How do educators measure progress toward continuous improvement?
As with any initiative, continuous improvement and quality efforts in a school system must have clearly defined goals and outcomes. It is the responsibility of leadership to clearly set and communicate direction and to paint a vivid picture of what it looks like when its accomplished.
Imagine the task of trying to complete a 1000 piece puzzle without seeing the cover of the puzzle box! How would you feel? Would you be frustrated and angry that you were asked to complete a task without knowing what the final product should look like? School leaders need to make sure that when implementing continuous improvement:
1.) Clear expectations are set and communicated with stakeholders
2.) There is a plan to create internal capacity and support for change
3.) There is a way to measure the deployment of continuous improvement
In the Cedar Rapids Community School District, we set and communicate expectations through the use of 4-Level Continuous Improvement Outcomes. In addition, a deployment instrument is used to measure continuous improvement efforts.
How do you measure progress toward continuous improvement? How do you set and communicate direction for continuous improvement in your school or district?
