The expression “deliberate heterogeneity” reflects ISM’s commitment to private-independent schools truly delivering each school’s unique mission to its unique students (i.e., deliberately, and not being uniform). The term is defined as a school’s desire to articulate and exemplify its mission distinctives in the marketplace, and thus its confidence in being able to appeal to that marketplace through the power of its own voice. The expression reflects our concern that our schools are being unduly influenced by an educational movement toward homogeneity that strikes at the core of an independent school’s character and competitive position. We introduce the phrase “deliberate heterogeneity” to galvanize schools, one at a time, to take on their mission responsibility and deliver it in creative and innovative ways. Heterogeneity includes your school’s values, unique history, culture, and circumstances influencing your mission-in-action.
Stories to Inspire: Three Creative Teacher Induction Strategies
Last month, we talked to School Heads about the importance of adopting a year-long induction process for new teachers. Let’s allow that momentum to carry us onward and take a look at what other private-independent schools have done to inspire next year’s meetings and induction programs.
Summer Reading for Division Heads: Recommended Books and Webinars
There’s a heat in the air, a humidity that refuses to lift, and an itch in your feet to walk on green grass rather than plush carpet. That’s right, summer’s here! While the classrooms are empty, there’s no need for learning to stop. So spend some time this summer catching up on your recommended reading and that professional development webinar you’ve been meaning to watch.
The Academic Administrator Stance
The overriding responsibility of those who supervise faculty is to increase their capacity and hold them accountable—this is not negotiable. In ISM’s Comprehensive Faculty Development (CFD),1 it is clear the evaluation process and the growth and renewal process are the two key aspects of this singular task (i.e., the way in which to do it), with the Characteristics of Professional Excellence acting as the glue to tie it all together. As Division Heads (and other academic administrators) approach their task, it is important for them to have a stance or attitude with which they come to faculty evaluation/growth and renewal.
When Professional Development Is Useful for Your Teachers
In a past Division Head e-Letter, we shared examples of faculty professional development that didn’t make the most of in-service days. (In fact, it was borderline offensive!) Today, we’d like to take a moment to highlight some qualities of excellent professional development that comprise an enlightening experience for your faculty—and ultimately, your students.
Dear National Teacher Day: A Letter to First Year Teachers
National Teacher Day was May 6, and we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate all of our teachers than to share a video made by Edutopia and SoulPancake featuring veteran teachers writing letters to themselves on their first day of school as a new teacher. (The transcript’s below, if you care to read instead of listen.)
The Wise Use of Your School’s Disciplinary Data
As School Head and academic leader, consider taking a more systematic approach to your student discipline records. When a child misbehaves, school administrators tend to attribute his or her behavior to situational factors at home or within their peer relationships. Repeated misbehavior points to a dispositional issue. Data, however, can show patterns in students’ behavior that reveal that the school environment has a tremendous influence on student behavior. It is clear from ISM visits to hundreds of schools that both Division Heads and their faculty are not mining their discipline records for information to determine policy, process, and direction. Often, it is hard for schools to even locate discipline records that are stored in any methodical and intentional way. Yet discipline (both academic and behavioral) can be telling indicators in your divisions.
Strategies for Reducing Late-Summer Faculty Resignations
Private schools can suffer late-summer teacher resignations, often in August, mere weeks before the start of the new school year. Despite having signed a contract, a teacher may leave your school to work at another school, or even pursue another career—forcing you to find an immediate replacement. What can your school do to develop a plan of action to prevent this from happening?
12 Steps to an Effective Extended Day Program
Working parents need extended day programs that are well-designed, convenient, and flexible—and these parents are willing to pay for quality service. Yet, extended day programs are still managed in many schools as though they were side operations. To make these programs real contributors to the overall solvency and marketability of your school, consider the following steps.
The Division Head: A New Reality
Every member of the Academic Management Team must understand how to operate as the CEO—the School Head—does (mission-based and strategically oriented). Our understanding of the changing role of the Division Head now emphasizes this “headship” aspect of the role. In the past, the Division Head was bureaucratic—involved in curriculum development, policy setting, and handbook creation. The position rarely involved meaningful discussions with colleagues in other divisions, let alone in the Advancement or the Business Office. This will no longer suffice in today’s private-independent school. The Division Head now has one primary function and two supporting functions.