Hello there! The first quarter of the school year is about to wrap up. August orientation seems so long ago. It goes without saying, as emails pile up, meetings multiply, and demands surge, keeping students at the center of our focus becomes a daily challenge. Leading strategically demands even more intention, from preparing for the next generation of learners to navigating the shifting conditions that shape how our schools operate.
This month’s Trend Tracker brings together the internal and external research and data shaping independent school education. We hope it offers clarity amid volatility and uncertainty and even opens up new opportunities for students and teachers in the classroom.
Trend Tracker
October’s Trend Tracker points to a convergence of factors shaping what students learn and how they learn it. Technology companies are moving deeper into classrooms while many teachers report little formal guidance on AI. University leaders are reconsidering the purpose of education in an age of AI, and contrasting PISA and AP trends invite schools to examine what scores can and cannot tell them. These signals call for leaders to manage the tension between AI and the human capacities schools intend to cultivate and develop.
The signals bring those choices closer to students’ daily experience. Research links service with career skills, connection, and resilience, while the study on adolescent flourishing highlights the role of humor and play. At the organizational level, continuous change requires leaders to treat transformation not as a sequence of initiatives but an ongoing iteration of operational growth.
Trend Tracker, October 2026Pulse Perspectives
Reflecting real-time perspectives representing the voices in our association, we solicited feedback from SAIS Heads to complete a pulse survey focused on faculty/staff attrition, reasons for departure, candidate pool, and AI use. Some key findings include the following:
- Most schools are fully staffed, and teaching vacancies keep falling. Sixty-four percent of heads report no unfilled positions, down from 72% in 2025 but above 59% in 2024. Administrative roles now lead vacancies at 13%, while teaching vacancies fell to 6% from 12% in 2024.
- Hiring is slowing as candidate pools strengthen. Only 23% of schools hired more people than in prior years, down from 31% in 2025. Meanwhile, 58% of heads rate their faculty candidate pool as strong or very strong, up from 49% in 2025.
- Retirement drives departures, especially at larger schools. Retirement accounts for 55% of departures, rising from 41% at small schools to 77% at extra-large schools.
- Most schools remain in the early stages of AI adoption. Eighty-one percent of heads place their faculty in the exploring or emerging stages. Only 1.7% describe faculty AI use as embedded and guided. Administrative teams are further along, with 23% at the established or embedded stage compared with 12.5% of faculty.
See slide deck for full results.
Pulse Perspectives, October 2026Thank you for participating in the SAIS sector-wide AI research study. The study investigates how teachers incorporate AI into instructional practice; how school conditions, such as leadership and communication, shape teacher confidence and readiness; and which barriers and supports matter most for effective, ethical adoption.
At the SAIS LEAD AI: Timely Challenge Conference on November 9 in Atlanta, Dr. Carrie Grimes of Vanderbilt University will present high-level findings from the study, including focus groups with SAIS teachers. Researchers from Harvard’s Center for Digital Thriving, the founder of Atlanta Tech Village, and the CEO of 9ine will add a range of perspectives and expertise. In the afternoon, participants will choose a design sprint focused on people, process, programs, or culture and leave with concrete next steps for AI in their own schools.
This moment asks a great deal of school leaders. The questions are complex, but they also give us room to rethink what students need and how our schools can respond.
We are grateful to partner as you make sense of what is changing and decide what comes next for your community.
Reach out if we can be of assistance.
Dr. Brett Jacobsen
SAIS President