Applying Quality Tools and Techniques to Education

Herb BarberUSAWC

There are over two thousand years of experience to tell us

that the only thing harder than getting a new idea into the

military mind is to get an old one out.

B. H. Liddell Hart,

Thoughts on War (1944)

AN ORGANIZATIONAL PHILOSOPHY WHICH SUPPORTS:

•A CUSTOMER ORIENTATION

•STATISTICAL THINKING

•CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

TQM

•COUNTING ..tools, techniques, and training in their use for analyzing, understanding, and solving quality problems •CUSTOMERS ..quality for the customer as a driving force and central concern •CULTURE ..shared values and beliefs, expressed by leaders, that define and support quality •CARING ..a genuine attitude of respect and caring for people which generates a foundation of trust in all interpersonal relationships

…first 3 bullets are from TQM by Sashkin & Kiser

What that translates to …

•DEFINE THE CURRENT QUALITY CULTURE •COMMUNICATE TO ENTIRE WORK FORCE •ENCOURAGE FULL PARTICIPATION •USE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH •MANAGEMENT MUST LEAD THE CULTURE CHANGE  

GUIDELINES FOR A PLANNED CULTURE CHANGE

Leaders modify cultures by....

Changing what leaders pay attention to

Changing how crisis situations are handled

Changing criteria for recruiting new members

Changing criteria for promotion and allocating rewards

Changing organizational rites and ceremonies

Changing policies

If 99.9% is good enough, then

• Two million documents will be lost by the IRS this year. • 22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank accounts in the next hour. • 12 babies will be given to the wrong parents each day. • 1,314 phone calls will be misplaced by telecommunications services every minute. • 2 plane landings daily at O'Hare will be unsafe. • 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly this year. • 107 incorrect medical procedures will be performed today. a 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour.

Is 99.9% Good Enough?

•PERMANENT CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS, INCLUDING PROCESS OWNER

• COLLECT DATA ON PROCESS PERFORMANCE

• APPLY STATISTICAL METHODS FOR ANALYSIS

• IMPLEMENT PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS  

PROCESS ACTION TEAMS

•Flow Chart •Pareto Chart •Cause & Effect Diagram (Fishbone) •Run Chart •Histogram •Scatter Diagram •Control Charts ..The Memory Jogger Plus. by Michael Brassard

Some Quality Tools

Cause and Effect Diagram

Control Charts…the search for consistency

Implementing Change—A force Field Analysis

Malcolm Baldrige Quality WinnersEducation Category

Chugach School District, Anchorage, Alaska– Increased college entrance exams– Increased use of Internet and laptop computers– Decrease in faculty turnover– Increased involvement of parents, students, community

members and businesses in strategic planning process Pearl River School District, Pearl River New York

– Increase in students graduating with a Regents diploma– Increase in AP student course performance– Increase in Special Ed students taking SAT I exam– Increase in satisfaction scores from students, parents, staff

and faculty