Featured Insight
A new Walton Family Foundation and Gallup study examines the middle and high school years of students born between 1997 and 2012 and finds that relationships drive engagement. Students who build strong bonds with teachers and peers are far more likely to find their schoolwork interesting and meaningful. Yet about 4 in 10 students call their coursework unimportant, and 3 in 10 feel they don’t belong or have no adult who checks in on them. The takeaway is clear: engagement grows not only when lessons show why content matters, but when students know that they matter.
Leadership & Governance
As AI takes on more analysis and execution, what remains human? World Economic Forum encourages leaders to set clear boundaries, ask whose interests a convincing answer serves, and take responsibility for outcomes. They explore what AI-era leadership looks like in practice, from AI literacy to judgment.
What Does Leadership in the Age of AI Look Like in Practice?
- Is Your Board Adding Value or Eroding It?
- Public Funding, Independence, and Intentional Decision-Making
- Your Leadership Pipeline is Leaking. Here’s Why.
Community & Connection
When a bullying report arrives, what happens next matters as much as the policy behind it. Dr. Will Durgin from Raptor Technologies lays out six steps for a defensible response, from immediate support and fair investigation to documentation and follow-up. The framework helps schools protect students, apply policy consistently, and confirm what worked.
A Defensible 6-Step Framework for Responding to Bullying at Schools
- Are Student Attention Spans Really Shrinking?
- Rethinking How Leaders Support Teacher Growth
- Teaching Digital Well-Being
Teaching & Learning
Students with ADHD often respond to interest-based motivation, not obligation. In this piece, Jeff Horwitz, keynote presenter at the Academic Support and Student Well-Being Conference this February, shows how novelty, challenge, and choice can turn required tasks into engaging learning, with practical strategies teachers can use immediately.
Building Motivation Through Novelty, Challenge, and Choice for Students with ADHD
- Our Rooms Are Full of Collective Intelligence. We Need Collective Measurement.
- The AI Cheating Crisis in Schools Isn’t (Only) What You Think
- The Future of Education Report
Brand & Communication
Is your school’s story matching what families experience? Penny Abrahams explains how a Marketing and Communications Audit reveals gaps between what leaders think they communicate and what parents, prospects, donors, and alumni actually hear. Understand the signals that it may be time to take a closer look.
What Is a Marketing & Communications Audit (And Does Your School Need One?)
- Can a Virtual Tour Actually Drive Enrollment?
- How to Use AI to Measure Your School’s Online Presence
- Should My School Be on LinkedIn?
From the Archives
In an increasingly competitive landscape, academic excellence alone is no longer enough to distinguish one school from another. Families, students, employees, and alumni increasingly make decisions based not only on what a school does, but on what it feels like to be part of it. This SAIS webinar recording features Yellow Car’s experience strategists and experienced school leaders sharing practical admissions, enrollment, marketing, and communications strategy.