A student is behind on tuition, but his or her family has promised to pay the remaining amount. When contracts for the following year are sent, that student commits to re-enrollment. Now the school needs to make a choice—do you re-enroll a student who owes tuition from a previous term?
The Problem(s) With Teacher Evaluation
Every school must be able to answer this question: How do we assure that we have a great faculty to deliver the mission with excellence, and ultimately increase student performance, satisfaction, and enthusiasm? While the answer, “with an effective teacher evaluation process,” is a common response, a significant problem arises—teacher evaluation processes are completely ineffective. Large-scale research has found schools do not accurately discriminate between effective and ineffective teachers,1 nor do they drive professional development or improve student outcomes.2 In our travels, ISM Consultants have found few schools that serve as exemplars in this area. Your school likely struggles to establish an effective, consistent, and culture-enriching evaluation process.
Requests for Employee Information: What’s Your Policy?
The School Head is served a subpoena—a local attorney requests the personnel file of his client, your school’s former Admission Director. Her ex-husband has custody of their children and is gathering information for a child support hearing. What do you do now?
Summary and New Dimensions in Our Measure of Well-Being on Executive Leadership
ISM has studied the interrelationships among executive leadership, well-being, and school performance. In the previous three articles in this series, we have confirmed:
ISM’s existing measure of executive leadership and the Head’s level of flourishing correlate with key school performance variables (school stability, financial strength, enrollment demand, and faculty culture);
that neither the School Head’s experience in the field of education nor cumulative experience as School Head is related to the key school performance variables. There is no evidence a school improves with the Head's experience.The Head’s current length of tenure, however, was correlated with the school’s financial strength;
enrollment demand is related to the strength of leadership and well-being of the School Head; and,
the School Head’s level of professional support and well-being significantly influences the faculty culture—a central construct that enhances the student experience and the enrollment management process.
How to Announce a New Strategic Financial Plan
The holiday season is behind us, a new year is beginning, and you have big tasks on the horizon. Chances are your team is in the final stages of completing next year’s financial plan. It’s now your job to orchestrate announcing next year’s plans—along with any accompanying changes to tuition and fees—to the school community.
It can be difficult to share this news, and you may wonder about the best way to approach this announcement.
Creating a Successful Advisory Program
A key attribute of a private-independent school education is the presence of an advisory program. Families value the one-on-one attention and mentoring their child receives, providing them with the academic guidance, character education, and personal development advice they need to excel within your school. Here are some tips for creating a successful advisory program to benefit students, families, and faculty.
Head Support and Evaluation Committee: Reporting to the Board
The Head Support and Evaluation Committee (HSEC) is the link between strategy and operations. It is a safe place for the Head to report ongoing progress toward his or her goals, and for the HSEC to advise, support, and hold the Head to account.1 But what is the relationship of the HSEC to the Board? After all, the reason for the HSEC is the Board’s inability to evaluate the Head. But, at the same time, the Board is the Head’s employer and has a “right to know” and ensure the Head is held accountable.
Carrying Out the Annual Administrative Agenda
In a previous article, we outlined the process for developing the annual administrative agenda. This, the fourth in the series on setting annual agendas, details how to orchestrate the administrative agenda in subsequent Leadership Team meetings.
Avoid the Danger of Misinterpreting Research
We live in an information age where we are inundated daily with information on multiple devices. News feeds quickly summarize research from various sources, and weeding through all this information can be daunting. As a result, we often forget to put on our critical reading glasses.
Creating a Focused and Condensed School Mission Statement
Your mission statement must describe the scope and guidance your school needs to define its purpose in a directive, clear, and distinguishing manner.
Chances are that your school has already created a mission statement. But if it fails to distinguish your program from others in the marketplace, consider reevaluation.