In the June 2010 "Harvard Business Review," Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, wrote a column entitled "You Are What You Measure." In it, he thoughtfully prods business leaders to consider the problematic correlation between the tools for measuring progress and actual…

In an era of unprecedented volatility, ambiguity, impassioned conflict, and intractable problems that affect the basic living conditions and prosperity of many, education has never been more important or more in need of purpose, meaning, and applicability. The solutions to the dilemmas that define our world will be created and implemented in the…

This article describes the results of a three-day professional development workshop for newer teachers (with less than six years of experience) and more experienced teachers trained in design of skills-based, year-long themes with rich interdisciplinary connections at Charles River School (Massachusetts). For the three days, the school was buzzing…

The inkling was there all along. Back in 2005, in "A Whole New Mind," author Daniel Pink included design--"utility enhanced by significance"--as an essential aptitude for the 21st-century learner. Some attentive independent school educators began looking around. If forward-thinking independent schools are to produce new minds, they maintained,…

Many adults and students today think of themselves as excellent multitaskers--switching from task to task or from task to play in a nanosecond. Yet the pings and tweets their devices emit interrupt them in ways that are more problematic than they think. One of the powerful myths in the culture today is that multitasking is efficient for work or…

In society, courage gets associated with soldiers, police, firefighters--those men and women who risk their lives in ways that are public and visible and immediate. For school heads also, as a different dictionary definition puts it, courage is demonstrated through "strength in the face of pain or grief" and the ability to do something that…

Multi-school and multi-country programs greatly enhance leadership development and global awareness in students and teachers, while creating better problem solvers, stronger relationships, and wider community impact than any single-school program. That's why Global Youth Leadership Institute (GYLI) and National Association of Independent Schools…

Suggests that the business of schooling requires teachers who face their responsibilities with a rational perspective about themselves. Provides guidelines for examining what triggers off an undesirable emotion. (RK)

Considers some of the obvious causes of our nation's verbal crisis. Presents methods for treating symptoms at the college and secondary level and prescribes preventive measures at lower levels that will heighten verbal awareness, interest, and skills. (Author/RK)

Describes a historical approach to English that concentrates on early American literature and historical fiction culminating in a writing project based on incidents taken from local history. (Author/RK)

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)

The mathematics department at the Dalton School in New York City, was well aware of the math anxiety among its students and so sponsored a Mind Over Math program for the students in three Algebra I classes. This series of five one-hour workshops, which met during one of the three regular class sessions, was designed to reduce and prevent negative…

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)

The growing debate on nuclear weapons in recent years has begun to make inroads into school curricula. Elementary and secondary school teachers now face the important task of educating their students on issues relating to nuclear war without indoctrinating them to a particular point of view. (JBM)

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)