Dave Davies

Dave Davies works on both the Head Search and Executive Coaching teams at The Education Group. A veteran of forty-two years in independent schools, most in administrative roles, Dave headed Deerfield-Windsor School in Georgia and Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School in California. Dave was the founding Head of Upper School at Parish Episcopal School in Dallas, Texas, growing that division to almost 400 students in the first six years. As Upper School Head at Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School, Dave created the Teaching Intern Program which, over twelve years, launched over forty teachers on their independent school careers. Dave has held leadership positions in Episcopal, Methodist, and non-religiously affiliated institutions. Dave has served on numerous boards including Preston Hollow Presbyterian School, Georgia Independent Schools Association, and the Pennsylvania Association of Private Academic Schools (now PAIS).  A graduate of Wilkes University with a BS in biology and MS in Education, Dave also earned a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

David Dougherty

David Dougherty is the Director of the Executive Coaching Program at The Education Group.  He has completed forty-four years of service in independent schools and now serves the next generation of school leaders.  David served as headmaster of The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania for 19 years from 1993 – 2012.  During that time he was responsible for the co-education of this 165-year-old institution, while also introducing an Honor Code, overseeing new construction projects, and heading an $84.5M capital campaign.  He was prepared for the responsibilities of school leadership in his twenty-one years of service as a teacher, Chairman of the English Department, assistant headmaster, coach and dorm head at his alma mater, Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia.  David has also served as a trustee of Chatham Hall in Virginia.  His work in boarding, day, single sex, and co-educational schools as a teacher, administrator and trustee offers him a distinctive perspective on life in an independent school.

Peter Ewell

Peter Ewell is President Emeritus of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.  A member of the staff since 1981, Dr. Ewell’s work focuses on assessing institutional and higher education system effectiveness and the outcomes of college.  He has consulted, both nationally and internationally, with over 425 colleges and universities and 24 state systems of higher education on topics related to performance indicators and the assessment of student learning.  Dr. Ewell has authored or co-authored eight books and numerous articles on the topic of improving undergraduate instruction through the assessment of student outcomes.  Most relevant to Boards of Trustees of academic institutions, Dr. Ewell authored “Making the Grade:  How Boards Can Ensure Academic Quality” published in 2006 for the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.  A graduate of Haverford College, he received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University.

Dr. Beth Holland, Ed.D.

Jim Wickenden

Jim Wickenden is the President and Founder of Wickenden Associates, established in 1986.  Wickenden Associates ranks among the nations’s premier independent school search firms.  In addition to his extensive work with school clients on searches and consulting assignments, Jim has served as former member of eight Boards of independent schools with a wide range of missions and resource levels.  He understands firsthand the responsibilities shouldered by today’s trustees.  Before founding Wickenden Associates, Jim was Dean of Admission at Princeton University and Director of Student and Alumni Affairs at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  A graduate of Tabor Academy and Princeton University, Jim holds master’s degrees from Rutgers University and Harvard University and  a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.