The late educator Zig Engelmann (1931–2019) had a motto that he promoted tirelessly: “If the learner hasn’t learned, the teacher hasn’t taught.” According to Engelmann, this “operating principle” offended many because it placed all the responsibility for education on teachers. Of course, the statement is simplistic—it’s a motto, not a fully-fledged philosophy or plan. But in the end, most teachers and school administrators will probably agree: Teachers have a responsibility to engage students and to tailor their instruction so that students can be successful.
How to Lead and Sustain a High-Performing Administrative Team
Decisive, steady, collegial, and empathetic leadership is essential as independent school leaders face increasingly complex uncertainties in the independent school market. These complexities can be compounded when we work with multigenerational faculty expectations and parents seeking a “return on investment,” and as we gain a better understanding of neurodivergence in our students.
Achieving an Always-Updated Curriculum Scope and Sequence
New teachers often find they are free to design classes as they wish. While this autonomy may feel desirable, they struggle to create coherence with other grades and within teaching teams, making autonomy more of a problem than a welcome luxury.
Administrators often assume that maintaining a careful scope and sequence is beyond their ability to manage, yet they know they cannot allow the curriculum to become stale.
In this webinar, Mike Gwaltney, ISM Consultant, will reveal the keys to maintaining a coherent, mission-aligned, student-centered academic program.
How AI Could Impact Teaching and Learning
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has great potential to enhance student learning. If you’re wondering if it’s something you could—or should—incorporate into your academic program, this webinar is for you.
Join Andrew Taylor, ISM Consultant and Executive Coach, for a discussion on how AI can provide personalized, adaptive, and engaging student learning experiences. He’ll also explain AI’s benefits and limitations, providing practical implementation strategies you can use to incorporate AI into your existing curricula.
“Delivery of Mission” Is the Most Important Metric
Understanding how your current parents feel about your school is essential—it is so vital that you should never let a year go by without some systematic collection of parent opinions. But even more important than frequency is your ability to understand what you are hearing from constituents and to interpret these opinions accurately. Only with sound interpretation can you take wise actions based on survey results.
Understand Your School’s Economic Engine
“The buck stops here!” was popularized by President Harry S. Truman, who kept a sign with this phrase on his desk as a brazen reminder of his authority as chief executive. Truman believed that he was the head of an administrative bureaucracy, to be sure. But as President, he shouldered everything as his own responsibility. That’s noble leadership.
Do Language Classes Need to Meet Every Day? It’s Time to Dispel the Myth
ISM advocates student-centered schedules. As we define it, a student-centered schedule is grounded in (1) an understanding of how students learn and (2) a commitment to actions that support student well-being.
In practice, student-centered schedules are marked by several characteristics:
Planning for Your Next Annual Giving Season Starts Now
Annual Giving is the foundational program from which all other development efforts grow and flourish. Creating a sequential, assignable, and measurable plan for your annual giving campaign is essential for success.
In this webinar, ISM Consultant Michael Christopher, IAP-L, will walk through the 15-month process of planning your annual giving campaign from beginning to end.
Five Areas of Risk Assessment Every School Head Must Examine
Do your school's current insurance policies leave you vulnerable? It’s easy to assume your policies have you covered, but do you really know what’s hidden in the fine print?
Join Scott Wilson, ISM Consultant and Executive Coach and former Head of School, and Alicia Clingan and Connor Murphy, two insurance experts from ISM, for this insightful webinar. They’ll discuss key questions every School Head, CFO/COO, and Board should ask about these five areas of insurance coverage:
Self-Insured Employee Benefits: Starting the Conversation
Want to learn how schools are tackling the question, “How can we keep the cost of employee benefits low while NOT compromising on the quality of care our employees receive?”
Self-insurance, often an overlooked and misunderstood opportunity, has gained traction in recent years as a game-changer in the realm of employee benefits.