Hot Topics Global Issues for Sustainable Schools See

Hot Topics: Global Issues for Sustainable Schools (See also “Hot Topics: Trends & Road Maps” & “Effecting Change” Patrick F. Bassett, NAIS President bassett@nais. org

Hot Topics in Independent Schools – Worldwide (IAPS/ESHS Conf, Oct 2005, Edinburgh) § European school (England): Problematic parents; skyrocketing costs; intrusive government; calls for new standards & public accountability/accreditation § Middle East school (Dubai): Curriculum inflexibility in terms of diverse international population and diverse learning styles § “Down Under” School (Australia): 12% in independent schools and 20% in parochial schools—large government subsidies…and control = growing loss of independence: demands regarding testing, reporting to the public, bureaucratic red tape, etc.

Hot Topics in Independent Schools – Worldwide (IAPS/ESHS Conf, Oct 2005, Edinburgh) § South American School (Chile): Turnover in faculty; local faculty teaching style is archaic and teacher-centered rather than student centered. § Far East School (Brunei): Prime minister is also the absolute monarch (Sultan), and the owner of the school; 40 nationalities and 70% expatriates, but in an Islamic state where schools must adhere to Muslim customs: Fridays, boys must go to mosque for 2 hours; nationals won’t talk about current events out of fear.

Hot Topics in Independent Schools – Worldwide (IAPS/ESHS Conf, Oct 2005, Edinburgh) § African School (Kenya): Context with vast disparities of wealth vs. poverty; inability to pay and retain teachers; threats to retaliate against the head and school by prominent government officials accustomed to getting their way. § North American School (US): Unhealthy faculty attitude that “parents are the enemy”; inability to be good at customer relations, since the instinctive response is “No”; failure to differentiate and individualize teaching and to capitalize upon brain-based research; board continually populated with neophytes.

Sample International Learning Outcomes Adapted from the American Council on Education Knowledge § Understands his/her culture within a global and comparative context (that is, the student recognizes that his/her culture is one of many diverse cultures and that alternate perceptions and behaviors may be based in cultural differences). § Demonstrates knowledge of global issues, processes, trends, and systems (that is, economic and political interdependency among nations, environmental-cultural interaction, global governance bodies, and nongovernmental organizations). § Demonstrates knowledge of other cultures (including beliefs, values, perspectives, practices, and products).

Sample International Learning Outcomes Adapted from the American Council on Education Skills § Accesses information, filters it discriminatingly, and synthesizes it meaningfully. § Uses knowledge, diverse cultural frames of reference, and alternate perspectives to think critically and solve problems. § Communicates and connects with people in other language communities in a range of settings for a variety of purposes, developing skills in each of the four modalities: speaking (productive), listening (receptive), reading (receptive), and writing (productive). § Uses foreign language skills and/or knowledge of other cultures to extend his access to information, experiences, and understanding.

Sample International Learning Outcomes Adapted from the American Council on Education Attitudes § Appreciates the language, art, religion, philosophy, and material culture of different cultures (in addition to his or her own). § Accepts cultural differences and tolerates cultural ambiguity. § Demonstrates an ongoing willingness to seek out international or intercultural opportunities.

Higher “level” leadership. What’s “right” to do? The high-stakes “game plan. ” NAIS Vision: Creating Sustainable Schools for the 21 st C. : q. Demographic Sustainability (becoming more inclusive and representative of the population--student and faculty-- and less unapproachable financially and socially) q. Environmental Sustainability (becoming more "green" and less wasteful) q. Global Sustainability (becoming more globally-oriented / internationally-networked and less parochial in outlook) q. Programmatic Sustainability (becoming more attuned to developing the skills and values that the 21 st Century marketplace will seek and reward and less constrained by the traditional disciplines approach to teaching and learning) q. Financial Sustainability (becoming more affordable and less inefficient and costly)

Global Issues: Top 10 Trends for all Organizations 1. Unrelenting pressure on the revenue stream (salary & benefit & technology & facilities expenses up, investment and endowment income down; financial modeling-plans A, B, & C). NAIS model of “Six Steps to Financial Equilibrium” 2. Leadership in flux (change agents in cultures resistant to change; higher expectations for organizations and leadership (“do the right thing” vs. managing “doing things right”) 3. Changing an ever-rising expectations from our helicopter parents. Managing expectations. Internal marketing. 4. Challenges to governance (? s of authority; demands for open book management; instant and public challenges as the parking lot mafia takes new WMDs via listserves and blogs) 5. Increasing demands for responsiveness: communication at warp speed; seeking relief for the middle class; impatience with slow decision-making models (consensus vs. coalitions. )

Global Issues: Top 10 Trends for all Organizations 6. Demands on us to adopt more technology (questions of productivity—Baumol’s Disease— & effective use: Marc Prensky's "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants“) 7. Generational/gender markers & shifts (from GI to Boomer to X to Millennial; 27 Floridas by 2025). Shifting ethnic demographics. 8. Workforce flags & marketplace stressors (demands for flexibility; shortages and the “war for talent”; leadership vacuum in pipeline; need for new compensation philosophies; closer scrutiny of labor practices; re-thinking policies vis a vis “the end of retirement”). 9. Managing the Inevitable Surprises. 10 Recognizing “brutal facts” and capitalizing upon “unshakeable beliefs. ” (Jim Collins’ Good to Great)

The End! (See Related Slides in Appendix)

Appendix: Related Slides

What Some Parents (5%) Need that Schools CAN’T Provide cf. Time, 2/21/05 “Parents Behaving Badly”; Wendy Mogel’s The Blessings of a Skinned Knee; Michael Thompson’s For the Sake of the Children: An NAIS Guide to Successful Family-School Relationships. 2005 Met. Life Survey of The American Teacher: Public school teachers report very satisfied in working with students = 68%; in working with parents = 25% What we can deliver and should continually message constituents about: the value-added of independent schools

When Heads Plan To Change Jobs or Retire

Developing the Board Adapted with permission from the May 2004 edition of Board Member, Volume 13, Number 3. Board. Source (c) 2004. The SAT Analogy: Our board is to our school as is to. Our admin team is to our school as is to.

Problem Solving via Strategic Governance Needed: Three Levels of Trusteeship § Level One: Fiduciary (auditing function of oversight and assessment of mission & finance) § Level Two: Strategic (leadership function: “less management/more governance” via scanning and planning) § Level Three: Generative (visionary function of shared leadership, R&D orientation for imagining and experimenting).

Three Levels of Board Governance Adapted with permission from the May 2004 edition of Board Member, Volume 13, Number 3. Board. Source (c) 2004. Board as Control Mechanism Board as Direction Setter (Strategic, Board as Meaning Maker (Generative, Dam : : River Compass : : Navigation Inspiration : : Poet Curbstone : : Road Headlights : : Auto Values : : Choices Border Collie : : Herd Guidance System : : Satellite Designer : : Work of Art (Fiduciary, Oversight: “Doing things right”) Traffic Tower : : Pilot Governor : : Engine Landlord : : Tenant Anchor : : Ship Leadership: “Doing the right things”) Periscope : : Submarine Flight Planner : : Pilot Visionary: “Leaving a legacy”) Spirit : : Higher Purpose Lighthouse : : Ship Rudder : : Ship “The antidote to micromanagement is macroengagement. ”~Dick Chait.

Three-Tier Thinking § Rising Benefit Costs: – Fiduciary thinking: “Increase co-pays” to share costs with employees” – Strategic thinking: “Market our absorbing of increased costs as recruitment/retention benefit” – Generative thinking: “Form a benefitpurchasing consortium”

Three-Tier Thinking § Add another Foreign Language: – Fiduciary thinking: “OK: which other language do we drop? ” – Strategic thinking: “Why don’t we offer small enrollment courses (language or whatever) on an a la carte pricing basis? – Generative thinking: Which languages will be not a feature but a benefit in terms of market niche and longterm advantage to graduates? (German after WWII, Russian after Sputnik, Arabic now, Chinese next? ) – “Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages aren’t…. Planning to be ready to engage with (the Chinese) rather than only thinking of them in terms of a challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do. ” Scott Mc. Ginnis, on the rising popularity of Chinese classes in American public schools. (Newsweek, 10/24/05)

Reprinted with permission of The New Yorker Current version: “I’m not paying $20, 000 a year for B’s. ”

Head Authority March 23, 1891 My Dear Sir: It is my desire that this communication to you concerning your son and his iniquities will neither offend your sensibilities nor cause a diminution of the mutual esteem that we hold for one another. I am expelling as of this date your son. His very presence here bodes ill for my school. I will not tolerate a liar and a cheat. Your obedient servant, The Headmaster

Cover photo is Piggy of Lord of the Flies: NAIS’ wry pictorial commentary on how quickly the process can devolve into dangerous behaviors.

Technology as Accelerator (cf. Collin’s Good to Great) Old Message New Message Diversity is important Driving Technology Diversity is here Access via Internet to heretofore inaccessible viewpoints, practices, cultures (e. g. , 6 th grade web-based US History class). We are child- We are centered Knowledge not hierarchically achieved or centered delivered; bloggers challenging authority; meaning constucted We have high No excuses: we standards (for have high our students) standards for ourselves Multiple means via technology of the delivery of professional development; enhanced electronic means for benchmarking & surveying We We interact with Asynchronous 24/7 access to and communicate parents communications with parents via email, with parents networks, website, e. Bulletins *Adapted from ISTL #61, Feb 2005, William E. De. Lamater

Sample “Brutal Facts” for Schools § § Competition will increase dramatically for students and teachers: better public schools, charter schools, for-profit schools, home schools, etc. Paying for school “an unnatural act”: Rising costs will alienate current and future customers, make us less affordable and attractive to most of the marketplace and diminishing our diversity. Smaller schools will face survival issues. Parents will become more consumeroriented and difficult to manage. Governmental intrusions are likely to increase. Resistant cultures will make it more difficult to innovate and lead and preclude creating thinking about 21 st C. schools.

Sample “Brutal Facts” for Schools § § § After a massive investment in technology there is no evidence schools are capitalizing upon it adequately to increase student learning or to customize learning for students. Prosperity and the “long boom” upon which our schools depend may be compromised by global instability, fractious social issues, a larger US deficit, terrorism and war. Ethical relativism will become more pervasive and parenting less effective. Weakness/confusion/under-performance of many school boards will be a huge liability. Equity and justice efforts have gotten a lot of focus during recent years, but as a group, we are still not ready to live in a world where whites are a minority.

Sample “Unshakeable Beliefs” for Schools § Because of their freedom from government control, independent schools can be mission-driven and childcentered. § Independent schools have the freedom to innovate in the development and delivery of curriculum and to share that innovation for the betterment of the larger education community. § Independent schools can make individualized decisions in the best interests of the child and can create diverse, supportive environments where children can thrive.

Sample “Unshakeable Beliefs” for Schools § Independent schools can continue to survive, even in a tough economy, because of independent financial controls and their focus on high quality and on accountability to the families and communities they serve. § Independent schools provide an ethos and culture that is values-oriented, one that will always attract and provide value to families.

“Inevitable Surprises” for Schools (cf Inevitable Surprises, Peter Schwartz) § The face of the student population will change dramatically as varying fertility rates and immigration patterns define the schoolage population. § For private and public schools, demography is destiny. § A “long boom” economically is possible and perhaps probable for the US. § The “end of retirement” will be upon us in a generation or two.

“Inevitable Surprises” for Schools (cf Inevitable Surprises, Peter Schwartz) § New models of public and private schools, especially lower cost ones, will proliferate. § Faculty salaries in the public and private sectors will continue to rise. § High stakes testing will run its course, without the anticipated and hoped for effect of better-prepared and achieving students. § Schools that successfully integrate technology to customize learning will rapidly outdistance their peer schools.

Whom are we serving? A word about the “Millennials” (Source: Kathy Hansen, Baylor School) § Born between 1982 and 1998 § The dot. com generation § Most racially & ethnically diverse § Least Caucasian generation – 36% of under 18 population is Latino – 1 in every 5 has 1 immigrant parent

“Baby on Board” (Source: Kathy Hansen, Baylor School) § 1981 -1982 the “thirty-something” baby boomers decided they wanted to have children – Era of the “wanted child” – Era of the “protected child” – Many adults changed their behavior towards children: children as “prized possessions”-more protective of and fearful about; more “precious”; what colleges are calling “teacup freshmen”—i. e. . fragile. (Parents calling their college freshmen every morning to wake them up; intervening in job evaluations).

The Millennials distinguishing traits… (Source: Millennials Rising – Howe and Strauss) § Special § Sheltered § Confident § Team-oriented § Achieving § Pressured § Conventional (Source: Millennials Rising – Howe and Strauss)

6 -Steps: Financially Sustainable Schools: High Stakes Planning 1. Trend Analysis: What are the five- and 10 -year trends? 2. Ratio Analysis: How do your school's "dashboard indicators" benchmark against those of comparable schools? 3. Financial Planning Assumptions: What are the basic assumptions your school makes about its position in the marketplace, mission imperatives, and expectations for the future?

6 -Steps: Financially Sustainable Schools: High Stakes Planning 4. Data Markers of School Success: How does your school measure success? What are the budget-related factors that function as "proxies" for success? 5. Re-engineering Strategies: What are the "brutal facts" about your current financial position? Where are you vulnerable now or potentially in the future? 6. Projecting Alternative and Preferred Financial Futures: What are the likely, possible, and preferred financial futures for your school, and what decisions will you have to make to achieve your objectives?

The Disappearing Middle Class If independent school tuition is still “the price of a Ford, ” why is everyone feeling so pinched now rather than 30 years ago? The Middle Class: Dual Income Family @$75, 000 (Source: Harvard Magazine, Feb, 2006 “The Middle Class on the Precipice”) The Ford Analogy - a “crime of logic”: one payment every 3 -5 years vs. 13 annual payments.

Should Tuition = “Cost of a Ford”? The problem: Pay for the Ford one time over five years; pay for tuition for 2 kids, for 13 consecutive years.

Costs of Losing the Middle Class? Resource: “Accreditation & Class Issues” ~Ruby K. Payne § Loss of the value set that the middle class brings to the mix: drivers of work ethic, achievement orientation, and sacrifice for material security. § Absence of balancing tonic for ills of affluence: overinvolvement of the parents; intense academic and social competition; misguided parental intervention in student consequences. § Potential barrier to attracting young, idealistic “Teach for America” talent who seek diversity.

1. Small and intimate schools: Student: teacher ratio in NAIS schools is 9: 1 (vs. 17: 1 in parochial schools and 16: 1 in public schools). Smaller learning environments translate into stronger academic achievement. (Advocacy Message #1: Independent schools are close knit communities that are uniquely capable of providing students with individualized attention. ) 2. Study of core knowledge to advanced levels: By the 8 th grade, 70% of NAIS students study Algebra I (vs. 32% in public schools), and 85% study foreign language (vs. 24%). (Gatekeeper courses for college. ) (Advocacy Message #2: Independent schools challenge students to stretch their minds. ) 3. Developing team-skills and leadership: 71% of public school students drop team activities by secondary school vs. near universal team participation by independent school students (94%). (Advocacy message #3: Value of being a “player. ”)

4. Placing a higher value on community service & civic participation: more likely to vote and to serve in the community. (Advocacy Message #4: Independent schools go beyond academics to develop responsible, independent, and community-oriented students. ) 5. Education for character is central for independent schools: 80% of public school elite admit to cheating-Who’s Who in American High Schools Survey, ’ 98 & 2005. (Advocacy Message #5: Values as the “value-added” of great schools. ) 6. An inclusive environment: On average, 20% of students attending NAIS schools receive financial aid or tuition remission; on average, 20% of students at NAIS schools are students of color. (Advocacy Message #6: More, not less diverse than many public schools. )

7. Expressing strong career & job satisfaction: More skilled in 21 st C. technology skills; more likely pursuing healthy, active adult lives (Advocacy message #7: “Not just for school but for life. ”) 8. Attending America’s most respected colleges & universities: High percentage attending highly competitive colleges. (Advocacy message #8: Independent schools vastly over-represented in the 150 most selective colleges. ) 9. Persistence factor-leading the nation in post-secondary achievement: o For U. S. 8 th graders in 1988, 66% anticipated attending and graduating from college: for all students from all types of schools, 40. 7% achieved BA degrees or higher by 2000. vs. 76. 3% for independent school graduates (Probably 95% for NAIS schools. ) o Pell Institute Study of graduation rates (by age 24) for all college students by income levels: Low income = 9%; middle income = 39%; high income = 52%. (Advocacy message #9: Importance of peer norms. )

Note: Less than 40% of 18 year olds get to college; under 20% graduate within six years; only 27% of US jobs require a college degree (28% by 2012—US Bureau of Labor)

On data and leeches § 19 th century Rx: Leeches § Pierre-Charles-Alexandre Louis (1830) § Mortality rates: – Leeches: 44% – No leeches: 25%