Sex scandals shake the foundations of the private schools at which they occur, but sexual misconduct can happen at any sort of school at any time—private, public, and charter alike, from K-12 schools to higher education. In fact, one Associated Press investigation found that more than 2,500 educators over five years were punished for sexual misconduct, and that's just those who were caught. As School Head, it’s your job to make student safety a priority for every school employee through policies, staff training, and security procedures.
“Practice” Snow Days
With winter weather quickly approaching—and Buffalo, New York, covered in several feet of snow—Cathedral High School in St. Cloud, Minnesota, decided to test its emergency weather protocols before it’s a real issue. A “practice snow day” was scheduled for November 21 using technologies and lessons designed specifically for at-home learning.
Sustainability, Pricing, and Inflation
Private-independent school leaders have experienced considerable discomfort at the oft-heard contention—by no means a new one—that tuitions have (a) increased faster than inflation and (b) increased faster than the growth of family incomes. A common conclusion from these paired facts—and they are facts—is that this cannot be sustainable. You, in your role as School Head or Business Manager, may never become comfortable dealing with these facts and with the (sustainability-related) conclusion.1 But four of ISM’s continually researched perspectives can assist you in preparing to deal with your constituents on this topic.
The Cost of a Faculty Culture That Is Not Growth-Focused
ISM has been an outspoken advocate of a growth-focused faculty culture—meaning that faculty professional growth and development is not merely a goal of leadership but a cultural norm within a school. Our research has demonstrated time and again the value of this culture for the students we serve. A growth-focused faculty culture underpins an inspiring workplace because of the opportunities teachers have to grow and renew throughout their careers with solid school leadership support and resources. The administrators value the creative energy faculty members invest, and give teachers room for success and failure. They understand that learning, growing, and maturing within a professional learning community will lead to enhanced student achievement, satisfaction, and enthusiasm—the ultimate goals. But what happens when a school fails to build this culture?
Fact or Fiction? 5 Strange Ways Students (Try to) Get High
There’s an excellent reason why alcohol and nicotine via tobacco are banned from children—and why other mind-altering substances are completely illegal. Children trying to achieve a blissful “high” to escape from the pressures and doldrums of everyday life can do irreparable damage to their still-growing bodies. That doesn’t mean that students won’t try the darnedest things to achieve an elusive, forbidden high.
Responding to Criticism, Part Two
Last month, we talked about responding to (inevitable) criticism of school policies and decisions. POM Wonderful, a juice company, offered an example of how to respond positively to such criticism, but what about responding badly? School Heads should know just as much about how not to respond to criticism as they do about responding well, to avoid public and private faux pas across the board.
Again, we turn to John Oliver’s HBO satirical news show “Last Week Tonight” for our case study in responding to criticism. This time, we’ll look at how Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler reacted to Oliver’s satire—and how it backfired.
(Primary image credit to CNET)
Develop a ‘Culture of Data’ in Your School for Strategic, Data-Driven Decision-Making
In most private-independent schools, “culture of data” is a foreign term because decisions are often based on anecdotes, the vocal minority, past events, or “instinct.” Examples of this abound.
“We need a Mandarin program because the parents are all asking for it.”
“We need a pool. Families are leaving for another school that has a swim team.”
“We must lower our tuition. Our enrollment is down because of the economy.”
Responding to Criticism, Part One
A new school year means new students, new teachers, and—yes—new problems for you, the School Head, to resolve. No matter your experience level, you’ll make a decision this year that will be unpopular with someone. You’ll receive private and public criticism for those decisions, however necessary or difficult they were to make, and be left questioning yourself. What is the most graceful way to respond to such censure?
Oddly enough, we can look to HBO’s new satirical news segment “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” for two great examples of how leaders and organizations should (and should not) respond to candid criticism. The first, commercial fruit juice company POM Wonderful, responded well; the second—which we’ll cover next month—responded poorly.
Comprehensive Interviewing: Phone Interviews
While the “normal” hiring season has long since closed, School Heads are not strangers to the last-minute change of faculty or staff. Despite the urgency of these eleventh hour hiring decisions, you can’t afford to skip comprehensive interviews.
Phone interviews in particular can play a vital role in the interviewing process, as they allow you to determine early on who might do well and who is not suited to the role before you and your search committee invest time and personnel into the in-person interview. With that in mind, we’ve assembled some quick tips on phone interviews to help them proceed as smoothly as possible during this “off season” recruitment.
The ISM X and the Fourth Iteration of the Stability Markers
The ISM X™ is a geometrical arrangement of the ISM Stability Markers® that comprise the Fourth Iteration. The ISM X shows how the 18 Stability Markers relate to each other and how they combine to produce two critical outcome variables—(1) the interrelation of cash reserves, debt, endowment; and (2) enrollment demand in excess of supply. As School Head, you may wish to become conversant with this teaching tool as a means of communicating more effectively your school’s efforts to position itself strategically in your marketplace.