Private Equity vs Private School
“Let’s focus on leading indicators,” the parent of a second-grade student wrote in an email to the teacher ahead of her parent-teacher conference, “We need to shift away from the singular lagging indicator strategy. A few more tools and metrics would be helpful.”
In the staff lounge, the teacher opened the email to show the Director of Advancement.
“What the hell is she talking about? I want my division head to be in this conference,” the confused teacher said, verging on panic.
“Well, let’s Google it. That parent works in investment banking and assists in raising capital for acquiring businesses or merging them. She’s on the Development Committee of the board,” the director said as she pulled out her phone to search for a definition. “I appreciate her work on that committee, so let’s consider what she’s saying.”
The teacher said, “Parents like that make me nervous. I’m working really hard every day, and I don’t know why they can’t just appreciate that.”
“OK, here’s the definitions,” the director said.
Leading Indicators:
Definition: These metrics offer insights into potential future performance and help identify and anticipate trends.
Purpose: They allow for proactive decision-making and adjustments before final results are achieved.
Lagging Indicators:
Definition: These metrics reflect past performance and outcomes, confirming whether objectives have been met.
Purpose: They help measure past success and inform long-term strategy.
The teacher took a moment to consider the definitions. “So, I’m thinking the app updates, report cards, and graded worksheets are lagging indicators. And, she wants me to make suggestions as to what support or remediation I would recommend to keep her kid on track. She probably also wants to see benchmarks for future mastery. Those would be leading indicators, I bet.”
“YES!” said the director, with a huge smile, “I think you are onto something. Now, let’s talk about how you’d like to respond to that parent.”
Thriving schools have both outstanding leaders and teachers who not only deliver a stellar education to each child but can also confidently interact with parents. I know that sounds painfully obvious. But when a school sees reduced applications, attrition, and generally low morale, both criteria are in question. I want to zero in on confident conversations with parents.
Parents are different from those of a generation ago. They have high expectations and less time to be involved in their child’s school. They trust that the school will carry out its mission and deliver on its brand promises in the ways outlined in the admissions process or with administrators as their time with the school progresses. In their corporate jobs, parents have performance reviews and are expected to consistently produce high-quality work in line with the company’s objectives. They expect the same level of management to be happening at school.
I will pose a few questions for your consideration. None of these questions has a simple answer, yet they are at the core of a struggling school.
Are you protecting your faculty even though you know some are not performing to the school’s expectations?
Are you marginalizing parents and dreading conversations with them?
Are you explaining away attrition to the board and CFO without investigating the reasons?
Are you coaching faculty to confidently communicate with parents as the professional teachers they are?
In the scenario above, it could have gone much differently. The director might have joined the teacher in deriding the parent. The teacher, in her anxiety, might have chosen to gossip about the parent to her colleagues on her division team, rather than sharing it with an administrator. The parent might have decided to go directly to the Head of School with her thoughts, undermining the teacher. Creating genuine invitations and solid expectations for successful collaboration among leadership, faculty, and parents is vital to creating the thriving organization that we all want in on.
We routinely create our versions of leading and lagging indicators in every realm of school for students. What about for everyone else? If your school is struggling with attrition, let’s explore it together from a leadership perspective.
Big thanks to conversations with Carolyn Hines at Aspen Country Day School (CO) and Hugh Jebson at St. John’s Episcopal School (FL) for inspiration on this article.
The author, Jill Goodman, is a consultant who works with independent school leaders to address budget concerns by increasing enrollment retention, building capacity in development, and enhancing leadership skills. Learn more about all services here.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
