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School Evaluation I Assessments I Accreditation I Experienced Private School Consulting Firm

Private School Evaluation Is Critical To Ensuring Your School Is Heading In The Right Direction

Thank you for considering HEG to support the continued improvement of your School’s operations and leadership. We’re confident that HEG’s combined experience with independent school improvement and evaluation will broaden the capacity of your school and its sustainable operation. We’re ideally positioned to carry out the comprehensive evaluation study to assess your school’s performance, covering governance, administration, academic, financial, operations, and the summative development report with our comprehensive set of strategies and supporting action plans for your Board and Administration to lead your school’s development. Our evaluation process identifies areas needing organizational improvement to support school revitalization and sustainability. To establish a clear picture of your school’s performance against established benchmarks, and to determine areas of priority that your school needs to focus on, we’ll implement a four-pronged approach to assess your school’s current situation and gather measurable data, focusing primarily on:

  1. On-site focus groups, interviews, and observations;
  2.  Multiple surveys of your school’s community;
  3.  One-on-one discussions with your School’s Board and Administration; and a
  4.  Summative Report and Action Plan.

Our thoughtful evaluation process provides your Board’s Directors with a concise set of strategies to guide your school’s leadership with ongoing development of your institution, identifying areas needing short- and long-term improvement.

Our evaluation process focuses on the following critical benchmarks for effective school performance:

  1. The School’s Overall Effectiveness;

  2. Marketing, Admissions, And Retention System;

  3. Teaching/Learning Practices; 

  4. Human Resources; 

  5. Care, Guidance, And Support For Students; 

  6. School Leadership And Management;

  7. Physical Plant, Grounds, And Resources;

  8. Infrastructure And Operations; 

  9. Communications And Community Relations; and

  10. Finance And Operations. 

Our Approach

We will break our evaluation process into six parts applying our in-depth background in starting, leading, and managing independent schools. After our online surveys and on-site focus group sessions are completed, we will follow up with a Summary Report and Action Plan that provides a range of recommendations and action plans to improve your school. The Summary Report and Action Plans prioritize critical issues you need to improve upon, as well as the "indicators of success" to move towards in the continued improvement of your school. Our methodology focuses on a “SWOT” analysis identifying your:

  • Strengths;
  • Weaknesses;
  • Opportunities, and;
  • Threats / Trends.

Our methodology utilizes a four-step approach that is based on analyzing key performance benchmarks of your school, which involves evaluation of relevant school data, two days onsite with focus groups, 360 degree survey process to gauge school performance and stakeholder perception, in-depth discussions with your trustees, and then four weeks to develop and deliver the Summary Report and Action Plan for school improvement. 

  1. Determine Scope and Direction: Meeting with the Client to finalize goals, process, critical issues, timing, schedule, situational scan, and deliverables;
  2. Collect and Review School Documentation and Data: Collect and review school documentation and data prior to the onsite visit to determine schools’ present (e.g., Marketing/enrollment materials, enrollment data, tuition overview, financial aid, student/parent enrollment contract, strategic plan, sample report cards, sample staff contracts/teacher grids/policy handbook, other handbooks, society/board bylaws and constitution, staff and board list, map of the school plant, history of school’s fundraising record, overview of school educational program(s), accreditation documentation, staff evaluation instrument and professional development plan);
  3. Onsite Focus-Group Interviews With Key Stakeholder Groups: Two days onsite focus group sessions with key constituents of your community to determine your schools’ strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities and trends to take advantage of, including: Board Executive Committee, one-on-one meeting with trustees, administration, parents, students, staff, former parents, etc. We will also tour the schools and hold several classroom observation sessions as needed, with follow-up and debriefing with Board Chair on the final day;
  4. Confidential Statistically-Based Online Surveys: Statistically-Driven Online Surveys for staff/faculty, board, and parents to gather data on school performance prior to the onsite visit (e.g., staff, board/administration, parents);
  5. Summative Report and Action Plans: Develop a customized strategic report including an that identifies areas needing immediate focus and ‘roll-out’, strategies, and action plan to enhance your schools’ overall development. This will include strategies, timelines, and designated staff, and appendices with the questionnaires and interview outcomes. We will provide a virtual presentation to the appropriate representatives to the Client of the study’s outcomes with an MSWord and PDF format. The final report prioritizes steps for improvement, reviewing the following benchmarks:
  • School’s vision, mission, core values, educational philosophy;
  • Strategic plan;
  • Board Governance;
  • Bylaws and constitution;
  • Administrative leadership;
  • Head of School evaluation and support;

  • Physical plant and grounds;

  • Financial plan;
  • Development and fundraising;
  • Curriculum and programming;
  • Crisis management;
  • Staff evaluation systems, contracts, compensation, and professional development;
  • Tuition, bursaries, and financial aid;
  • Infrastructure, handbooks, protocol, and reporting systems;

  • Marketing and communications;

  • Admissions, recruiting, and retention systems;

  • School Climate.

School Types We've Reviewed

HEG and our team of experienced associates have evaluated a variety of school types globally, as well as within a broad range of internationally recognized accreditation associations (e.g., IBO, WASC, British Columbia, NAIS, CAIS, CASE, MSACS, NEASC, CIS, Ontario). Our team has evaluated for- and non-profit schools in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, UK, Middle East, and South East Asia. We can assemble a team for any school type and/or region, including:

  • Private or Independent Prekindergarten to Grade 12 University Preparatory Schools
  • For-Profit or Non-Profit Schools
  • Accredited Curriculum from the US, Canada, or any other International Jurisdiction
  • British Columbia Offshore School Program
  • British
  • Ontario Offshore Schools
  • Religious Schools (e.g., Christian, Catholic, Sikh, Muslim)
  • Canadian or US International Schools
  • International Baccalaureate Program (PYP, MYP, DP)
  • Advanced Placement
  • Special Needs Schools (Dyslexic, Therapeutic)
  • Boarding Schools
  • ESL/Language Schools
  • Preschool and Daycare
  • Montessori and Waldorf SchoolsElite Multi-Sport Academies
  • And more...call us for further details

What Our Client's Say About Our Services

Dear Mr. Halladay,
Thank you for delivering the recent board governance workshop and school evaluation for ISU. The Board appreciated your insights based on experience at other schools, and was impressed by how quickly you came to grips with our particular situation. I have no doubt this was helped by the online surveys and other preparation you did in advance of the workshop. Your ability to build trust with all the stakeholders in our school -- from administration and staff, to parents and board members - was essential in teasing out the constraints and opportunities we face going forward. The workshop for Trustees not only gave us a sense for how to improve our Board's efficacy, it also demonstrated the importance of investing in an inclusive strategic planning exercise to better define our school's mission and goals, and set out systems for achieving these.
Once again, thank you for your professionalism and delivering an excellent product to our school.

Sincerely,
Shane Rosenthal
International School of Ulaanbaatar
Chairman
Board of Trustees

We have been working with Doug Halladay on our Strategic Plan and our Action Plan. Doug also provided training to our board last November.  He has been wonderful to work with. He also does consulting work on fund raising and development work. Without exception I have found that Doug grasps the direction needed and provides the needed guidance, training, and humor to get the job done. He doesn’t just tell you what to do. He gets in and shows you what to do. He writes and presents well. His materials are always high quality and professional. He has been in our shoes and brings that experience to bear on the issues presented. When we get to creating a fundraising and development plan his name will always show on my shortlist.

Greg Rayl
International School of Ulaanbaatar
Director

To whom it may concern,

We used Mr. Halladay's services this past year to evaluate our school and to formulate a strategic plan. We were quite satisfied with his evaluation and hi sfinal report in helping us devise our plans for growth and improvement. Mr. Halladay was quite meticulous and professional in his work and I would recommend him highly.

Hasnain Kara
Board Chair
As-Sadiq Islamic School
Ontario
Your Next Step

A School Review is critical to knowing whether your school is headed in the right direction. You need to keep track of how your school is performing and how to stay competitive, rather than wait for a crisis to mobilize your board. Please call me at 604-868-0002 or email me at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to take the next step. To find out more about how we can assist your private school in improving its operations and leadership, please contact us

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