NAIS Research: 2023–2024 State of Independent School Governance, Part 2: Head-Board Relationship

By Margaret Anne Rowe and Amada Torres
NAIS Research Team

Executive Summary

NAIS Research: 2023–2024 State of Independent School Governance, Part 2: Head-Board RelationshipHeads of school and board chairs generally agree on key priorities for board recruitment, emphasizing passion for the school’s mission and relevant skills. Both groups have placed greater emphasis on race, ethnicity, and gender than in 2018, but gaps remain, with chairs typically more satisfied than heads with board diversity, particularly in terms of gender and age. Despite these improvements, overall satisfaction with board diversity remains low, and recruitment challenges persist, particularly in finding diverse candidates and individuals with fundraising experience.

When asked about board culture, the majority of heads and board chairs agree that their boards operate in a positive, functional, and growth-oriented manner, although board chairs rate their boards more favorably than heads on most aspects of board culture. Significant discrepancies were noted in areas such as sharing accountability, prioritizing growth, teamwork, honest communication, and conflict resolution.

While heads and board chairs generally align on the importance of key board responsibilities, heads tend to rate their board’s effectiveness lower, particularly in strategic thinking and support for the head, with perceptions declining since 2018. Satisfaction with overall board performance remains high, but heads are less satisfied than chairs, and fewer heads strongly agree that board members and chairs fully understand and work within their role boundaries.

Both heads and board chairs report strong partnerships, with more than 80% of heads and over 90% of chairs describing their relationships as very or extremely strong. However, heads express a need for greater support, particularly in setting and prioritizing annual goals and achieving fundraising targets. Both groups share similar priorities for heads, such as financial well-being and staff recruitment, though they rank these priorities differently. They also agree on key challenges facing schools, like faculty retention and facilities, while board chairs place greater emphasis on expanding giving and improving marketing efforts. Compared to 2018, fundraising has grown in importance for heads, while managing enrollment has become less of a concern for both heads and chairs. describe

Background and Methodology

This report, which presents “Part II: Head-Board Relationship” of the 2023–2024 State of Independent School Governance, is NAIS’s fifth entry in the series since 2002. For the first time, the report was split into two sections, with Part I focusing on the state of governance. The surveys for Part II, one for heads and one for board chairs, were conducted in winter 2024. Heads of school and board chairs were invited by email to participate in the surveys through the SurveyMonkey platform.

A total of 1,464 survey invitations were sent to heads and 1,641 to board chairs. Email delivery failed for 94 heads and 53 chairs, while 28 heads and 29 chairs opted out of the survey. In the end, 401 heads and 324 board chairs provided complete or partially complete responses, resulting in response rates of 30% for heads and 21% for board chairs.

Percentages in this report may not total 100% due to rounding.

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