Using Quality Tools to Identify Root Cause
Attempting to solve a problem without first identifying root cause is like throwing a dart at a target while blindfolded. In essence, many educators try to improve their schools in the same way. When school improvement teams treat only symptoms of the problem, the problem is sure to return.
Most school improvement plans are written in the spring or summer and include 3 or 4 important goals representing areas most in need of improvement. Interestingly enough, included in these plans are a "laundry list" of "stuff" to be done that are intended to positively impact the goal. The traditional paradigm of school improvement plans are loaded with strategies, action plans, things to buy and places to send people for more training. I would submit that this type of planning doesn't produce the kind of results that are needed today.
Today's school improvement planning requires a new paradigm. Imagine writing a school improvement plan that doesn't have a list of things to do... but rather a data-driven process (like PDSA) to follow. In this new paradigm, the school agrees that it won't "do" anything to the system until the root cause is identified- at which time an improvement theory will be constructed based on the root cause identified.
Teams work smarter when they select research-based improvement theories that directly target the root causes found in their system. The best approach or strategy implemented without correlation to root cause will have minimal impact on results. One of the steps of the PDSA cycle is "identifying root cause" and includes several quality tools to help identify the "culprits" in a system including: Cause and Effect Diagram; Relations Diagram; and the 5 Whys. These tools focus a teams efforts on figuring out what is causing the results the system is producing. Only after root cause has been identified should any action be considered.
What happens when educators try "stuff" without identifying the root cause first? What are your experiences with identifying root causes? Are there other quality tools or processes you use to find root cause?
Comments
Quality is infact taken-aback as the first step to curb creativity. Bring a new suggestion and it is looked at with a negative approach. Next day the mere thought being bullied for a newer suggestion would snub its roots off in its very development.
if PDCA (in its various forms) is merely wanting a redressal of some cause or problem, then the phase denoted by 'A' should be exploited to let the exploration of new solutions go wild. Perhaps the problem could be attacked in various ways.
What are the various ways through which the problem of 'problem solving' by the problem students in the problem class is tackeled?
Can some one delibrate upon a PDCA for this?
Priyavrat Thareja
Posted by: Prof Priyavrat Thareja | November 28, 2006 12:23 AM
Jay
I think you have hit upon one of the most critical barriers to implementing effective improvements in educational systems -- having credible evidence to support identification of the actual opportunity to improve. I think the tools you have pointed folks to are great and I would add just one thought (a concept that I know you have touched on often, but might be helpful here as well). Think about how a measurement system can help you with root cause determination.
In the 2007 version of the Education Criteria for Performance Excellence (i.e. - Baldrige Criteria, due to be available in the next few weeks) we have added a note on "in-process measures" specifically to address a common misconception in education circles. In-process measures are not the same thing as formative assessments. They are measures of process performance at critical points that tell you how well the process is performing. This is different from chunking the overall desired outcome (summative assessment) into smaller pieces and measuring them along the way (although also an important practice). In-process measures are more often about the qualities of the inputs (e.g. - student time devoted to a task/skill, teacher selection of instructional methodologies) and outputs (e. g. - % of student work requiring higher level thinking skills, % of teacher feedback that provides actionable information about improvement). Having a well thought out set of these in-process metrics can be instrumental in identifying root causes.
Posted by: Jeff Lucas | December 12, 2006 12:47 PM
Jeff,
What a great description of in-process measures. If you don't mind, I may use your comments as a "stepping off" point for discussion around in-process measures.
Thanks for sharing your comments. Keep them coming!
Jay
Posted by: Jay Marino | December 12, 2006 01:39 PM
wat is root cause
Posted by: arti | May 9, 2007 12:40 AM