In this comprehensive manual, author Peter Gow helps schools become communities where teachers are nurtured "from raw recruits into seasoned, effective, and even beloved professionals." Peter Gow, academic dean at Beaver Country Day School (MA), lays out a step-by-step approach to building and keeping a strong faculty, a school's greatest asset.…

This book uses real-life situations to offer practical advice on creating positive alliances with parents. It aims to help teachers and administrators: (1) Understand family differences; (2) Forge healthy relationships with families; (3) Make the most of parent conferences; (4)Manage the difficult "five percenter" parents; and (5) Create…

The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) supports the concept that periodic evaluation entered into voluntarily by institutions and their peers enhances the quality of the educational process and demonstrates that self regulation of a profession is superior to outside regulation. The federal government, for purposes of…

The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) supports the concept that periodic evaluation entered into voluntarily by institutions and their peers enhances the quality of the educational process and demonstrates that self regulation of a profession is superior to outside regulation. The federal government, for purposes of…

This article describes Oldfields School's systematic orientation program for beginning teachers. They meet as a group and discuss case studies, which give substance to the regulations and policies listed in the school handbooks. (SJL)

This article, the first in a series of three on effective school personnel practices, focuses on the need for a comprehensive personnel policy statement that sets forth terms and conditions of employment for faculty members, nonteaching staff members, and administrators, and for school heads. (Author)

The director of Woodberry Forest Summer School outlines the implementation and operation of his program as a model for similar endeavors. (SJL)

Suggests some general observations about the process of recruiting minority teachers as well as a number of specific strategies. (Author/SJL)

One of a series of four articles on public relations for independent schools, this article presents eight suggestions for public relations officers with little or no public relations experience. (KC)

One of a series of four articles on public relations for independent schools, this article presents some tips for using news stories to generate more news stories, and for using events as lightening rods to attract reporters to the campus. (Author/KC)

Friends School of Baltimore was one of 20 schools chosen by the Tenneco Corporation to participate in its Schoolhouse Energy Efficiency Demonstration (SEED). This article reports the recommendations from Tenneco's energy audit of the school and the costs of each suggested energy conservation measure. (Author/SJL)

The author explains how, by investing $250,000 in a five-year program of insulation and heating system improvement, Loomis Chaffee School has reduced its yearly fuel consumption from 16,000 to 9,000 barrels of oil. (SJL)

Under general guidelines, each teacher at Angier School designs his/her own system for pupil evaluation, including anecdotal reports and parent conferences. This article describes the school's pupil evaluation policy and the workshops on observation and behavior description that were conducted to help teachers implement the system. (SJL)

Discussing the role of independent schools in education today, this article touches on problems facing independent schools, their steady growth, finance sources, and changes in structure, climate, teacher roles, and curriculum. (DS)

Focusing on the institutional benefits of professional development, this article discusses ways institutions can encourage staff members to maintain contemporary knowledge and skill levels and how they can retrain both administrators and teachers to undertake new assignments. (DS)