The Principals' Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the National Association of Independent Schools are pleased to present the third Annual Independent Schools Institute (AISI). This 4-day intensive leadership program is designed specifically for independent school heads. AISI details current education research from leading Harvard faculty as applied to the professional practice of independent schools.
Covering topics from personal leadership to innovation in assessment to financial sustainability, the curriculum is rigorous and intellectually engaging. Participants examine the challenges of strategic and instructional leadership with top researchers in the field and learn how to apply these findings to better educate their students.
AISI convenes independent school heads from across the country to work together in an intimate and interactive environment. It combines large group sessions with small group discussions. The smaller, working-groups create a forum for thoughtful discussion, helping participants synthesize and apply material learned during the day. Participants have the opportunity to reflect on their own leadership and gain new insight from the experiences of colleagues.
Session Descriptions
Patrick Bassett, President, National Association of Independent Schools. Bassett presents, Trends: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. He outlines five trends—Challenges with Demand, Pricing, and Financial Sustainability; Runaway Costs; Giving Under Pressure; The War for Talent; and Global & Environmental Sustainability—that will impact strategy-making for independent schools in the years ahead. Bassett has been NAIS president since 2001 and previously served as president of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States.
Monica Higgins, Associate Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). Higgins presents a case study on leadership and team effectiveness. She discusses key factors contributing to team effectiveness and their relevance to participants' team experience in their current roles. Higgins' research and teaching focus on leadership development and organizational change. Before joining HGSE, she spent eleven years on the faculty at Harvard Business School in the Organizational Behavior Unit.
James Honan, Senior Lecturer on Education; Educational Chair, Institute for Educational Management (IEM), HGSE. Honan leads the group through a new case study highlighting the challenges and opportunities surrounding financial sustainability. His teaching and research interests include financial management of nonprofit organizations, organizational performance measurement and management, and higher-education administration.
Lawrence Katz, Elisabeth Allison Professor of Economics, Harvard University. Katz discusses research from his soon to be published book: The Race between Education and Technology. He argues that technological change, education, and inequality have been involved in a kind of race. During the first eight decades of the twentieth century, the increase of educated workers was higher than the demand for them. This had the effect of boosting income for most people and lowering inequality. However, the reverse has been true since about 1980. This educational slow-down was accompanied by rising inequality. Katz discusses the reasons for this, and what might be done to ameliorate it.
Daniel Koretz, Professor of Education, HGSE. Koretz discusses research from his latest book Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us. He outlines key issues surrounding educational testing, discusses some of the most controversial issues in testing today, and details how all constituents—policy makers, educators, parents and community members—can use this information to improve student outcomes. His research focuses on the effects of high-stakes testing, including effects on schooling and the validity of score gains.
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Emily Hargroves Fisher Professor of Education, HGSE. Lawrence-Lightfoot explores the dynamics at work in the parent-teacher conference with her session, The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn from Each Other. She is a sociologist who examines the culture of schools, the patterns and structures of classroom life, socialization within families and communities, and the relationships between culture and learning styles.
Richard Light, Walter H. Gale Professor of Education, HGSE. Light shares his research as part of The Forum on Excellence and Innovation in Education, a consortium of leading colleges and universities focused on improving student learning. He discusses how schools can become more effective learning organizations and develop a sustained culture of innovation and improvement. Light’s work focuses on higher-education policy and assessment. He is also well acquainted with the work of independent schools, and the linkages between schools and colleges. Light served for fifteen years on the Buckingham Browne and Nichols School Board of Trustees, where his children were also "lifers."
Judith Block McLaughlin, Senior Lecturer on Education; Educational Chair, Harvard Seminar for New Presidents, HGSE. McLaughlin presents, Continuity and Change in Leadership: Enduring and Emerging Challenges. She discusses the different dilemmas, opportunities, and pitfalls that leaders encounter at varying stages during their careers and considers how they can continue to learn and grow in their positions. McLaughlin has written and consulted extensively on leadership transition, presidential assessment, board-president relationships, senior staff functioning, and board governance.
Program Format
AISI helps independent school heads acquire new perspectives on leadership, engage in personal reflection and build more effective professional networks. It utilizes a variety of teaching methods—case studies, lectures and discussion groups—all designed to enhance the learning experience. In addition, participants receive advance reading materials to maximize opportunities for in-depth learning.
Program Schedule
The institute begins with a working session on Thursday afternoon, November 6. The Annual Independent Schools Institute is designed as a cohesive experience; participants are expected to make a full-time commitment to the program and remain through the closing session.
2008 Faculty
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Patrick
Bassett, President, National Association of
Independent Schools. |
| Bassett has been the president of NAIS since 2001. He previously served as president of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS). Bassett began his career in independent schools in 1970. |
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Monica Higgins, Associate Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education |
| Higgins' research and teaching focus on leadership development and organizational change. Before joining HGSE, she spent eleven years on the faculty at Harvard Business School in the Organizational Behavior Unit. (more) |
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James Honan,
Senior Lecturer on Education, Educational Chair, Institute for Educational Management (IEM), Harvard Graduate School of Education |
| Honan's teaching and research interests include financial management of nonprofit organizations, organizational performance measurement and management, and higher-education administration. He is a faculty member in a number of executive education programs including The Harvard Seminar for Experienced Presidents. (more) |
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Lawrence Katz, Elisabeth Allison Professor of Economics, Harvard University
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Katz's research focuses on issues in labor economics and he economics of social problems. He also has been studying the impacts of neighborhood poverty on low-income families. His latest book is The Race between Education and Technology (Harvard University Press, forthcoming 2008). (more) |
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Daniel Koretz , Professor of Education,
Harvard Graduate School of Education |
| Koretz focuses his research primarily on educational assessment, particularly as a tool of education policy. A primary emphasis in his work has been the effects of high-stakes testing, including effects on schooling and the validity of score gains. Koretz founded and chairs the International Project for the Study of Educational Accountability, an international network of scholars investigating improved approaches to educational accountability. (more) |
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Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Emily Hargroves Fisher Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education, |
Lawrence-Lightfoot is a sociologist who examines the culture of schools, the patterns and structures of classroom life, socialization within families and communities, and the relationships between culture and learning styles. (more) |
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Richard Light, Walter H. Gale Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education |
| Light's research focuses on higher-education policy analyses. Currently, he is chairing a project at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences that explores the changing demographics at American colleges and universities. His most recent book, “Making the Most of College,” won the Stone Award for the best book of the year on education and society. (more) |
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Judith Block McLaughlin, Senior Lecturer on Education,
Director, Higher Education Program,
Educational Chair, Harvard Seminar for New Presidents, Harvard Graduate School of Education |
| McLaughlin has written and consulted extensively on leadership transitions, presidential assessment, board-president relationships, senior staff functioning, and board governance. She is the chair of the Massachusetts Public Education Nominating Council; the council is responsible for selecting members for college boards of trustees in the state and for making recommendations for the state board of higher education. (more) |
General Information
Registration and Program Fee
The comprehensive program fee of $3,995 includes tuition, all instructional materials, refreshments, an opening reception and dinner. Registration is accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and is acknowledged upon receipt.
Program
enrollment is limited, so early registration is suggested. For more information, please contact The Principals' Center at 617.495.1825.
Payment or purchase
order is due thirty days after registration and prior to the conference start. Participants
are responsible for their own travel arrangements.
Accommodation Options
A limited number of hotel rooms, convenient to the institute classroom, are available at a reduced rate. Travel and accommodations are the responsibility of the individual participant.
Inn at Harvard
1201 Massachusetts Avenue
Harvard Square | Cambridge, MA
T: 800.458.5886
$299/night plus tax
Reduced rates are available until October 14, 2008. Please reference 'Independent Schools' when placing your reservation.
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations must be made in writing. Full refunds will be granted until October 9, 2008. Cancellations received between October 10 and October 23 are subject to a $500 cancellation fee. Cancellations after October 23, 2008 and no-shows are subject to full payment.
The Harvard Graduate School of Education reserves the right
to change faculty or cancel programs at its discretion.
In the unlikely event of program changes,
the school is not responsible for non-refundable travel arrangements
or other planning expenses incurred.
The Harvard Graduate School of Education affirms the right of all individuals
to equal treatment in education without regard to age, race, religion,
sex, sexual orientation, marital status, handicap, national origin, or
any other factors that are extraneous to effective performance. The Harvard
Graduate School of Education will accommodate anyone with disabilities. |
