The Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education and Professional Studies has used many of the tools and techniques of Quality Improvement (QI) to improve our programs and processes. As a result, the Teacher Education department was one of the first four winners in the U.S. Education Department's National Awards Program for Effective Teacher Preparation. According to the Secretary of Education, Samford’s program is “cutting edge” and “will provide powerful examples for others seeking to ensure that their graduates make a measurable difference in the achievement of K-12 students."

Many schools and school districts have used quality improvement (QI) to create and maintain high-performing schools. Results are achieved through a systematic process that describes desired performance; identifies gaps between desired and actual performance; determines basic causes; and implements interventions to resolve the basic causes. QI measures changes in performance and uses the results to determine whether progress has been made and to plan and implement additional appropriate changes. The Douglass County School District and the Oskosh Area School District are two districts that have implemented successful quality improvement initiatives.

According to The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), in The Quality School Improvement Process for Elementary and Middle Schools, “The Quality School Improvement Process is a five-year continuous cycle that has three phases--Planning, Peer Review, and Implementation. The process creates a seamless cycle of activities.” It “ provides a school with the tools to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment, analyze data associated with student performance, assess the instructional and organizational effectiveness of a school, establish specific goals for student learning, and create meaningful action plans focused on improving student performance.”

Learning is at the heart of an organization’s ability to make improvements and adapt to change. A successful learning organization functions as a foundation for QI in every area. Peter Senge’s Learning Organization Principles are a starting point for understanding organization-wide learning and change. The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory provides additional information about professional learning communities.

Successful QI requires a strong customer focus. The primary customer focus in the teaching and learning process is to improve and increase opportunities for student success. Working to help everyone in the organization experience success is the most compelling customer-focused notion in education and a quintessential quality practice. Manning Oaks Elementary School and Mt. Edgecumbe High School are two outstanding examples of customer-focused K-12 schools.

The Brazosport Independent School District , with 38.6 percent of its 13,500 students economically disadvantaged, used the principles of Quality Improvement, the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, and Effective Schools principles to significantly improve all students’ learning.

The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence provide a system perspective for understanding performance management. Use of the Baldrige Criteria helps school districts create a high performing education system that continually improves student performance.

School Districts Using the Criteria to Transform Schools

Pekin School District
Chugach School District
Pinellas County School District
Pearl River School District
Franklin School District
Baltimore County Public Schools
Santa Cruz County School District
Whitehall City Schools
Kent County Public Schools
Clovis Unified School District
Grand Blanc Community Schools

Other QI Links and Resources

• The American Society for Quality (ASQ) is a quality professional organization and publisher of quality materials.
• The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program is designed to assist U.S. business, health care, and educational organizations in delivering ever-improving value to customers through continuous quality improvement.
• Curious Cat is a link to a variety of web resources on quality and continuous improvement.
• Clemson University is host to this site that includes resources, discussions, and research on the Deming philosophy.
• The British Social Science Information Gateway offers resources, links, and educational materials on many aspects of QI.
• GOAL/QPC is a not-for-profit educational institution developed to help organizations use quality initiatives.
• The American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC) offers access to best practice research, metrics, and measures.
• KoalatyKid is ASQ's K-12 quality in education initiative.
• PQ Systems offers links to resources and quality software.