During the past two years, ISM has engaged in an intensive effort to forecast the needs of schools in the rapidly evolving 21st Century environment. One of the outcomes of this effort was the recent publication of a new template for faculty evaluation, which we are pleased to publish in excerpted form this month.

Bullying takes on many forms. Cyberbullying, playground bullying, and yes, even food bullying are all common forms that schools need to be aware of and in control of. Although all forms are risky, perhaps the most life threatening among them is food allergen bullying because of the reactions that can be triggered even from smelling certain trigger foods.

Blogs, forums, chat rooms, listservs—the list goes on and on. These can be valuable resources for finding alternative opinions and information about almost anything. From HR concerns to just needing a quick laugh to fuel the rest of your day, blogs can remind you that you're not alone in the all-too often chaotic world of private-independent education.

It’s time to start thinking about your outdoor space again. Whether you’re a home gardener or volunteer time in your school’s garden, organic gardening tips can really help boost your patch’s volume. Here are a few tips for maintaining organic beds.

Q: We’re preparing for our upcoming recertification visit and are trying to tidy up our personnel files. What documents should and shouldn’t be in our personnel files?

If lack of familiarity with financial plans or fear of becoming involved are among the reasons you avoid retirement planning, this article will give you some encouragement to help your employees and yourself plan for the future.

ISM recently published a new teacher evaluation model for private-independent schools. In that same vein, today’s lead article summarizes the key elements of teacher evaluation from ISM’s view. In many schools (and most other organizations, as well), performance evaluations are considered a waste of time or a meaningless bureaucratic exercise. What if evaluations could be used to actually increase performance—to help average teachers become excellent, and excellent teachers become even more outstanding? This can be achieved if the right things are being evaluated—and if the evaluation is communicated to the teacher in a way that helps them grow and develop.

In 2011, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 99,947 charges of employment discrimination. In any given year, as many as 25% of schools might experience an employment-related claim against their Directors and Officers/Employment Practices Liability (D&O/EPL) insurance policy. An individual claim might result in judgments of hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more.

The National Center for Education Statistics recently released its report America’s Youth: Transitions to Adulthood, which examines numerous aspects of the lives of youth and young adults, ages 14 to 24, in the United States over the last several decades. The report features status and trend data from multiple surveys on the distribution of youth and their family structure; on school-, employment-, and health-related factors; and on future plans.

Not often does anyone get to see an American Bald Eagle nesting in real time. After all, the nest is situated in a tree 80’ in the air. But thanks to sharp, clear cameras and the live streaming service UStream.com, you can watch a nesting pair of Bald Eagles take turns sitting on the eggs, bring food back to the nest, and ultimately, watch the eggs hatch … and the eaglets grow.