Since 2015, NAIS’s Independent Ideas blog has been exploring the issues and trends that are shaping education. With new, original posts published weekly, the blog highlights the work happening in independent schools across the country and the many voices and perspectives of NAIS community. Through articles—written by and for school leaders, educators, and administrators—that examine how schools are responding to shared questions, emerging challenges, and opportunities for growth, the blog reflects the strength of the NAIS community and the value of independent schools in the education sector.
Independent Ideas posts tell stories, share practical lessons, and offer timely perspectives. Strong submissions are narrative-driven and use a specific school practice, leadership question, or emerging trend to illuminate a broader insight for the field. We’re especially interested in pieces that help readers understand why the topic matters, what others can learn from it, or how it reflects a larger shift in schools. To ensure the blog offers readers fresh perspectives, we generally only publish content that has not appeared elsewhere.
We welcome and review submissions and story ideas on an ongoing basis. If you have an idea for Independent Ideas, please send it to ismag@nais.org. Submissions are reviewed by the NAIS editorial team, and publication is not guaranteed. We may follow up with questions, suggest revisions, or determine that a piece is better suited for another NAIS channel, such as Independent School magazine.
Guidelines
- Length: 1,000-1,500 words.
- Style: Narrative, clear, concise, and focused on a specific idea or takeaway.
- Tone: Informative, learned, thoughtful, candid.
- Structure: Sections with subheads, often includes bullet points, for an easy, scannable read.
Topics
Independent Ideas explores the big-picture issues shaping independent schools, education, and the people who make up the community: leadership and governance; teaching and learning; school culture and student experience; financial sustainability; workforce; advancement; and technology/AI. We cover a range of ideas and pull on multiple threads within each of these broad areas; the links below are examples of previously published posts and are intended to offer a model of how we approach these topics.
- School culture and community: Making Milestones Matter: Turning Celebration Into Strategy at Schools
- Technology: Storytelling as the Antidote to AI
- Teaching and learning: The Problem When Learning is Made Too Easy
- School leadership: From One Yes to Another: My Journey to Headship
- Inclusion and belonging: The Geography of Belonging
- Fundraising: The Fundraising Revolution Schools Don’t Know They Need
- Recruitment and retention: Growing the Pipeline of Excellent Teachers
- Health and well-being: 3 Helpful Scripts for Teachers with Anxious, Perfectionist Students
- Enrollment: Effective Enrollment Management: Balancing Recruitment and Retention
- Governance: The Impact Of School Choice On Financial Sustainability
Note: Accepted submissions are edited to align with NAIS voice and style.