FBF # 41: What Islamic Schools Can Learn from Private Schools

Five ways that Islamic schools can leverage private school strategies to fulfill the need of the umma

I have now worked at Islamic schools for nearly half of my professional life, alhamdulillah, and I currently send my daughter to one.

They are remarkable places that keep the pilot light of imaan burning in the hearts of children during a time of fitna and fasaad. Those brave and selfless educators who are sacrificing so much by toiling in relative obscurity are building their palaces in jannah, inshAllah.

I want to stress that that the critique I share below comes from a place of love.

Most Islamic schools were founded by successful immigrant doctors and professionals who did not want their children to become disconnected from their faith. MashAllah, these brothers and sisters put a tremendous amount of time and money into getting these schools off the ground.

That said, the only exposure to American education that most of the founders had was to public schools, so they essentially tried to “Islamify” the public school model.

Public schools run from 7:30-2:30pm, have 180 school days, follow state standards, admit all who apply, and use a standardized curriculum, so Islamic schools should do the same, or so their thinking went. We just swap out French & Spanish for Arabic, and add in some religion and Quran classes and, voilà, an Islamic school is born.

But the reality is that Islamic schools (and all parochial schools) have much more in common with private schools than public. They are privately funded by tuition dollars, have autonomy in deciding their curriculum, teaching methods, and admission standards, and are governed by a board and not taxpayers.

So why do we bend over backwards about trying to fit in 180 school days? Why do we tack on extra days in June if we have more than 5 snow days? Why do we have one week of February and April break instead of the private school style of 2 weeks in March (or Ramadan?), especially given that so many of our families live overseas and could benefit from this extended vacation? Why do we buy boxed curricula with cookie cutter lesson plans that don’t allow teachers to express their creativity or inject Islamic principles into their lessons? Why do we grade our student’s recitation of Quran and turn Islamic studies into just another class instead of a way of life? Why do we build our school day around the public-school model rather than around the daily prayers?

Most Islamic schools stop at 8^th grade, so students must return to public school just when they are hitting puberty, and the arrows of shaytaan are beginning to sharpen. Parents are reluctant to send their children to the few Islamic high schools that do exist for fear of a subpar education and limited college opportunities.

Most teachers and administrators at American Islamic schools were not born or educated in the United States, and they use the pedagogical techniques that they learned in their home countries. Most instruction is teacher-centered, top-down, and focused more on rote recall than critical thinking. The most common classroom management tool is a raised voice.

Despite the pure intentions of their founders, many Islamic schools have come to resemble Arab governments, where dissenting opinions are seen as threats, where power is concentrated in the hands of a few, and where checks and balances don’t really exist.

As public and private schools become increasingly consumed by an ultra-liberal agenda that often runs counter to Islamic values, the importance to the umma of having strong Islamic schools has never been higher.

Prior to my decade-long tenure at an Islamic school, I attended a private school from 5th to 12th grade, followed by a seven-year teaching stint at another private institution. This background has provided me an intimate understanding of the pros and cons of both the private and Islamic school paradigms.

Private schools have much to learn from the can-do attitude of Islamic schools, which achieve remarkable feats on a shoestring budget. By necessity, Islamic schools learn how to do more with less, and their relatively low tuitions make them accessible to a broader socioeconomic range of students. Many Islamic school graduates leave school with a lifelong commitment to their faith.

Nevertheless, Islamic schools are bastions of disorganized righteousness and have much to learn from the private school model. I believe that Islamic school leaders could benefit by studying private (and other parochial) schools rather than just trying to Islamify public schools.

For today’s FBF, I wanted to do a Five Before Five audit and share 5 things that Islamic schools can learn from private schools.

1) It All Starts at the Top

Private schools and Islamic schools are both governed by Boards of Trustees, but that is where the similarities end.

Private school boards typically have term limits, and board heads are not enshrined for life. There is a clear demarcation between the responsibilities of the board and those of the Head of School (HOS). The board is responsible for the financial stability of the school, long-range strategic planning, and hiring and evaluating the HOS. While the Board often includes significant donors, this is not a requirement, and most schools take great care to ensure that the composition of the board reflects a variety of expertise and perspectives. Boards engage in regular professional development in the areas of trustee education and new trustee orientation.

By contrast, many Islamic schools have boards that have been appointed for life through an opaque process with minimal oversight. Many boards have had only one Head since their inception. Board members frequently meddle in the day-to-day operations of the school, diminishing the authority of the HOS. Islamic school boards are almost exclusively composed of large donors, many of whom share similar ethnic and professional backgrounds. Board training and ongoing professional development is extremely rare.

Here is a list of best practices that NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) publishes that Islamic school trustees should study carefully.

The trickle-down impact of having an “old-boys network” at the top of most Islamic schools cannot be overstated. Boards need to be looking down from 30,000 feet and planning out the next 5 to 10 years, but instead they get sucked into micromanaging and maintaining the status quo, which hinders long-term strategic development.

Islamic school leaders should be building innovative institutions that reflect the beauty of our tradition. They should be looking to classical models of Islamic pedagogy and designing an annual calendar and daily schedule specifically tailored to the needs of Muslim families. In short, they need to stop the petty infighting and dream big.

2) Build an Athletics Program

Having a robust athletics program is absolutely essential, and this is an area where most Islamic schools fall woefully short. Sports were nearly as important as academics at Dexter and St. Mark’s, and they took place every afternoon in the fall, winter, and spring.

At Dexter where I went from Gr. 5 to 8, you were sorted into one of two groups when you arrived at school: Mohawks or Massasoits. Every afternoon for the rest of your time there, you would play intramural sports against the other team. There was no specialization; everyone had to play every sport. I thus played football and soccer in the fall, ice hockey and basketball in the winter, and baseball and track in the spring.

In high school at St. Mark’s the emphasis was on interscholastic sports. I played football, basketball, squash, and tennis when I was at St. Mark’s, earning 6 “letters” for playing at the varsity level.

Playing team sports, regardless of one’s skill level, is an underappreciated element of a well-rounded high school experience. Many Muslims, especially Muslim girls, are not given opportunities to participate in athletics and thus miss out on a critical element in the Mind-Body-Spirit triangle. Can you imagine how fun every afternoon would be if the Muhajiroon were taking on the Ansaar?

Most Islamic schools do not even have a gym or proper sports fields, and very few have teams that play against other schools. “Sports” often consists of a once-a-week PE class of dubious quality and maybe some informal, student-led teams.  

3) Create Endowments and Professionalize Fundraising Efforts

Money is the limiting factor at most Islamic schools. As much as they may want to hire professional, highly trained staff, it is nearly impossible to attract talented candidates when you are only able to offer salaries below $50K (often well below!). Indeed, even principals of Islamic schools are not compensated well as this chart from ISLA shows. By contrast, heads of school at top prep schools often earn over $500K.

It is important to recognize that Islamic schools are much younger than their private school counterparts, and it is not reasonable to expect them to have developed the same resources.

That said, Islamic schools have much to learn about running a professional fundraising operation. Private schools have entire development or “advancement” offices dedicated to running annual funds, maintaining the alumni network, and courting large gifts. By contrast, fundraising at Islamic schools is done mostly by board members at a single event that relies on the classic “we-will-lock-the-doors-until-we-have-ten-pledges-for-$10K” technique of public shaming.

Strategic, long-term financial planning is not a feature of most Islamic schools, and few have endowments of any kind. Even though many Muslim immigrants are highly educated and relatively affluent, they do not support Islamic institutions with the same zeal that you see in the Jewish and Catholic world, at least in part because the schools have not yet earned their trust.

4) Consider Boarding Options

I have a soft spot for boarding schools, having become Muslim at one and worked for seven years at another. One of my long-term dreams has always been to build a Muslim boarding school that is on par with the best prep schools in the country. King Abdullah of Jordan built King’s Academy, commonly referred to as “Deerfield in the Desert,” after having a life-changing experience at Deerfield Academy. I would LOVE to partner with a visionary group of Muslim educators who are trying to get a similar project off the ground.

The only Islamic schools in the States that I am aware of that have a boarding option are on the “madrassa” end of the spectrum with strong emphasis on Islamic sciences and little focus on academics.

The beauty of boarding school is that it allows you to see the student in three different lights: in the classroom, on the sports field, and in the dorm. Some mediocre students come alive on the football pitch, while some awkward runners turn out to be masterful storytellers with impeccable soft skills. As day schools with limited athletic options, Islamic schools only give students one arena in which to shine.

Imagine a boarding school where the day began with post-fajr Quran memorization, included an after-lunch qaylula, and concluded with a halaqa in the evening.     

5) Embrace the Whole Child

The educational paradigm at too many Islamic schools consists of rote memorization. They place an enormous emphasis on academics, beginning very young. Students who fit the mold of a “good” student are put on pedestals and are celebrated while others are made to feel inferior.

Critical thinking, one of the most prized features of private school education, is not always required and is sometimes actively discouraged.

Within their religion classes, which many students do not take very seriously, students often learn about Islam rather than learning why they should practice it. Much of the religious teaching is focused on the head—this is halal, and that is haram—and not enough on the heart.  

Here is Dall-E’s vision of a holistic Islamic school.

Even though they tend to be much more “strict,” Islamic schools frequently face more disciplinary challenges than private schools. This is in part because many schools adopt a “guilty-until-proven-innocent” attitude towards their students, and many live down to these expectations.

Most Islamic schools try to fix discipline issues with increasingly draconian punishments rather than trying to examine to root causes of the misbehavior.

Islamic principles like mashura, which emphasize mutual consultation, are often ignored by school administrators in favor of a more top-down, authoritarian approach. Student-centered, cooperative learning is often derided.

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To sum up, there is no doubt that Islamic schools have a unique and vital role in nurturing the faith and character of our youth. Their unwavering commitment to Islamic values amidst challenging times is commendable. However, by adopting certain practices from private schools, these institutions can further enhance their effectiveness. This blending of the best of both worlds could usher in a new era for Islamic education, one that honors our rich tradition while embracing innovative methods to prepare our students for the complexities of the modern world.

As we continue to strive for excellence in Islamic education, let's remember the ultimate goal: nurturing well-rounded, faithful individuals who can confidently navigate this life in a way that allows them to achieve eternal felicity in the the next.