From the desk of Sacha Litman: Josh, a close friend of mine, is an alumnus of a New York City independent prep school that he attended from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Josh was asked by his cousin if he would mind writing a recommendation letter for her children’s application (the school is over-subscribed with long waitlists). Josh replied that he would be happy to write the letter, but would not recommend she send her children to the school. Academically, Josh explained, the school was without peers, and he attributes much of his own professional success to its quality of teaching. However, in terms of character development, it left a lot to be desired. The school was a highly competitive cut-throat environment and did little to encourage healthy social relationships to form. The few high school friends Josh is still in touch with feel the same way. Though they have each been generous in supporting their universities, they have not made charitable contributions to this school. They attended their first reunion, but none since. But the school has never asked them why.

Measuring Success, in partnership with the Independent School Association of the Central States and the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education, recently completed a pilot round of our new Alumni Survey Analysis Service (ASAS) with nine independent schools. Our goals were to develop a tool enabling schools to determine their impact on alumni, identify areas for improvement, strengthen connections to alumni, and update their alumni database. The ASAS includes a distinct survey for recent past parents, alumni now in college, and older alumni, as well as a consultation to interpret the results and translate them into action. Turns out the alumni wanted to share their viewpoints: we achieved nearly a 40% response rate to all of the surveys, which for an alumni survey is extremely robust.

After analyzing the data from over 5,000 alumni and alumni parents, it turned out that my friend Josh’s experience at his alma mater was quite representative of the overall trends. The strongest predictor of the likelihood to recommend one’s alma mater to a friend is the strength of character development imparted by the school. This includes ethical/moral values, leadership, and resisting peer pressure. The second strongest predictor of likelihood to recommend was the strength of ongoing connection with the school community beyond graduation. The quality of the academic education, while driving acceptance to colleges, only showed up as the 3rd strongest predictor of alumni likelihood to recommend their alma mater. Within the academic education, though, math and science were the academic preparation areas that most affected alumni’s likelihood to recommend the school. Unfortunately, fewer than half of alumni felt better prepared than their college peers in math and science. In the area of giving, more than one third of alumni said their alma mater was among their top 3 priority charitable contributions, and we learned how giving priority could be improved through certain types of alumni involvement and communications, and upgraded this critical information into school’s alumni databases.

Josh gave me an update that one of his cousin’s kids was accepted into his alma mater, while the other was rejected, although her kids are twins. Frustrated by the awkward situation, she ended up choosing to send both of her kids to another NYC private school known for effective character development AND still offers strong academics. She and her kids are thrilled with the school, and she tells everybody about it. They have never looked back.

To learn more about how your school might benefit from Measuring Success’ Alumni Analysis service, please click here Alumni Analysis Service