Association for Academic Leaders

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  • About
    • Academic Leader Competencies
    • Advisory Council
    • Welcome & History
  • Connect
    • Academic Leaders Forum
    • Academic Leaders Listserv
    • Cohorts
  • Learn
    • The Emotional Lives of Teenagers
    • Live Programming
    • Online Courses
  • Membership
    • Join the Association
    • Membership Benefits
    • Member Schools
  • MEMBER PORTAL
  • COURSE LOGIN

Online
​Courses

Our courses are designed to help you build your skills in one of the competency areas essential for Academic Leaders. Participants should expect to spend about four hours per week completing coursework. Each course is focused on a single topic, and draws on curated research in the field as well as academic expertise. As always, the design of each course includes opportunities for reflection and interaction, empowering you to boost your competency with a group of peers interested in the same issues.

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Course Testimonials
More Our About Online Courses

Participation in online courses is an Association benefit. ​All Academic Leaders at your school can participate at no cost.

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AI Considerations for Academic Leaders
Dates Offered: September 25 - October 1, 2023

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Objectives: 
  • Provide an overview of the current status of generative AI and the implications for independent schools
  • Understand the three critical elements to developing a strategic approach to managing your campus response to generative AI
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AI conversations have exploded and resources and information abound, overwhelmingly so. In this course, we'll offer Academic Leaders a list of highly curated resources to share with their communities. Then we'll offer a framework for Academic Leaders to use as they lead decision-making conversations around the role of AI in the school's curriculum, pedagogy, and professional responsibilities in alignment with their school's mission and values.

By the end of this course, you will be prepared to help lead your schools decision-making process around the use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the coming academic year and beyond.

Aligning Teacher Evaluation with Pedagogical Priorities
Dates Offered: October 2 - 8, 2023

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Objective: 
  • Leverage the teacher evaluation process to promote pedagogical growth
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Teacher evaluation has not kept up with innovation in independent schools. This course will help participants rebench an evaluation process so that it aligns with the school's current values. Academic Leaders can then effectively use the teacher evaluation process to move pedagogical initiatives forward. 

Assessing Your Assessments in the Age of AI
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Dates Offered: October 30 - November 5, 2023

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Objective: 
  • Lead faculty in better aligning assessment practices to desired outcomes

This course is designed to help Academic Leaders lead on-campus conversations that interrogate current assessment practices. Are assessments measuring articulated values and course priorities? We will examine the most common summative assessment tools and challenge participants to think about what teachers learn (or what they think they learn) from these.  We will consider how to use tools like rubrics and portfolios to more effectively measure students' growth, as well as how to leverage existing practices around alternative forms of assessment such as formative, collaborative, reflective, and metacognitive to promote growth.  Participants will leave with a template for guiding teachers in rethinking their assessment practices in their courses.   

Evaluating Department Leaders as Academic Leaders
Dates Offered: October 23 - 29, 2023

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Objective:
  • Align evaluation with the strategic importance of the teacher leadership roles.

Department leaders, team leaders, curriculum coaches (and more) are integral to institutional success. Participants will use a competency approach to learn how to develop an internal rubric that supports assessing the effectiveness of an individual’s leadership within a department, division, or team. We will focus on a model that measures growth in light of mutually defined and understood standards that can be adjusted to be appropriate to a specific individual’s situation.

Leading a Curriculum Audit
Dates Offered: November 6 - 12, 2023

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Objective:
  • Implement a structured approach using a template for the audit process that includes multiple perspectives and voices.

Leading your department, team, or division through a curriculum audit is fundamentally about providing vision, structure, and organization in alignment with mission-centered goals for your curriculum. This course will give you the tools to organize and plan an audit that your team can accomplish within a school year. Our template can be modified for use within a single subject-area department or to evaluate a competency across multiple departments within a division (e.g. writing across the curriculum). 

Leading a DEIBJ Curriculum Audit
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Dates Offered: October 23 - 29, 2023

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Objectives:
  • Learn to define the objectives in accordance with the school’s mission and priorities
  • Develop a DEIBJ process for your school’s community

In this course, Academic Leaders will gain a thorough understanding of the distinctions between diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice audits, and how to determine which one best suits the needs of their school. We will provide frameworks for leading equitably and equip participants with strategies for effectively managing and evaluating the audit process, which can be tailored to suit the unique needs of a division, department, or entire school. By the end of the course, participants will be able to confidently apply their knowledge to foster a more inclusive and just educational educational program.

Leading Curricular and Pedagogical Change
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Dates Offered: October 9 - 15, 2023

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Objective: 
  • Create a framework for managing a significant change to your academic program

Whether rolling out an incremental process or taking on a seismic shift, making a curricular or pedagogical change requires planning.  Whether you are introducing a new pedagogy school-wide or in a single department, moving to a new schedule, sunsetting a standardized-test driven program, or redesigning an entire scope and sequence, this course will provide a framework for managing change to an academic program in a way that is sustainable, supports all participants, and can be adapted to meet a school's needs.  

Leading Your Team In Understanding Generative AI
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Dates Offered: October 16 - 22, 2023

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Objective:
  • Develop a plan for leading a year-long exploration of generative AI with a team or department.

This course is focused on helping leaders of small groups of teachers (such as a department or team) plan a year of exploring generative AI. As with all curricular and pedagogical initiatives, it's important to start with your school mission and your institutional values. Leaders will learn strategies for teaching adults about generative AI and will be given guidelines for leading conversations about what teachers need to teach about generative AI.

Preparing for Your First Year in Department Leadership
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Dates Offered: October 9 - 15, 2023

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Objectives:
  • Explore tools to help you transition from peer to leader while maintaining collegiality
  • Set personal goals for your approach to your first year
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This course is designed to help leaders new to a department leadership role in planning their approach to their first year. We’ll share strategies designed to help new leaders begin the year with confidence in themselves and their network of support. 

The Emotional Lives of Teenagers with Dr. Lisa Damour
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Dates Offered: October 9 - 22, 2023 & November 6 - 17, 2023

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​Objectives:
  • Dispel the “three big myths” that challenge educators who care about adolescent well-being
  • Learn strategies for helping teens manage their emotions

Join New York Times best-selling author Lisa Damour in exploring her new book, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, in this members-only, two-week online course with unique content for independent school educators. Lisa’s urgently needed guide is designed to help parents understand their teenagers’ intense and often fraught emotional lives—and how to support them through this critical developmental stage. In each week of this course, Lisa frames the lessons of her book through an educator's lens and offers her thoughts and questions for educators to consider while reading the text. This course contains additional material from Lisa (video and written) exclusively available to members of the Association for Academic Leaders. You’ll learn directly from Lisa while having the chance to reflect on the practical application of the insights shared in the book and additional content with other Academic Leaders.

Following the end of the course, participants are invited to join a live Q&A with Lisa. Please note participants should obtain a copy of the book prior to the start of the course.

Explore the Rest of Our Online Courses

Building Trust as an Academic Leader
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives:
  • Acquire coaching skills for engaging with individuals that engender better trust in both parties.
  • Develop systems of communication that help build trust within groups.

Participants will learn processes for developing better systems for understanding and supporting those they lead who may be challenged during times of change. The course will share strategies for holding coaching conversations to support other campus adults in their roles. Participants will learn tools that make difficult communication more productive.

Competency-Based Learning: A Primer for Academic Leaders
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objective: 
  • Evaluate whether competency-based learning is an appropriate pedagogy for your school.

This course is a primer in competency-based learning. It is designed for academic leaders who are curious about this pedagogical approach.  Participants will leave with an understanding of competency-based learning and ideas about how to start the conversation within their school community.

Inclusive Innovation 
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objective:
  • By the end of this course, you will develop an inclusive model for leading curricular and pedagogical change in your school. 
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Leading transformation is challenging. In this course, academic leaders will learn about One Schoolhouse’s Inclusive Innovation framework and develop strategies for leading curricular and pedagogical change in ways that center identity, shift mindsets and practices, and measure values. 

Independent Advanced Courses: Leadership Considerations 
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives:
  • Understand the case for developing advanced courses that are not subject to standardized assessment
  • Interpret our principles for independent advanced courses
  • Explore this path with your leadership team or curriculum cabinet
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This course is designed for academic leaders who are interested in rigorous, non-standardardized course design. We will make the case for developing these courses on your campus, share our principles, and provide tools for exploring this path with your leadership team or curriculum cabinet. 

Onboarding (and Keeping) New Faculty
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives:
  • By the end of this week, participants will be able to:
  • Create a inclusive and welcoming structure for new faculty
  • Learn onboarding practices that foster confidence

Faculty retention begins before new hires ever set foot in their classrooms. In this course, participants will learn how to weave faculty support into the onboarding process. We’ll discuss what practices to abandon, how to modify typical onboarding processes for greater impact, and how to forefront your mission and values from the beginning of a new teacher’s career.

Personalized Learning: A Primer for Academic Leaders
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives:
  • Evaluate whether personalized learning is an appropriate pedagogy for your school 

Personalized learning is a learner-driven, identity-centering pedagogy. This course is a primer in personalized learning. It is designed for academic leaders who are curious about this pedagogical approach or those considering bringing it into a school community. Participants will leave with an understanding of personalized learning and a tool to assess where teachers are located on the teacher- to learner-driven continuum.

Preparing for Schedule Changes
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives:
  • Approach schedule change with a mission-centered mindset.
  • Develop awareness of principles that can guide or derail the process of schedule change.

Daily schedules in schools must serve the needs of multiple constituent groups and programming needs in schools. As needs change and evolve over time, so must the schedule. But the process of choosing or developing a new schedule (let alone then implementing the change!) can be fraught with anxiety-inducing elements and unforeseen complications. In this course, participants will learn to design a process designed to meet the curricular needs of their school

Preparing for Your First Year in Division Leadership
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives: 
  • Explore tools to help you transition into a new leadership role
  • Set personal goals for the first year
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This course is designed to help leaders new to a divisional leadership role, including those preparing for a move into a role as an assistant division head or dean. Participants will learn how to plan their approach to their first year. We’ll share strategies designed to help new leaders begin the year with confidence in themselves. Participants will learn how to build a network of support.

Preparing to Lead a DEIBJ Curriculum Audit
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives:
  • Learn to define the objectives in accordance with the school’s mission and priorities.
  • Develop a DEIBJ process for your school’s community.

Academic leaders will learn to differentiate between diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice audits and determine which is best for their school. We’ll share frameworks for leading equitably and strategies for managing and evaluating the audit process that can be adapted for use in a division, department, or school-wide.

Preparing to Lead a Mission-Alligned Curriculum Audit
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives:
  • Participants will learn to do the preliminary work necessary to audit and evaluate curriculum. We’ll share frameworks that can be adapted for use in a division, department, or school internal audit. 
  • Participants will come away with a template design they can use to begin an internal, mission-driven curriculum audit. 
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Academic Leaders will learn to do the preliminary work necessary before a team can audit and evaluate curriculum. We’ll share frameworks that can be adapted for use in a division, department, or school internal audit. Participants will come away with a template they can use in engaging a team in a mission-driven curriculum audit this summer or next year. This course is designed to help leaders new to a department leadership role in planning their approach to their first year. We’ll share strategies designed to help new leaders begin the year with confidence in themselves and their network of support. 

Recruit, Don't Hire
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives:
  • Learn to differentiate between recruiting and hiring. 
  • Build systems that empower recruiting 
  • Refocus recruiting on outcomes and competencies, not prior experience
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Recruiting is the ongoing process of attracting the individuals to your school who can help you live the promises made in your mission. It’s more strategic and comprehensive than just soliciting and reviewing applications for specific open positions.  Participants will explore some practical yet powerful tactics that Academic Leaders can implement to support their strategic recruitment goals. With an effective recruitment process, candidates and academic leaders build effective professional relationships as soon as they begin interacting. 

Solve Your Substitute Problem​​​​​​
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objective:
  • By the end of this course, you will develop a model for managing short-term distance teaching and learning.
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Students don’t have to default to working on long-term projects or assignments when teachers are absent for a couple of days or a couple of weeks. In this course, learn how to apply best, inclusive practices in asynchronous learning to ensure students remain actively engaged in learning and teachers are supported. Participants will leave with a template to share with teachers or build into their Learning Management System (LMS).

Student Survey Design​​​​
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives:
  • Learn how to design and evaluate survey questions that help you understand the impact of initiatives. 
  • Determine how to effectively use surveys in your school’s decision-making process. ​
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Academic leaders will learn how to obtain actionable, valid results from their survey design projects. Effective survey instruments can be critical to evaluating the impact of programs such as equity initiatives and are essential to understanding students' experiences of belonging. We’ll examine the purposes of survey data research and share strategies on how to construct reliable questions and mitigate factors that influence data quality. Samples and examples will be shared.

Supporting Faculty Wellbeing As An Academic Leader​​​​
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives:
  • Identify ways of better connecting with individual faculty members to better support them.
  • Begin to plan how to improve support systems for faculty on campus

In this course, Academic Leaders will learn how to support a healthy professional culture—centered around empathetic interactions—within their department, division, or whole school. Each community member’s unique set of perspectives and coping strategies are part of their professional lives, and academic leaders can take concrete steps to help each individual bring their best and authentic self to school. 

Wellness for Academic Leaders
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Dates Offered: TBD

Objectives:
  • Understand three essential elements of personal wellness
  • Consider which wellness strategies might be beneficial and achievable

Academic Leaders need to learn to "put their own oxygen masks on first!" when it comes to wellness. In this course participants will learn about three important aspects of wellness; rest, mindfulness, and exercise. Participants will consider these three within the context of academic leadership. The course will encourage participants to reflect on their current practices that support their wellness and consider what changes they may want to make that can increase their ability to model and encourage wellness in their school communities.