Leading Insights
Perspectives and Strategies for Academic Leaders
Welcome to Leading Insights, the blog of the Association for Academic Leaders. Here, our staff and members share diverse viewpoints and practical strategies to support the essential and evolving work of all Academic Leaders.
Summer 2025 Book Club: 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People
By Denny Gonzalez - David Yeager’s 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People takes a research-informed look at how young people between—you guessed it—the ages of 10 and 25 shape their identities, interact with adults, and perceive the world around them. For academic leaders of all kinds, not just in independent schools, Yeager’s insights apply not only to students but also to early-career educators. Both of these groups navigate complex developmental stages within our schools and need guidance from leaders like us.
Summer 2025 Book Club: The Art of Gathering
By Rachel Herlein—I’ve had Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering on my radar since it was first published eight years ago. When a colleague recommended I read it, I thought, Gathering people is my strong suit! I work hard crafting meaningful learning experiences for teachers. Is all that effort not paying off? Thankfully, my growth mindset kicked in—and I read Parker’s book cover to cover.
Download: Fostering Strategic Partnerships Between Technology and Academic Leaders
As schools navigate the adoption and integration of generative AI tools, it’s more important than ever for academic and technology leaders to work together. That’s why we’re excited to partner with the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent School (ATLIS) to bring Academic Leaders and their technology colleagues an actionable guide for collaborating on generative AI.
Download: Best Practices in Mapping Curriculum in Independent Schools
Academic Leaders are responsible for ensuring that their school’s educational programs are cohesive, comprehensive, and aligned with the institution’s mission and goals. One of the ways Academic Leaders ensure that alignment and achieve their curricular priorities is through thoughtful, comprehensive curriculum mapping. However, it’s not really about the map you build, it’s what happens with the map that matters most. This report outlines best practices and tools for curriculum mapping.
Download: School Schedules Report
Few things shape the daily experience of students and faculty more than the school schedule, yet conversations about schedule changes often focus on logistics—start times, block lengths, and community time—rather than the bigger picture. What if the real question isn’t what the schedule looks like, but rather how well it reflects your school’s priorities and commitments?
Designing a New Course Proposal Process for Independent Schools
How can Academic Leaders help guide their schools’ Academic Councils to support faculty in flexing their curriculum talents while ensuring these offerings align with the school’s mission and resources? A strong review process strikes that balance, fostering new ideas while maintaining academic integrity.
Empowering Your New Department Chairs from the Beginning
Stepping into a leadership role as a new independent school department chair is both exciting and challenging. For many, it’s their first experience “leading from the middle,” as we describe it in our courses and cohorts for department and team leaders.
Why AI Detectors Are Not the Answer for Schools Grappling with Generative AI
As Generative AI tools become ubiquitous, academic leaders are increasingly fielding questions from faculty and families about whether AI detection tools should be part of evaluating students’ work. However, before turning to these tools, it’s essential to understand their limitations and reconsider their role in the academic setting.
A Head’s Perspective: Exploring The Power of Generative AI in Administrative Work
In the rapidly evolving landscape of education, Generative AI has emerged as a powerful tool for enhancing various aspects of our work as school leaders. As the head of The Gunston School, I knew that this year was the time for me to dive into Generative AI. In a short time, it has transformed my daily school leadership routine and provided valuable educational insights.
Simplifying Generative AI Integration for Schools
In the whirlwind of 2020, One Schoolhouse shared a vital piece of advice that proved transformative for many schools: "Simplify your technology portfolio." Amid the pandemic’s chaos, this guidance helped schools focus on delivering quality education.
We Are In the Cambrian Explosion of Generative AI
This moment in generative AI feels a bit like the Cambrian explosion, a period of time about 530 million years ago, when there was a sudden burst of diverse life forms.
Top Summer Reads for Independent School Faculty
As summer approaches, it's the perfect time for educators to indulge in some professional reading that can inspire and rejuvenate them for the coming school year.
Why Did We Build A Research Assistant for Academic Leaders?
Every Academic Leader has two things in common: the to-do list is long, and there’s not enough time in the day to cross everything off. Academic Leaders are tasked with increasingly complex jobs with an expanding set of responsibilities, and that means they have to know more, do more, and be more efficient than ever before.
Truly A Game Changer: Generative AI
"We wanted to dig into AI this year, and I always thought of the Association as producing incredibly high quality work," Anneke said. By taking the Association course, AI Considerations for Academic Leaders, she had the “opportunity to work asynchronously, discuss problems of practice with other leaders and access a wealth of carefully curated videos, data, and written resources."
Generative AI Is for All of US
Bob Weiman, Associate Head of School at St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School (SSSAS), and his colleagues realized quickly that the wide availability of Generative AI was going to be "transformational in a way that other forms of technology haven't been--and this is going to change teaching and learning."
Is a Teacher Ready to Become an Academic Leader? Identifying Top Talent On Campus
Independent schools and Academic Leaders often pride themselves on spotting talent. They look for it in students, colleagues, potential recruits, and rising leaders - and especially the last. When hunting for leadership talent within your school, it's crucial to look beyond resumes and responsibility, and instead focus on transferable skills.
One School's Journey with Generative AI
I can remember my husband and me at our kitchen island, him on his laptop, us laughing, as he fed questions into ChatGPT like, Why can’t my wife load the dishwasher correctly? This was the date ChaptGPT was “born,” and like many seismic cultural events, it created a flashbulb memory for me.
Prepare for Hiring in 2023
The COVID pandemic has upended the labor market in all industries tremendously. Employees are continuing to reassess their goals, motivations for work, and life priorities. And, employers needs are changing. To prepare for the upcoming hiring season, Academic Leaders should take the next few weeks to focus their efforts in four areas that will make a difference.
From Apprehension To Empowerment: The importance of collaboration when learning about Generative AI
An interesting phenomenon I’ve noticed is that we teachers extol the virtues of collaborative learning in the classroom, but rarely have time for it ourselves. Busy schedules can make it difficult to set aside time for partnerships on projects or professional development that are seen as outside the scope of typical unit planning.
Parent-Guardian Education Needs to be Rethought
I’ve sat through a lot of family education presentations, both as an educator and as a parent. A few of those talks were transformative, giving me a perspective that changed the way I approached working with young people (whether they were my own kids or my students). Many more, however, felt like I was listening to a canned speech that had already been delivered dozens of times.