In his commentary, Kington notes the need for higher education to collect stronger data that examines costs, particularly in relation to educational quality and student outcomes. Sound familiar? Every serious conversation about the future of K-12 independent school education focuses on these three variables.
Kington's observations stem in part from a seminal study, published in Science in 1973, showing that cost differences in healthcare services were not driven by differing health care needs among communities served, but by differing "practice styles" among providers. From this study, the field of health services began to take a closer look at "the potentially huge expenditures wasted on services that did not have a clear benefit to the nation's health." Read the entire article, and see how Kington makes a parallel case for cost per student, class size and other critical variables driving costs at small colleges and independent schools.
I can't help but connect this commentary to remarks by Amanda Ripley during her keynote address at the 2014 NBOA Annual Meeting. (A video of her presentation is now available to Annual Meeting registrants in NBOA Connect. Her recorded speech is almost as good as it was in person. Members who did not attend the Meeting will have to wait a few months before being able to access the video ... but I digress.) Specifically, Amanda said that the major difference between the U.S. education system and that of other countries is our relative lack of focus. Said another way, do we expend our schools' limited resources in ways that do not make a significant impact on educational quality or student outcomes? That's an important question that many schools and nonprofits struggle with. As a community, we are great at adding services to better serve our families. After all, that's what we're in the business of doing. But it's very difficult to withdraw or sunset services even though they are not effectively supporting our educational mission.
I applaud Kington for connecting these dots with the challenges faced by small colleges. It affirms for me that we, in independent schools, have much in common: We are raising the same questions and working to meet the same challenges. I encourage you to share Kington's article with your head of school and leadership team. It may not necessarily forge new ground, but it helps us look outside of ourselves—outside to where great ideas and solutions are often found.
