Making Improvements... If Not PDSA, Then What?
Often times educators will ask "why do we have to use the Plan Do Study Act cycle to make improvements?" My response has always been, "if you're not using PDSA, then what process are you using to make improvements?"
When creating action plans for the School Improvement Plan (SIP), schools often create a laundry list of events, purchases and activities. Schools have struggled to identify and utilize a data-driven process to make improvements. Effective action plans (or improvement theories) are based on root causes and aligned to best practices and research.
The stakes are high and accountability for student achievement is ever present. As educators, we need to ensure that we are using the most effective practices, processes based on data and best practices.
How would you respond to the question "how do you improve a process or system?"
Comments
I just read your posting, Jay, and I am not sure if people understand what a "process" or "system" is in education. What's your experience with that when you talk about it? When I visited the folks in District 15 they said getting people to identify a "process" in their schools/districts was difficult.
Posted by: Suzanne Keely | March 7, 2006 04:52 PM
Suzanne, thanks for sharing your comment. To address your question, I've created a posting to try to clarify the terms "system" and "process" which can be viewed online at http://www4.asq.org/blogs/edu/2006/03/what_are_systems_and_processes.html
Posted by: Jay Marino | March 8, 2006 07:18 PM