By John E. Creeden, Independent School Magazine (Fall 2019)
Perhaps no characteristic of an effective board is more important—and yet more difficult to define, create, and maintain—than a positive board culture. The unwritten assumptions, implicit behavioral codes, unspoken language, and assumed ways of operating have a defining influence on the work of many nonprofits. The board of an independent school is no exception.
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By Laura Morgan Roberts & Anthony J. Mayo, Harvard Business Review (November 2019)
"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which [one] has overcome while trying to succeed." Booker T. Washington, the educator, author, activist, and presidential adviser, wrote those words more than a century ago as a way of encouraging his African-American compatriots — many of them recently emancipated from slavery — to persist in the fight for equal rights and economic opportunities.
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By Martin Zwelling, Inc. (from November 11, 2019)
Most of us have blind spots in our ability to build a business, due to lack of experience, too much ego, overconfidence, or unjustified faith in a subordinate. Only a few of the entrepreneurs I have worked with in a decade of consulting are smart and humble enough to recognize that they don't know what they don't know, and have an effective process for shining a light on their blind spots.
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Net Assets (from November 14, 2019)
The deadline for implementing the new overtime salary threshold — January 1, 2020 — is quickly approaching. Currently, nonexempt employees who earn a salary of $23,600 per year or lower must receive overtime pay. Effective January 1, 2020, the new rule will increase the threshold to $35,568. The salary threshold must be met regardless of an individual's less-than-full time status.
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By Jim Jump, Inside Higher Ed (from November 11, 2019)
Is college counseling an endangered species? Do our students, parents and schools want college counseling, or do they want college coaching? Is the aspiration to transform young people's lives unrealistic, even naïve, in a landscape that is increasingly transactional?
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EAB Daily Briefing (from December 5, 2019)
Many higher ed professionals have their sights set on someday becoming a vice president, provost, or president. But if, despite your best efforts, you still haven't been able to break into a senior leadership role, your problem may be a "panda." That's the term management consultants Elena Lytkina Botelho and Katie Creagh use to describe flaws that seem small but can derail your career.
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By Sarah D. Sparks, Education Week (from November 8, 2019)
American students have never had more access to digital devices for reading in and out of school. Now emerging research and troubling results on the test dubbed the Nation's Report Card raise questions about what effect all this digital access could have on students' longterm reading skills.
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By Andrew Simmons, Edutopia (from November 20, 2019)
When nonteachers ask me with genuine curiosity, "What's new with teens?" I usually tell them that every school year, it seems like more of them end up in the hospital.
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By Youki Terada, Edutopia (from December 5, 2019)
Every year brings new insights—and cautionary tales—about what works in education. 2019 is no different, as we learned that doodling may do more harm than good when it comes to remembering information. Attendance awards don't work and can actually increase absences. And while we've known that school discipline tends to disproportionately harm students of color, a new study reveals a key reason why: Compared with their peers, black students tend to receive fewer warnings for misbehavior before being punished.
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By Jen Cort, Association for Middle Level Education (from October 2019)
It's not our imagination, kids really are different. Today's youth face four constructs that adults either did not experience at all or did not experience in the same way as youth today.
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By Marcel Schwantes, Inc. (from September 24, 2019)
Every executive, at some point in their career, has deliberated over the type of leader they should be. Is it better to be a 'nice' leader so that my staff will like -- and then hopefully trust -- me? Or, would a 'tough' leader result in more respect and hard work from employees?
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By Matt McKinney, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (from October 13, 2019)
Not long ago, Christopher A. Brueningsen and his Kiski School colleagues saw an albatross looming on the horizon. Tuition at their private, all-male boarding school in Westmoreland County had climbed by an average of 5% each year, hikes necessary to cover steadily growing operational costs.
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By Jen Cort, Independent School Magazine (from Fall 2018)
Former head of Sidwell Friends School (DC) Earl Harrison once said, "The school begins a relationship with someone the moment he or she first considers whether to apply to work there. Applicants should be treated as invited guests to your home throughout the hiring process." I recall using these words to inform our hiring searches when I was an administrator at Sandy Spring Friends School (MD) until 2014.
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By Jacquelyn Voghel, Daily Hampshire Gazette (from October 16, 2019)
AMHERST — As Hampshire College prepares to defend its credentials to the New England Commission of Higher Education accreditation agency next month, the board of trustees has voted to reshape the college's academic model around challenges in today's world.
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By Thomas P. Olverson, Research Group 175 (from November 15, 2016)
There is a lot of talk these days about independent school governance. And it's not good. One executive director of a large regional independent school association receives over fifty requests for trustee workshops each year. Another executive director is looking to form a cadre of experienced heads to provide counsel to board chairs on "hot" governance issues. Stories abound of first-time independent school heads seeking advice on how to temper the expectations of their "get it done now" boards of trustees. And head of school turnover appears to be unusually high.
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