|
THE COALITION CONNECTION
April 22, 2016
|
Dear NCGS Community,
NCGS is excited to announce a new version of our ever-popular The Girls' School Advantage booklet. Many of the research statistics have been replaced with more recent findings and new photos with student testimonials have been added. Furthermore, the flow of information has been reorganized to have supporting research follow correlated content about the unique benefits and outcomes of girls' schools.
With the roll out of this new booklet, NCGS now has a complete, unified suite of advocacy publications:
- The Girls' School Advantage, a small booklet filled with everything you need to tell the girls' school story.
- Steeped in Learning: The Student Experience at All-Girls Schools, a research report comparing experience of girls at all-girls schools with that of girls at coed institutions.
- Essentials, an easy-to-scan summary of Dr. Linda Sax's UCLA research.
- Questions, a simple piece to help thoughtful parents ask the right questions about their daughter's current school experience.
- The Girls' School Advantage: By the Numbers, an animated slideshow of quantitative and qualitative research highlights available free of charge to NCGS member schools.
 So you can stock up on copies of the new Girls' School Advantage booklet and its companion pieces, NCGS is offering a Spring Sale on all our publications. Receive 10% off orders placed by June 1, 2016, using the code NCGS10 on the order form. Receive an additional 5% off, if your school is also purchasing the 2016 Enrollment Surveys (see more details below). Use the code NCGS15. Click here for the order form and to learn more about the current NCGS publications.
Best wishes, Megan Megan Murphy Executive Director
|
|
Research Opportunity: Assess Your High School & Middle School Student Engagement
| |
For the first time, the newly released Middle Grades Survey of Student Engagement (MGSSE) will also be available to gather data from students in grades 5 to 9. Like NCGS was able to do with data from the HSSSE findings ( Steeped in Learning: The Student Experience at All-Girls Schools), if a significant group of NCGS schools take part in MGSSE, we will be able to distribute a special report comparing NCGS results with participating coed schools.
The student-focused surveys investigate the attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs of students about their school work, the school learning environment, and interactions with school community.
Schools interested in HSSSE or MGSSE have until May 31, 2016, to administer the surveys (both online and paper options available). To encourage participation, NAIS is subsidizing the costs of participation for all independent schools. This makes HSSSE and MGSSE a very affordable way to gather data.
Additional information on the surveys, including registration, cost, sample reports, and frequently asked questions can be found on the NAIS website and the CEEP website.
|
Reminder: Enrollment Surveys Available Until May 1
|
|
Has your admissions office ever wondered why an accepted family chose to enroll at one of your peer institutions instead of your own? Does your Head of School have the data needed to talk quantitatively about your 2016-2017 enrollment numbers at upcoming board meetings? It's not too late to take advantage of the NCGS Enrollment Surveys -- a simple, cost-effective way to gather this data!
The 2016 set of three web-based surveys for your enrolling, non-enrolling, and inquiry families to complete is available until May 1. Each survey will be customized with your school's logo and desired survey deadline. You may also add up to five school-specific questions. The member school rate is only $350 for all three surveys (additional fees per survey for custom questions).
Don't forget to save your school money by combining your Enrollment Survey order with a publications order! NCGS is currently offering 10% off all publication orders placed by June 1, 2016 (use the code NCGS10 on the order form). If your school is also purchasing the 2016 Enrollment Surveys, you will receive an additional 5% off (use the code NCGS15).
|
|
Harpeth Hall to Host STEM Think Tank and Conference
|
|
- Partnerships for Change: Partnerships between and among K-12, industry, informal, university, counselors, parents, private, public, etc. What are these effective partnerships and how can they be replicated?
- STEM+: Connections with STEM and all disciplines, including art, foreign language, English/Language Arts, history, computer science, etc. in both formal and informal learning situations.
- Long Term Change: What are the ways in which long term change is created in schools and other organizations to create effective STEM programs for girls?
- Social Entrepreneurship and Public Purpose: How is STEM being used to address issues of social justice, social need, and service learning for the public good?
- Mathematics and Computational Science: What are the specific ways in which girls are succeeding in mathematics and computational science? What encourages them to participate?
The Think Tank and Conference will bring together national leaders in K-12 education for girls and young women (independent, public, charter, and parochial), university K-12 outreach coordinators and researchers, STEM university faculty, girls' informal educators, and members of industry.
|
Highlights from the NCGS "Listening & Learning Tour"
| |
Last week, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Professional Development Jen Shakeshaft traveled to the Mid-Atlantic region of the country while Director of Strategic Communications & Research Olivia Haas went just down the road in her hometown of Atlanta. Here's what they had to say:
"The first stop of my trip was The Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, MD, where I shared lunch with eight poised, articulate students in grades 9-12 and heard what they appreciated most about their school. Responses included "strong sense of community" and "great academic program," but the majority talked about leadership opportunities available to them in everything from student government to the very active CAFÉ (Community Alliance for Everyone). I also met with several administrators who shared details of the school's strategic plan, The Bryn Mawr Way: A Contemporary Vision for What Girls Need To Thrive , which was endorsed by the Board in January.
The next day I traveled just outside of Baltimore to St. Paul's School for Girls (SPSG) to begin planning for the second Conference on Coordinate Education co-offered by NCGS and the International Boys' Schools Coalition (IBSC), which SPSG and St. Paul's will graciously host on their beautiful shared campus this coming October 20-21. I sat down with SPSG Head of School Penny Evins as well as Dave Faus, Head of St. Paul's, to learn from them the ways in which their schools partner to offer students different opportunities, while at the same time celebrating the distinctive benefits of a single-gender education. We look forward to working with SPSG and St. Paul's in the months to come to develop a great professional development event!
|
| |
Rachel Simmons kicks off the NCGS Educating Girls Symposium
|
Finally, NCGS Executive Director Megan Murphy and I had the good fortune to join over 150 educators from across the U.S. at my alma mater The Madeira School in McLean, VA, for the Coalition's latest regional Educating Girls Symposium, which addressed the topic of "Developing Leadership through Wellness and Mindfulness." Rachel Simmons delivered an engaging and thought-provoking keynote address that began a day of inspired learning and idea-sharing. Many thanks to our gracious hosts at Madeira, all of our dedicated presenters, and The Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington and the Virginia Association of Independent Schools for their partnership in offering this program. Click here to see photos from the event (thanks to Madeira's Ali Southworth for so beautifully capturing the energy of the day), and be sure to mark your calendar for the next series of Educating Girls Symposiums -- theme to be announced soon! -- which will begin on February 22, 2017, at The Nightingale-Bamford School in New York City!"
"On Monday, I headed into downtown Atlanta to attend the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS) 2016 National Conference, Rising Above the Cloud . As we plan programming for our 2017 NCGS Conference, Education Innovation: Building Cultures of Creativity , I took this opportunity to learn what topics are being discussed that relate to innovation throughout our schools -- not just in the classroom, but campus-wide from technology to admissions, philanthropy to communications. I had the pleasure of attending a panel discussion, Best Practices in All-Girls Schools, featuring representatives from Marlborough School, The Hockaday School, Hathaway Brown School, and Harpeth Hall."
|
|
