The article is a reprint of an address delivered by the author to students at Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts, in Fall 2012. It addresses the author's belief in the important role of schools in promoting gender equality, the gender gap in educational attainment, and the social construction of gender. The author stresses the importance…

Lucinda Lee Katz, head of Marin Country Day School (California), received the 2009 NAIS Diversity Leadership Award. This article presents an edited excerpt of her acceptance speech. In this speech, she outlines what is necessary to move school communities ahead in one's diversity work.

This article is an edited version of a speech delivered at the 2009 Mediterranean Association of International Schools (MAIS) Annual Conference in Florence, Italy. In the author's past speeches--in Seville and Rome--he had urged his listeners to use their distinctive power and influence as independent, international educators to advance…

America's era of expansion is over. The limitless frontier which served as a safety valve for our social tensions is gone and we now must find new national goals. To do this we need a new kind of thinking, not abstract intellectualization but commitment to human service. (SJL)

This article, based on the keynote speech for a career day at Concord Academy, defines the concepts of a career and the career planning process, with emphasis on the personal aspects of work and the need for self-analysis in the selection of a career. (SJL)

The headmaster of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, examines the relationship of the federal government to nonpublic education, noting that, while private schools are benefiting from increasing public interest and funds, they must guard against excessive regulation leading to a centrally imposed academic homogeneity. (SJL)

In this commencement speech, the author considers various ways knowledge may be used in a career and in life: as an end in itself, as a means to power, as a model for decision making. (SJL)

The major cause of stress in private schools is ambiguity, according to this administrator, including ambiguity about teachers' status, roles, and commitment as well as about alumni attitudes, academic curricula, educational change, standardized tests, the purposes of a private education, and tuition tax credits. (RW)

Sources of teacher stress in private boarding schools include the expectations placed on teachers, poor administrative leadership, the physical environment, time pressures, and age differences or similarities with colleagues and students. Coping with stress may involve lowered expectations, better personal health care, consistent supervision,…

Because boarding schools resemble "total institutions," offering no escape from failure or low self-esteem, private school students feel great stress. Both good and bad students feel stress, as do new, minority, or emotionally troubled students, especially from lack of privacy, lack of control over life, and demanding schedules. (RW)

People undergoing physical or mental stress should consider the therapeutic value of religious faith and spiritual understanding. (Author/RW)

The loss of consensus, community, and a sense of purpose in America has led to students' confusion and frantic search for diversion. Educators need to restore a sense of order in students' lives by teaching the core values of civilization and returning to education the excitement of learning. (RW)

General systems theory provides a theoretical framework for understanding stress and formulating problem-solving strategies. Both individuals and schools are systems, and general systems theory enables one to ask whether they are operating harmoniously and communicating effectively. (Author/RW)

Discusses performance evaluations of private school boards and heads. Reviews two evaluation handbooks and lists frequent questions and categories of written evaluation instruments. Advocates six steps, including self-evaluation by the board and the head, board evaluation of the head, and separation of evaluation from renewal of the head's…

Trustees evaluating their private school should know the school and its staff. They can use objective evaluation methods, such as standardized test results or college placement of graduates, but they should also incorporate the opinions of recent graduates and the community and utilize staff presentations to the board. (RW)