ISM has long encouraged schools to minimize single-section courses (singletons) due to the negative impact they have on the health of the school’s schedule. They distort the entire schedule as the scheduler attempts to get the most students into each class. Still, schedule conflicts arise that make it impossible for students to get the courses they desire. Disappointed and frustrated, these students often have to take other courses.
We frequently see such conflicts in visual arts programs. The typical design of a visual arts curriculum begins with an introductory course, followed by courses grouped by the various disciplines (e.g., painting, drawing, ceramics) and by level (e.g., I, II, AP). The courses are arranged in a largely sequential fashion where prerequisites determine students’ eligibility for upper-level courses. For example, a student may take Design Fundamentals as a freshman, Drawing I and Painting I as a sophomore, Ceramics and Advanced Painting as a junior, and AP Art as a senior. While logical and linear, high levels of prerequisite sequencing result in numerous singletons that run with a fraction of the students who signed up for the course. To defend against this, the best course of action is to minimize the impact curriculum design has on students’ ability to gain entry into arts courses.
Develop a ‘Culture of Data’ in Your School for Strategic, Data-Driven Decision-Making
In most private-independent schools, “culture of data” is a foreign term because decisions are often based on anecdotes, the vocal minority, past events, or “instinct.” Examples of this abound.
“We need a Mandarin program because the parents are all asking for it.”
“We need a pool. Families are leaving for another school that has a swim team.”
“We must lower our tuition. Our enrollment is down because of the economy.”
Dealing With Emotional Outbursts in the Classroom
In July 2014, the Los Angeles Times reported a lawsuit between a private school and a parent over the school’s treatment of its students during a time of emotional turmoil. What was the initial issue that sparked the litigious chain of events? A student’s inappropriate behavior during a classroom exam.
Emotional outbursts can surprise and intimidate teachers unprepared to handle them—especially younger, inexperienced teachers. Let’s review how teachers could and should respond to students throwing hissy fits.
Is Your School Secure? Online Filters and Firewalls, Part Two
Last month, we talked about the different types of Internet filters available for school use and how they protect your students from dangerous hackers and disruptive websites. However, as powerful as these programs are, tech-savvy students—or even teachers!—can undermine your system. This month, we’ll turn our vision inward to examine security breaches from behind school walls.
The Rhetoric of Rigor
“Academic rigor” is heralded as a central tenet of a quality academic experience. Schools tout it. Parents want it. Governments legislate it.
The 1983 report, A Nation at Risk, sought to establish that the U.S. education system was enmeshed with mediocrity and called for increased academic rigor as the antidote. More than 30 years later—and as evidenced by the frequency with which “rigor” or “rigorous” appears on public and private school websites and strategic initiatives—“rigor” is still perceived to be a prime mechanism by which schools might improve student achievement.
Is Your School Secure? Online Filters and Firewalls, Part One
California is about to make history by passing the strictest rules governing students’ online data in the country. Once the governor signs the legislation, Senate Bill 1177 will ban targeted Web advertisements based on educational data and unnecessary “student” profiles in the Golden State. The bill makes student information such as personal demographics, sports participation, grades, and health files off-limits for advertisers' use.
Schools across the country—both public and private—struggle to stem the leak of student information to data-mining companies, as well as stop students from exposing themselves to inappropriate sites. One solution has been firewalls and filters that block sites deemed dangerous to either the network or the student-user. There are several types of website filters available for school use, and as the first of a two-part series on Internet security, we’ll talk about the common firewalls and filters used by schools and how they work.
Students Skipping Grades: A Judgment Call
With generally more involved parents and dedicated teachers, students in private schools often deftly complete work that would challenge their public school peers a year or two their senior, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. But what do you do when you have a student who’s exceptional even in this elite environment, and his or her parents request that you bump their child to the next grade level?
Highlight Your Teachers’ Out-of-School Achievements
A private-independent school is often described as a “community of learners,” and a main tenet of a school’s mission is to instill a love of “lifelong learning.” An excellent display of this conviction is that your teachers spend time improving themselves (professionally and otherwise) outside the classroom. How are you highlighting your teachers’ achievements, both inside and outside the walls of your school?
Hiring, Preparing, and Training Staff for Your Summer Program
Your school’s summer program is now over and you are evaluating the program’s successes and failures as you begin planning for next summer’s sessions. As Summer Program Director, you know the key to a successful summer program, as in any other school curriculum, is its staff. But hiring for the summer program requires a different outlook than hiring for the regular school year. These differences might seem obvious.
Creating a relationship with students and teaching for a week is different from having a year to achieve results.
If you’re teaching an academic summer program, teaching for 3–4 hours a day for four weeks is different from teaching for 50 minutes a day all year long.
The key objective of having fun is not as front and center during the school year as in the summer.
Faculty Compensation, 2013–14: Day School Salaries
In our continuing research on the competition for talented, mission-appropriate teachers for private-independent schools, ISM annually surveys a random sample of I&P subscriber schools about teacher and administrator compensation.1 This year, 262 schools responded to the survey. The following article focuses on the survey results regarding the salaries of day school teachers.
A competitive faculty salary structure is critical in a school’s ability to sustain programmatic excellence over time. Competitive salaries enable you to retain members of your faculty and hire new teachers. Consider the following results of our survey—and where your school falls in the scope of compensation variables.