Tools for Continuous Improvement

Phase I: Plan

  • Choose consortium members (board, superintendent, teachers, principal, students, parents, patrons, civic organizations, unions, businesses, etc. as appropriate).
  • Build commitment
  • Dedicate resources to training in continuous improvement.
  • Deliver training in principles, approach, values, and methods
  • Create a common vision based on new knowledge
  • Select a problem or opportunity and seek to understand it
  • Brainstorm and select solutions

Phase II: Do

Implement proposed solutions. One of the proposals may be to implement continuous improvement in a proactive school. At this point, the school engages in its own continuous improvement cycle:

Plan: Define school improvement effort, select team(s), deliver training, create common vision, select a problem or opportunity , and select a solution.

Do: Implement proposals in the selected school.

At this point, individual classrooms and students may engage the PDSA cycle to make improvements in their sphere of influence and to incorporate continuous improvement principles in student learning.

Study: The school collects data and information and analyzes results.

Act: The school incorporates the improvements by making appropriate changes in procedures, resources, etc. and makes recommendations for future improvements based on lessons learned.

 Phase III: Study

The districtwide team collects data and information from all relevant schools and analyzes it for trends or patterns. The team seeks to understand the dynamics of the educational system as a whole, the interrelations of the parts, and how the policies, procedures, and resource allocations support or diminish the ability to achieve the vision. Successful and appropriate solutions are identified.

Phase IV: Act

The identified solutions are implemented. The lessons learned and recommendations for future research are documented. A means for continuously collecting feedback to maintain improvements is established. The districtwide team returns to the Plan Phase to select the next opportunity.

 

In this section:

Change and Education Change Inventories Education Systemic Change Tools

In the Toolkit:

Toolkit Home Page Why Change? Why Technology?
Planning Policy Curriculum and Assessment
Community Involvement Facility Planning Funding
Prof'l and Ldrship Development