The need for our member schools’ Boards and leadership teams to collaborate clearly and consistently has never been greater. Challenges are many. Understanding that strong governance is an essential part of school effectiveness, AISA is committed to providing school support and guidance in this essential area.
Our Code of Governance addresses the basics, including roles and responsibilities and fulfilling the fiduciary requirements of school Boards.
AISA members have access to governance and leadership resources (including AISA’s Code of Governance), discussion forums and learning events to bolster their knowledge and understanding of school governance.
Download AISA Code of GovernanceOur high-impact workshops and learning events are designed to impart practical learning experiences that participants can implement at their schools.
See AISA's Learning EventsAISA has a substantial range of curated resources in the field of school leadership and governance. These resources are easily searchable and downloadable from our resource library.
The Exemplary International School Governance Project provides for a research-based set of model international school policies. These policies offer an update on boilerplate guidance and also the most updated policies on contemporary issues. Seminars on researching, development/revision and implementation of the model policies are offered using a virtual meeting platform as needed. As requested, consultants will also support policy manual development with any individual school.
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The Exemplary International School Governance Project offers a practical handbook for international school trustees, specific to roles, responsibilities, the scope of influence and key criteria for effectiveness and procedures that promote productivity. Specific to the international school context, the handbook supports board trustee development and ensures a common language about blue-ribbon governance between the board and senior leadership.
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The Exemplary International School Governance Project has developed guidelines and instruments for evaluating the effectiveness of both the Board and the Head of School. The School Board Evaluation Instrument is based on the AAIE Board Development Curriculum, designed to be used as a self-assessment of the Board’s performance. The Head of School Evaluation Instrument, supported by guidelines for conducting that performance assessment aligns with established standards of practice for Heads of International Schools. Both processes, Board self-evaluation and Head of School evaluation are focused on growth and development as a vital component of the Set Goals-Implement-Assess cycle. A consultant-led seminar can be provided as part of the policy manual development process or as a separate area of focus for board and senior leadership development.
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The Exemplary International School Governance Project has developed a GUIDE of model international head of school search process steps (research-based) with rationale and guiding practices that recognize the unique nature of an overseas search. A consultant-led seminar can be provided as part of the policy manual development process or as a separate area of focus for board and senior leadership development.
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We’ll explore each of these modules in more detail below.
AISA has partnered with AISH to bring their high-quality professional learning and community-building course to our members at preferential rates. AISH has led Deep Dives at past AISA conferences and we recommend their professional learning course for aspiring and serving Heads of School.
AISA has partnered with International School Board Training to provide our schools with access to the Board Essentials series. This online series is designed with school boards in mind, allowing convenient access to the entire board so that everyone is working from a common ground. No Covid-19 restrictions on travel or gatherings or trouble agreeing on a common meeting time, just easy access, straight-talking insights to help your board transform into a more effective team.