Helping all students find academic success is a central tenet of independent schools. But at many independent schools, mounting anecdotal evidence indicates that a persistent achievement gap exists between white and Asian-American students and their Latino and African-American counterparts. In 2007, Rebecca Upham, head of school at Buckingham…

As recently as five years ago, educators politely listened to, and largely ignored, suggestions that the world is changing at a dramatic rate and that education must adapt. Today, many educators agree that the traditional Industrial Age model of learning no longer adequately prepares students for their futures. As a result, many schools, and…

In this article the author demonstrates the importance of school safety audits and describes what schools should focus on in a safety audit. Ultimately, each school should determine its own safety audit strategy based on its unique circumstances, including the type of community within which it is located, the age of the students it serves, and the…

Whether it is in their professional development programs, admissions materials, or curricula, independent schools have a lot to say about environmental stewardship, equity, community service, and justice. When they send their students to rebuild post-Katrina New Orleans or construct LEED-certified structures, the schools and their constituents…

Most nations now administer standardized tests--for adult job seekers and young students alike--but the Chinese remain the world's preeminent practitioners. The nation's national college entrance exam, known as the "Gaokao", lasts for nine hours across two days. The author has seen the intensity of China's work ethic firsthand as part-time…

Since its widespread emergence in the mid-1960s, the Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum has successfully established and maintained an identity as the gold standard of transcript currency for college preparatory schools. It is something that nearly all independent school parents and students believe they understand and clearly expect, and it is…

The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools ("ACICS" or "Council") 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. This has been the…

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…

Institutions are going to have to rely more on their own resources in responding appropriately to changes in their own educational environments. Describes models evolved by three independent schools for increasing their capacity to respond intelligently and imaginatively to new challanges and opportunities. (Author/RK)

The new president of the NAIS outlines the first five problems he will have to meet in preserving independent schools, his priorities and possible approaches for dealing with these problems, and his plan for policy development for these schools. (Author/RK)

Examines the educational changes that have occurred in China in recent years, the ways schools are run and students are educated, the interaction of students and the working community, and the implications for school systems in the United States. (RK)

Describes the successful and lengthy search of the board of education in charge of the Graland Country Day School in Denver to recruit a new school head. (RK)

Discusses the growing role of the federal government in education and its possible effects on independent schools; discusses how proposed tuition tax credit legislation might hurt independent schools; cites the difficulties and the necessity of establishing accreditation standards for private schools. (SB)

Examining seven major trends in current efforts to reform secondary education, the author outlines recommendations being issued in 1984 in three publications of the project known as A Study of High Schools and offers a set of eight suggestions for school heads to act on in the immediate future. (JBM)

Reports findings and progress of efforts to educate American students in international languages and cultural studies. Recommends: (1) special programs for teachers; (2) state and federal funding and support for international studies and programs; (3) use of special schools for national models; and (4) required courses in international education…