What motivates families to consider an independent private school education and ultimately make the commitment to enroll their children? The Secondary School Admission Test Board (SSATB) surveyed 2,300 parents of private school-bound students in 2014 to answer this question. Based on the results of the survey, this brief article highlights five of…

A program geared toward high school students is described. It is independent of the curriculum, and goes beyond discussions of alcohol use to tackle the larger issues of life, death, and well-being. (Author/KC)

A teacher from England discusses democratization of Milton Academy, a private school in the United States, and describes how students participate in political activities and school affairs. He also compares the curriculum and life at Milton to that at a secondary school in England. (KC)

Adolescents, struggling to achieve a sense of autonomy and independence from their parents, peers, and teachers, can experience some measure of self-realization as they encounter ideas in their reading, work with them, and express them in writing. Gives a guide for writing papers and examines the problems and progress of individual students…

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 Minnesota Independent School Fund, Inc. (MISF) came into being in January 1976 and was created to promote corporate support of nonpublic secondary schools. Describes MISF's development including some key issues and proposed solutions which were discussed at its initial meeting. (Author/RK)

The postgraduate athlete is usually a graduate of a public high school who has chosen, for a variety of reasons, to spend a year at an independent school before going on to college. 13 independent schools were asked to describe and justify their policy regarding postgraduate athletes--four replied. Here are their explanations. (Author/RK)

A course focusing on Biblical literature uses the Bible in three instructional approaches--"as" literature, "in" literature, "and" literature. While it familiarizes students with the Bible, it also improves their critical reading skills through close attention to "good" literature and helps them grow through the experience. (Author/RK)

Girls who reject boy-girl social relations as the central concern of adolescence are best served by girls' schools where they can develop a complex sense of self including both risk taking and caring qualities. A study confirming that single sex schools promote girls' intellectual and leadership development is cited. (MJL)

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)

The promise of education at a private Baltimore (Maryland) school rests in the idea that scholarship is the key to autonomy, self-determination, and self-fulfillment. The Park Heights Street Academy serves as a haven for the able adolescent who has been misplaced for social, political, economic, or academic reasons. (Author/MLF)

Through law-related education, students learn how society faces the need for legal structure. The law-related curricula of many schools share certain aims: to provide knowledge and a positive attitude toward the law, to improve analytical thinking, and to examine the fundamental values of our society. (Author/MLF)

Defines the role of a department head and suggests some ways to help schools use department chairmen more effectively. (MLF)

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,…