In his blog from April “The Right People in the Right Seats” Tim Van Soelen encourages Christian schools to attract talent into their school through the lens of Collins’ research on Good to Great businesses. This sparked a question from a number of friends who were in the midst of hiring for next school year, which was: How do we … Read More
Continuous Enrollment…Continuous What?
Two years ago, our Admissions Director at Valley Christian Schools (Dublin), Lori Cantrell, presented our school leadership team with an idea. Having been in touch with some others in the admissions field, the topic of “Continuous Enrollment” came up. I’ve been involved with admissions for almost 6 years now, and this was a new term to me. Before we dive into … Read More
How Do Schools Get Better? (Part 1)
**Doing the right thing…knowing the right thing to do. This is a question that we ask ourselves everyday as school leaders. Richard Elmore, professor of Educational Leadership at Harvard University, published a paper with this title through the NGA Center for Best Practices (can be found here). He offers suggestions and practical advice on how schools can get better. After … Read More
Christian Schools Are Good News for Society at Large
**Richard Edlin, in his book, “The Cause of Christian Education” explores the reasons for and the distinctives of Christian education at the school and higher education levels. Edlin highlights foundational belief perspectives and shows how these apply in curriculum and related areas such as vision and mission, the place of the Bible, evaluation and assessment, the teacher as mentor, and … Read More
Effective Christian Leadership: Motivating Your Followers
For over twenty years, I lived my life in the same (over)weight range, always believing that I needed to lose some weight, but never really doing so. I tried a variety of diets and exercise regimens, but nothing ever moved me out of that range, nor did any of them ever become a long-term lifestyle. I finally convinced myself that … Read More
Independent School Marketers: 3 Steps to Maximize Your Marketing
Independent School marketers are always looking for the best way to attract and engage target markets to content. As a graduate student in the Northwestern Medill Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) program with expertise in independent school marketing, I have found two articles you will find interesting and insightful. In “The Importance of Visual Storytelling to Marketing Strategy” by Kasey Larsen on VerticalRailCreative.com, the … Read More
Learning More About Deeper Learning
In my recent posts, I have mentioned the term Deeper Learning. This term was actually coined by the Hewlett Foundation to describe the practice of a network of schools who are “doing school differently.” In this post I would like to describe the aspects of Deeper Learning and give resources for further exploration. The Deeper Learning Network consists of individual … Read More
Marketing Research, Part 2: Satisfaction in a Changing Market
This is the second blog in a 5 part series on the types of marketing research that prove to be the most effective for Christian schools and how to think strategically about research. My goal is to provide a small toolbox of articles that can be used by Christian school leaders to assess their overall approach, and supplement, where possible, … Read More
Networking…Developing…Innovating
This month marks the end of year one at the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education. We have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to. What challenges would you like CACE to address? What would you like us to blog about? How can we best serve you in the year ahead? Please take three minutes to complete a short survey to help CACE better meet the needs of our readers and fulfill our mission to network, develop, and innovate.
Rethinking Recess
Some of my clearest memories of elementary school are the all-out sprints from the door to be the first to the basketball court, baseball diamond or the merry-go-round at recess. I remember, like it was yesterday, how hard it was to stay in the single file line from the classroom to the exit door, frustrated by how slowly the line had to … Read More