The International Schools Review Forum

Dear ISR,

I have been a paying customer for 5 years. That means that I have paid $150 to use your site. However, in those five years there has not been any update to your user interface, at least that I can recall. Surely there are funds available to do so as the operation of this site has a clear low overhead.

I send this with all good intentions because I use the site frequently, especially with my mobile device, and would appreciate updates that are compatible with new technology.

Thank you very much.

Dredge

I'm not an apologist for ISR, however, I imagine that they invest a good part of their membership fees for legal advice and fending off frivolous lawsuits from certain Directors and international schools.

A few years ago on a message board for international school Directors there was a direct discussion between Directors on how to sabotage this (ISR) website. This was a discussion with many internationally-recognized Directors from Tier 1 and 2 schools that many here know or would at least recognize their names as "leaders" in our field. It was appalling to read how threatened this group of Directors was of ISR. Only 1 Director there had the guts to call out the rest of the group by pointing out they, as a group, were being hypocrites for not wanting teachers to stay informed about international schools and Administrators, while Directors routinely communicated about teachers. Thus, this is what ISR is up against and I'm sure they've been challenged legally.

Concur with @global_nomad, there are many ISs that hate this site, and its contributors and would love to see the whole site go away. They mounted a modestly successful campaign that resulted in a lot of the naming and shaming to go behind closed doors.

This website however runs on free software and while there are esthetic packages the functionality hasnt changed much, its a very stable software release.

I have my doubts that the legal fees amount to much. Some admins may dislike the site (psyguy likes to group me with the worst of them, but here I am, day after day), but I doubt there are many actual lawsuits filed, or even correspondence requiring a lawyer's response. Of course, if ISR wants to publish that data, I'd love to see it.

@sid

I dont group you with the worst of them, just one of them.

ISR did discuss the recent issue of legal action and why thee is now a members only forum. ISs badmouthed themselves in the public forum then mounted a coordinated legal action for defamation.

"ISs badmouthed themselves in the public forum then mounted a coordinated legal action for defamation."

Dave, I don't like to challenge you, given your omniscience in the world of international education. And since you seem to be acting as the Forum Sheriff, I must assume you have some insider knowledge that we mere mortals are not privy to. All that said, this is an extraordinary allegation. If schools did this, they would be opening themselves up to a most severe response from the court. Do you have some data to back up this claim (since only data matters)? If not, perhaps ISR itself could shed some light on the matter.

@Walter

1) You still dont know what you think you know.
2) The league of PsyGuy nemesis exists for only one reason.
3) Not the forum sheriff.
4) Not omnipotent
5) Theres no such thing as mere mortals, I know of no immortals, thus its just mortals.
6) Your an admin

Theres nothing extraordinary about it, the the judicial process is in itself punitive. Even if a judge/magistrate ever did hear the case, the admins/managers that concocted the defamatory posts of themselves would of course deny it, and leave it to ISR and its legal team to prove, with multiple accounts in overseas jurisdictions, it would be nearly impossible (and for practical matter impossible) for a forensic CompSci expert to do much more than trace back to the originating IS, in which case those admins/managers would claim that the posts most of come from there ITs. The expense of making it that far would be very cost prohibitive.

Dave, Dave, Dave you silly billy. You were supporting global nomad who posited that ISR had to spend substantial sums on legal fees. Then, when Sid (I like Sid) demurred, you made this extraordinary claim:

"ISs badmouthed themselves in the public forum then mounted a coordinated legal action for defamation."

So here are some questions, Data Dave:
1) How do you know?
2) Where was this "coordinated legal action" filed?
3) Which schools filed the claim?
4) What was the outcome?

Since I have no expectation that you will answer the questions, perhaps Ben could elucidate...

@Walter

1) Still dont know what you think you know.
2) If I gave Sid any thought I probably wouldnt despise him.
2) My knowledge isnt 30 years old.
3) Pursued more than filed, and I imagine it would be at a courthouse.
4) A number of them, hence the term coordinated.
5) Now we have a member forum, so that ISs and leadership arent shamed in public.

A few months ago, the links to the school reviews in the weekly email started just directing to the main website index page (even after logging in).
Anyone else see this issue? Annoying, defeats the purpose of a weekly email listing the most recent reviews.

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Forum Moderator: We are aware of this problem and working to fix it.

Dave, I rather think you're dissembling. My own guess is that you made up this entire story of a group of schools maligning themselves so that they could then sue ISR for publishing the stuff.

I just wonder why you would do this. So that people would think Psyguy is da man? He is the only one who is truly in the know? So that the more credulous readers would feed their paranoia? In order to bolster your crumbling credibility?

@walter

I think thow does protest to much. Since its true it doesnt matter what you wonder about.

Agree with the OP. This site looks completely outdated (~15 years). I've stopped paying for this site until it gets a proper makeover.

@Snowbeavers

Maybe thats the motive they are going for (outdated), really if they changed it someone would just say they hate the new look and they arent paying the membership until its changed.

seinfeld wrote:
> A few months ago, the links to the school reviews in the weekly email
> started just directing to the main website index page (even after logging
> in).
> Anyone else see this issue? Annoying, defeats the purpose of a weekly email
> listing the most recent reviews.
>
> -----------------
> Forum Moderator: We are aware of this problem and working to fix it.

Making the school links now UNCLICKABLE is not a fix!