How well are Islamic schools doing their jobs?
By Sufia Azmat
March/April 2022
The broad themes emerging from a study conducted by this author are similar to those identified by early Muslim scholars. This survey suggests that the school administrators agreed on the primary purpose of their schools and that the commonalities in themes illustrate our diverse communities’ agreement on what they hope for from an Islamic school education. In general, a major goal of private school education is to provide educational tools and an environment in which students can achieve academic excellence and become productive members of society. But for most Islamic schools, religious development and identity seem to be more important goals.
Data was collected from 52 Islamic schools, and interviews were conducted with 14 of their principals. Two methods were used to gather data. The first method reviewed mission statements randomly selected from their websites. These schools ranged from one to 38 years old; the average age was twenty. Enrollment was between 19 and 821 students. The total combined enrollment was 11,418 students; the average enrollment was 220 students. Seven schools were Pre-K-5, 16 were Pre-K-8 and 29 were Pre-K-12. The schools, located across the U.S., on average had been operating for 19 years. The second method involved emailing 26 of the 52 school principals, selected at random, and requesting a 30-minute phone interview.
The objective, verifiable data gathered from the school’s uploaded mission statements included the number of words in each statement and the frequency with which certain words occurred. Other objective data gathered from conversations with the responding principals were the mission statement’s age, when it was last reviewed, whether there was a written policy for developing and reviewing it, where it was posted and the how long the respondent had been serving as that school’s principal.
The average time of the 14 principals’ service at their current school was five years; six of them were in their first or second year. One of them had a Bachelor’s degree in education, eight had acquired either a Master’s degree or certification in school leadership and three had obtained PhDs in educational leadership. Their schools’ average enrollment was 298 students. On average, they had been operating for 19 years. Seven of them offered high school classes.
The general consensus is that mission statements should be clear and concise, three to four sentences long and contain 20 to 30 words. The average length for this study’s 52 schools was 41 words. The average word count for the interviewed principals’ schools was 48 words.
Eight of the 14 principals could not recall their school’s mission statement. Two of them said it was too long, four were able to identify some of its components and six of them could recite it verbatim. The mission statement’s age, when compared to that of the school, revealed that all of them had been developed when the school was established or shortly thereafter. Half of these schools had never reviewed it; five had reviewed it during the accreditation or re-accreditation process. Only three principals stated that their mission statements were reviewed regularly.
When asked about stakeholder involvement in establishing, developing and reviewing the mission statement, three schools involved more than three such groups and four involved three or fewer such groups. Seven principals indicated that only the board members determined the mission statement. None of the interviewed principals’ schools maintained a written policy or procedure for developing and reviewing their mission statements. Almost all schools had posted their mission statements on their websites and stated them in their handbooks. A majority also posted it in the classrooms; three principals claimed that it was read at every staff meeting.
Mission Statement Analysis
The coding system used to analyze and review the mission statements’ content, counted and categorized their repeated words into broader themes. Among the key phrases were variations of the following: “provide academic excellence,” “develop Islamic morals,” “nurture future leaders,” “serve community and humanity (social responsibility),” “be lifelong learners,” “be of good moral character,” “gain a religious education,” “provide a safe and nurturing environment” and “perform public service.” Data reveal that a majority of the schools have three or four themes in their mission statements. The five broad themes articulated across school mission statements, based on this analysis, are academic excellence, spiritual development, civic responsibility, leadership and environment.
Words related to spiritual development appear with greater frequency in Islamic schools’ mission statements. The goals of contemporary Islamic schools reflect the same importance given to academic excellence and moral character as was identified by classical Muslim philosophers. These mission statements provide for a full educational program that includes academic excellence as a key component. Analysis also indicates that the founders of Islamic schools and their students’ parents desire to pass on their faith to the next generation.
But are Islamic schools holding themselves accountable to meeting these laudable goals? Are these communities’ hopes and dreams, as reflected in the school’s mission statements, being carried out in the schools? These are the questions we must all be concerned with as we pray for and envision a bright future for our children.
Sufia Azmat (M.Ed., Bayan Islamic Graduate School), is executive director of the Council of Islamic Schools in North America.
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