for giving financial aid. Some may wonder why diversity is paired with a marketing goal. It is simply because students that fit these profiles are not applying—or at least not sufficiently—without financial assistance at a school.
Professional Ethics in Advising
The Professional Characteristic expressed above derives from ISMs research on school culture, and student performance and satisfaction. It is a distinguishing component of ISM's approach to faculty growth and renewal. A core principle behind ISM's guidance to schools, in general, is that their reason-for-being is to benefit students. As one dimension of this student-centered focus, we have endorsed a mission basis for middle and upper school advisory programs and emphasized that the advisor is a professional.
Seven Observations from the Division Head e-List
Our email-based, position-specific e-Lists generate lively conversation year-round, but the Division Head e-List has been especially insightful lately. In addition to recommendations on specific curriculum, technology, and policy-related questions, there are many words of wisdom to be shared from listening in to the conversations of your fellow Division Heads.
Five Steps to Excellent Student Assemblies
Student assemblies change students’ lives—or they can be something akin to a waking nightmare. Finding the right “educational performers” or motivational speakers that do a wonderful job of inspiring and teaching your students within your budget and who mesh with your school’s mission can be a trial, though. This month, we’ve listed the five steps that should lead you to host the transformational student assemblies that will become wonderful memories your students treasure long after they leave your school.
10 Attributes of an ISM Model Advisory Program
Of the several formal programs that engage and serve students in private-independent schools’ middle and upper divisions (e.g., community service learning, athletic teams, clubs, even academic classes), none may exhibit more variability among schools in structure, content, faculty commitment, and avowed institutional importance than the advisory program. Simply put, each advisory program is unique in when, how, how often, and even why advisors encounter and serve advisees and their families; in how much time is given to planning and professional development; and in how much advisory participants value the program itself. While ISM does not provide guidance on some distinguishing programmatic variables (e.g., content of advisory group curricula), we have espoused some core principles and practices. In this article, we express them as a list of attributes to which schools should aspire.
Self-Assessing Your Department/Team
When Department Chairs/Team Leaders meet with their Division Head, what is the basis for any conversation? Many schools that ISM visits lack any idea of what the Department Chair or Team Leader is supposed to do (outside some basic managerial items). Division Heads rarely give the Chair/Leader the authority to implement the tasks assigned. The following assessment is designed to spur the creation of the Department Chairs’ own self-assessments and should be considered a guideline. The five major principles of Department Chair/team leadership include:
College Board Releases a “Wordier” Exam
College prep assessment company College Board recently released details on the latest iteration of its Scholastic Aptitude Test (the SAT). The new exam has several new features, but the renewed focus on reading comprehension has most educators’ attention. As the new format becomes more widely know, nervous students may need reassurance—and maybe reading glasses.