Prep for the Test!

Private-independent school students are blessed in many ways. One of their advantages is the lack of state-mandated standardized tests that plague the public school sphere. Still, your students will serve their time filling in bubble sheets with #2 pencils when they take the SSAT or the ISEE for future private schooling, or even the SAT I & II and ACT tests for their college applications. (Side note: More students have taken the ACT than the SAT since 2012!)

School Is Five Days a Week (Except When It's Not)

There can be little doubt that most—if not all—schools east of the Mississippi River have lost required class time, thanks to a spate of winter storms and arctic vortexes determined to keep everyone at home and off the roads and playgrounds. Schools across the country are scrambling to compensate for the lost class time, but how they do it varies from place to place.

Snow, Snow, Go Away: Winter-Recess Policies

Winter has settled in with a vengeance in the Northern Hemisphere, heralded by the recent “Polar Vortex.” While the temperatures have slowly risen back to seasonal averages, the question of how to handle outdoor recess in the face of extreme cold has been raised on our Lower School Head/Division Head e-List. There are no national regulations beyond the common-sense meter, but when you’re bracing for wind chills that make the world feel colder than Mars, you know it’s time to set some ground rules for future arctic blasts.

Faculty Motivation, Schedule Change, and School Change

Schools continually talk about their schedules. The typical targets are the sense of constant rush, the recognition that incremental annual changes have fragmented the schedule, a desire for more effective teaching time, and an interest in collaboration. It can be a frustrating conversation. It is easy to identify issues that need attention, but difficult to persuade faculty to adopt potential schedule changes. Everyone knows change is necessary, but few want to risk jumping from the frying pan into the fire! ISM has previously stated, “The skill of the School Head will be sorely tested as he/she moves faculty culture from a place of semidependency (“just tell me what to do”) to a place of organic vibrancy that bubbles up creative, critical, and innovative ways to maintain a freshness that continues to enable the school’s mission to be practiced in a hyperchange environment.” Scheduling is a change mechanism, whether moving to a six- or seven-day cycle, rotating classes, lengthening periods, and so on. Typically, this mechanism is intentional in three ways, including:

Don't Be Afraid to Jump on the Bandwagon

The media and companies tout new and improved teaching strategies every year. Remember when everyone thought that MOOCs—Massive Open Online Courses—were the solution to slashed budgets? Now it seems that low completion rates and limited interaction have crippled the online course movement’s momentum, with only a 4% completion rate in some college courses. However, just because one new idea wasn’t fully vetted or properly implemented doesn’t mean that you should avoid trying novel programs.

Rally the Troops From Their Seasonal Slump!

Winter break is a time to recharge your battery, as well as reconnect with family and friends. But, how many times do you and your faculty come back feeling down and discouraged? January hits like a dump truck and everyone’s enthusiasm is as flat as week-old champagne sitting in those glasses you still haven’t cleaned. While others daydream of their immediate vacation plans, you as Division Head should make plans now to counter the seasonal malaise.

Faculty Culture Profile II and Student Experience Profile II, Spring 2012–Spring 2013 Data Summaries and Commentary

ISM published its Student Experience Study (SES) outcomes in January 2012, and published related articles in Ideas & Perspectives throughout that spring. Among the features in the report were a revised Faculty Culture Profile (ISM’s longstanding measure of the quality of a school’s faculty culture) and a revised Student Culture Profile (renamed the Student Experience Profile). The report also included the study’s statistical findings and an instrument for use as part of any school’s approach to faculty evaluation, the Characteristics of Professional Excellence II. Beginning with the spring 2012 data collection period, ISM has published quarterly data summaries of both the Faculty Culture Profile II (FCP II) and the Student Experience Profile II (SEP II). This is the first annual analysis article, one that reviews the previous quarterly data summaries and provides commentary regarding the implications of those summaries.

The ISM Faculty and Management Compensation Survey, 2012-13: School Head Salaries

The School Head is the sole employee of the Board, and management of the Head’s compensation is a high priority. Numerous entities are now asking how much compensation is too much for nonprofit CEOs. Never has it been more important that the Board be fully conversant about Head compensation. Only then can the Board determine what adjustments are needed to ensure that the school compensates competitively to retain the Head or enhance its ability to be competitive in its next Head search. Trustees must educate themselves about the marketplace and understand the complexities of the School Head’s job. ISM surveyed a random sample of I&P subscriber schools concerning compensation for faculty and administrators. This article focuses on the survey results regarding the salaries of School Heads at our participating day schools.

Match Points Ease Scheduling Challenges

Creating a master schedule is challenging enough when you attempt to accommodate the basic demands of people, function, time, and space during the day. Those challenges multiply when you add the following factors to the equation. Faculty who teach in more than one division of the school. The need to create a schedule that is age-appropriate in each division without impacting the schedule of any other division. A single facility—most commonly a gymnasium or lunchroom—that must be shared by all divisions. Groups of students that must move a substantial distance between buildings—or even campuses.
Subscribe to Academic Leadership