K-12 Quality Improvement

8/16/2019 K-12 Quality Improvement

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Thoughts and experiences of educators related to quality and change

Key Factors for Successfully Implementing and Sustaining

Quality Improvement In K 12 Education

ary Schumacher

To know th e road ahead, ask those coming

back. This Ghinese proverb aptly sum marize s the

approach of

research study conducted to provide

guidance to school districts that are considering

the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program to

guide quality improvement efforts. The research

also sought to provide guidance for school districts

that have implemented this framework but are

concerned with sustaining these efforts.

The research findings were acquired from school

districts that had implemented the Baldrige frame-

work and had shown significant organizational

gains, such as improved student performance. All

were recognized at either the state level or received

the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The

basic research question was: What can be learned

from successful school districts about implemen-

tation and sustainability of quality improvement

efforts when using the Baldrige mo del? No ting

the identified school districts' successes using this

model, it was reasoned that information obtained

from them would provide guidance for those just

beginning to travel the road ahead in their quality

improvement efforts.

Background

The first question that any school district must

ask before considering a rigorous quality improve-

me nt framework is: Why is this necessary for

our organization ? The era of accountability in

public education has gained mo men tum since the

approval of the No Ghild Left Behind Act of

2001 .

Many school districts began looking for school

reform models that would address the account-

ability mandates of the Act. Baldrige had its roots

long before the Act; the program was initiated

in 1987 and education criteria were adopted in

1998. The continuous improvement focus of

this model seemed to provide one method to

address accountability requirements effectively.

As a result, school districts throughout the nation

adopted the Baldrige model to guide continuous

improv emen t efforts. Ruben G eden o' suggests that

true education reform only occurs when there is a

systematic approach, and Baldrige provides such

a framework.

Systemic change in public education often is

met with resistance. Public education has a long

history of failed reform efforts. These efforts often

have failed due to ineffective leadership and/or

an inability to change the culture of schools.^

Organizational change theory has been available

to school leaders for decades, yet it is not often

used to guide school reform efforts from theory

to practice.'

School districts that have implemented the

Baldrige framework report that successful sys-

temic change only occurs if there is a process in

place to ensure continuous improvement based

on accountability to its stakeholders. Peggy Siegel

suggests, A Baldrige-based accoun tability mo del

can help school districts to reach consensus on

education priorities, reinforce fact-based deci-

sion making, and identify ongoing opportunities

to im plem ent improvem ents. ' ' School districts

achieving success in quality improvement efforts

utilizing Baldrige, such as those studied in this

research, have successfully implemented systemic

school reform by applying change efforts from

theory to practice.

Five school districts have earned the Malcolm

Baldrige National Quality Award, while hun-

dreds have received recogn ition from state quality

improvement organizations for their efforts

and resulting successes after implementing the

Baldrige framework. What can we learn from their

past experiences?

Research

The research methodology for this study was

both quantitative and qualitative. An online sur-

vey was sent to senior leaders in school districts

that earned either state or national recognition

for quality improvement efforts using the Baldrige


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model. Sixty-five school districts in 21 states

responded. The survey results were used to form

conclusions and provided guidance in developing

questions for subsequent interviews. Leaders from

all five school districts that received the Malcolm

Baldrige National Quality Award: Chugach, AK;

Pearl River, NY; Palatine,

IL;

Jenks, OK; and Iredell-

Statesville, NC, were interviewed. Site visits with

personal interviews were condu cted in all of these

school districts with the exception of Chugach,

where phone interviews were substituted.

Findings

We can separate key findings from this research

into two categories: implementation issues and

sustainability issues. The findings discussed below

are based on the survey results and subsequent

interviews.

Implementation ssues

• The impetus behind implementing the Baldrige

framework was school improvement. Key senior

leaders (e.g., superintendents) were not satisfied

with their district's performance and recognized

a need for a more formal process.

• There was a need to look introspectively at

organizational performance as well as to receive

objective feedback on organizational processes

and systems.

• Key senior leaders recognized a need for a

culture change—in philosophy (continuous

improvement is not an event but a way of

doing business) and in employee ownership

(capacity building and commitment). Systemic

change on ly occurs if everyone in th e organiza-

tion recognizes his/h er responsibilities. A chief

quality officer com me nted, It's abou t chang-

ing behavior. One super intende nt noted,

Baldrige is only a model. The concept of con-

tinuous improvement needs to be embraced. It

is a belief system.

• The Baldrige criteria cannot be applied in iso-

lation or it will be viewed negatively—as an

add on to existing systems. Con nectivity is

needed. What is the purpose for implementing

the criteria? It should focus on process (how the

organization operates). A superin tenden t com-

men ted, This is just how we do business here.

• The Baldrige model provides a well-defined,

disciplined methodology that can be embedded

into all aspects of school operations; however,

in hindsight, some respondents reported

second-guessing in the early stages of imple-

menting the Baldrige model. A continuous

improv emen t coord inator stated, If I had to do

it all over again, I would not use the 'B' word.

Furthermore, some stakeholders may view this

as just the latest fad that will pass when there is

a change in leadership. These types of resisters

to change often are referred t o as the let me be

the last résister. 5 These individuals hope that

the change will wane when the key individual

driving the change, such as the superintendent,

leaves the system. central office administrator,

whose district has been challenged to sustain

its efforts after winning the Malcolm Baldrige

National Quality Award, confirmed this by her

comment related to the superintendent from

her district who resigned shortly after receiving

the award, The vision left with hi m .

• Supp ort by senior leaders is critical and it is also

important to train principals as they provide

the synergy for successful implementation.

• School board suppo rt was not a driving factor

in the implementation, but its support of the

framework was considered critical for successful

implementation.

• strategy to pilot the m odel in a school or several

schools can be advantageous. Implementation

issues can be worked out before mandating

district-wide implementation. For example, the

Iredell-Statesville School District began with

training and implem enting the model at its Title

I schools. Administrators felt that this served as

a good pilot before full-district implementation

was required.

• Co slowly. It takes several years to imp lem ent

culture change successfully. One superinten-

den t was self-reflective, We got too greedy with

quick imp lementation, and it created some push

back. The lenks School District, for exam ple,

began implementing continuous improvement

concepts seven years before applying for the

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Sustainability ssues

Sustainability issues centered on the need for

the following actions:

• Develop a culture of continuous improvement

that is prevalent throughout the district. All

employees understand and accept needed change

that results from data analysis.


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• Build capacity; it's critical for sustainability

over time. Principals and classroom teachers

need training. Teachers need to view the model

as practical in their classrooms and experi-

ence

the

true value (e.g., student performance

improvement)

of

their efforts utilizing this

model. They also need

to

have

a

voice

in

the continuous improvement process utilized

in the district. As one superintendent put it,

Buy-in isn't good enough. You need to shoot

for ownership, shared leadership.

• Institutionalize systems, empower staff, and

establish accountability for expectations.

• Develop consistent

and

transparent goals

to

keep all stakeholders informed about continu-

ous improvement efforts. For example, the Pearl

River School District,

the

first

K-12

recipient

of

the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

for education in 2001, has focused on the same

three district goals since the 1993-94 school

year. However, targeted, academically-based

goals are developed annually, and these specific

goals are monitored and evaluated for progress.

• Establish stable lea dersh ip. Sustaina bility

can be difficult if there is turnover in senior

leadership; however, developing leadership

throughout the system can be just as important.

Superintendents come and go. Principals and

teachers are more likely to have longer tenures.

Developing leadership from these individu-

als can assist greatly in sustaining continuous

improvement efforts. Former Ghugach,

AK,

superintendent Richard DeLorenzo stated that

a leadership category strength identified by

Baldrige examiners during their site visit was

that they ...could not find a leader... as there

was shared ownership from all staff.**

• Expect significant challenges along

the way.

You need to be w illing to be hum bled, stated

one administrator, commenting on feedback

received from the Baldrige review process.

• Learn from past issues to enhance the abil-

ity for continuous improvement. There was

clearly a sense that the responding districts

made tactical omissions in the implementa-

tion process, such as involving teachers too

late in the process. A key to sustainability is

recognizing these oversights

so

they

are not

repeated.

Keller ISD— Baldrige

Implementation 2010 11

The Keller Independent School District

(KISD) in Texas has adopted the Baldrige frame-

work

to

guide

its

systems

and

improvement

efforts. KISD provides progress updates in each

issue of JQP heck the October 2009 issue for

the infomiation that launched this multi-part

series, and go to http://www.asq.org/pub/jqp

to see this issue's update, which talks about

th e key focus areas identified from their orga-

nizational profile as well as the professional

development syllabus that was created.

ecommend tions

Based on the findings from this research, the

following recommendations are presented:

• Develop and cultivate a culture of continu-

ous improvement before even considering

the Baldrige criteria. Adopting a district-wide

philosop hy that good is the enemy of great '

may be a good place to start. School systems

that are driven from good to great are never

satisfied with

the

status qu o, regardless of what

their data suggests.

• Build consistency of purpose throughout the

school system for why the Baldrige criteria can

enhance continuous improvement efforts that

will, in turn, lead to improved performance.

• Examine your school district's readiness to

change, including its capacity for change, before

implementing the Baldrige framework.

• Secure support from senior leaders, including

school p rincipals. Simply put, leadership is the

most important factor

in

system performance.

• Go slowly. Proceed with cau tion . Pilot before full

implementation and choose your pilot school(s)

carefully.

• Listen to your stakeholders. They'll tell you if

the process is moving at a desirable pace.

• Don't use the B word until continuous

improvement systems are operationalized

throughout

the

school district. However, don't

mislead stakeholders.


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• Focus on making connections between con-

tinuous improvement expectations and wby they

are important for organizational improvement

(e.g., student learning). All stakebolders need to

view continuous improvement systems as value-

added processes.

• Build capacity. Capacity building involves

moving individuals from tbeir current mindset

to wbere they need to be to achieve systemic

cbange.' Capacity building should include suc-

cession (leadersbip) planning.

• Learn from tbe past and don't let criticism

derail your efforts. Systemic cbange is difficult.

W oodrow Wilson remarked, If you want to

make enemies, try to cbange sometbing.

View initial implementation and sustainabil-

ity efforts based on tbe basic question: Wby is

tbe district using tbe Baldrige framework? If it

is merely to position itself to win tbe Malcolm

Baldrige National Quality Award, tbe perception

likely will be tbat tbe process is driven (forced)

from the top down. On tbe other band, if tbe true

reason is to improve th e system's performance and

tbe culture reflects this, tbe Baldrige criteria can be

very useful in looking introspectively at continu-

ous improvement processes tbat can be valuable

in acbieving tbe desired outcomes of the system's

efforts. One senior leader from an award-winning

district stated, Tbe award actually shou ld be for

tbe culture tbat had been developed.

Denis Waitley may bave summarized tbe key

learnings best from this research: Expect the best,

plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.

Scbool districts that are considering implem enting

tbe Baldrige framework or those having difficulty

sustaining tbeir efforts can benefit from examining

the past experiences of colleagues who bave been

down tbe road before tbem.

eferen es

1.

Ruben Ced eno, NEA's New Unionism in Pursui t of

Quality, Training and Development February 2000, p . 64.

2. Seymour B. Sarason, Th e Predictable Failure of Educationa

Reform:

Can We Change

Course Before

I t s

Too Late lossey-

Bass,

1990, pp. 99-116.

3 . E. Joyner, Large-Scale Cha nge: The Com er P erspertive,

International Handbook of Educational Change, Kluwer

Academic Pub l i shers , 1998 .

4.

Peggy Siegel, Using Baldrige to Impro ve E duca tion:

A Rationale Based on Results, Training and Development,

February 2000, p. 4.

5.

lack E. Bowsher, Educating America: Lessons Learned in

the Nation s Corpora tions,

lohn Wiley, 1989.

6. Richard DeLore nzo, Delivering on the Prom ise: Bringing

Hope to Al l of Our Chi ldren, ASQ National Quality

Education Conference,

lacksonvi lle , FL, October 2009 .

7. lim Collins,

Good to Great,

Harper Col l ins Publ ishers ,

2001,

p. 1.

8. Darryl D.Wilson and David A. Collier, An Empirical

Invest igat ion of the Malcolm Baldrige Nat ional Qual i ty

Award Causal Model, Decision Sciences, lune 2007,

p p . 3 6 1 - 3 8 3 .

9. ludith A. Zim me rm an, Working the System: Building

Capaci ty for School Change, journal of Scholarship and

Practice,

Spring 2008, pp . 9-12.

bary bcnumacher

ary Schumacher is an assistant professor at the University

of Houston-Clear Lake where one of his teaching

assignments is strategic planning and systems alignment

for doctoral students in the educational administration

program. His research interests include the study of

quality improvement efforts in K-12 public edu cation and

school district strategic planning efforts using continuous

improvement

frameworks

Schumacher previously served as

the superintendent for the Monona rove School District

in Madison WI where his interest in quality im provement

processes for schoo l districts took roots. Send your

comments or questions to schutnacher 3uhcl.edu.


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