Nearly 15 years ago, ISM wrote that private-independent schools “should examine their policies on Advanced Placement (AP) offerings carefully. On the one hand, these courses provide students with challenging, standardized materials, parents with reasons to boast, and schools with credibility. On the other hand, they also can place a lid on a school’s creative potential, short-change students, and lead to a marketing dead end.” This is even truer today than it was in 1991.

How do the members of the Management Team know the "right" things to do in the coming year? While the strategic plan (resulting in the annual agenda) drives what the Board is to do, the Management Team has less clear direction as to how to create the annual administration agenda. The following example shows how to make this important document a reality.

You, along with many private-independent school leaders, may be questioning the position of Advanced Placement courses in your school: Does the AP curriculum truly support/deliver the mission of your school? If AP is mission-appropriate in your school, recognize the impact it can have on your schedule, your students, and the education you provide.

Everyone — especially those of us who have spent any time in New Orleans and the Gulf region — is distressed by the soul-wrenching pictures and almost surreal stories emanating from the region devastated by hurricane Katrina. Many issues are now being debated concerning how relief efforts could have been enhanced, what could have been done to prevent the massive losses, and how disaster policies and actions can be improved in the future. The key question is: What can we learn from Katrina?

This is the first article in a series that presents an overview of the International Model Schools Project, a summary of its major findings, and a discussion of its most significant organizational implications. These implications—which focus on how faculty culture affects student performance—have been refined, through school-by-school interaction, over the five-year period (1995-2000) since the end of the study.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was designed primarily to enable employees who change or lose their jobs to move seamlessly from one employer health plan to another. HIPAA mandated that health care providers issue a "portability certificate" to an employee covered under a health plan." This rule ensures that the employee (and other insured dependents) are covered under the new employer's health plan without any pre-existing condition restrictions or other waiting periods.

Ten years ago, ISM carried out the Research for School Management (RSM) International Model Schools Project, a six-year study that involved 51 schools. The research demonstrated that it was possible to intervene in the operations of a school and directly impact student performance, enthusiasm, and satisfaction. Two of the key characteristics concerning student performance derived from the research included: – a strong sense of community (predictability and support) within the school: students, faculty, and administration; and – student perception of instructional and administrative fairness, to include perceived fairness both in discipline and in grading.

Action research is a systematic process of inquiry undertaken by school practitioners in their own schools. It uses the techniques of research to help teachers examine their own educational practices, then takes steps to improve education in the very place where the research is carried out. Teachers become more effective when they are encouraged to examine and assess their own work, and then develop ways of improving their own teaching skills.

As you, the School Head, think about the school five years from now, you must consider the Management Team (the Head's direct reports) and ask whether the team members can take the school where the Board, in its strategic plan, wants it to go. You can't do it alone; this group of administrators is critical to meeting (a) the strategic plan goals and (b) the school growth items as laid out in the annual administration agenda.

Activities related to human resources—e.g., interviewing candidates, orienting and mentoring new employees, providing employee benefits, making contract renewal decisions—are often perceived by schools as isolated actions rather than as part of an integrated whole. Shifting perspective to view these activities cohesively—in the context of your school's mission, culture, and values—is critical for three reasons.