ERIC ED370228: Quality Goes to School: Readings on Quality Management in Education.

262 Pages·1994·7.7 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 370 228
EA 025 864
Quality Goes to School: Readings on Quality
TITLE
Management in Education.
INSTITUTION
American Association of School Administrators,
Arlington, Va.
REPORT NO
ISBN-0-87652-204-5
PUB DATE
94
NOTE
263p.
AVAILABLE FROM American Association of Administrators, 1801 N. Moore
Street, Arlington, VA 22209-9988 (Stock No.
21-00425).
PUB TYPE
Information Analyses (070) Repolls
Evaluative/Feasibility (142)
MF01/PC11 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Academic Achievement; Educational Improvement;
DESCRIPTORS
*Educational Philosophy; *Educational Quality;
Elementary Secondary Education; *Excellence in
Education; Higher Education; *Organizational
Effectiveness; *Organizatidnal Theories; Performance;
*Total Quality Management
ABSTRACT
In 1991, the American Association of School
Administrators (AASA) published "An Introduction to Total Qu-lity for
Schools" to initiate its new learning network. This second collection
of readings on quality management in education offers a series of
perspectives through which readers can refine their own definitions
and knowledge. It contains lessons from practice within classrooms,
buildings, districts, and statewide networks as well as in fields
such as vocational and special education. Also included are
summaries, historical overviews, lessons from other fields, and
assessments of current status. The first section of the book gives
the broad picture of hQw in the 1980s the United States began to
listen to W. Edwards Deming and others advocating a new
nonhierarchical system of management based on teamwork, empowerment
of workers, and commitment to continuous improvement. The second
section describes how educators interpret quality management
principles in education, and the third shows how these principles are
being applied in classrooms, schools, school districts, community
colleges, and universities. The final section contains articles from
AASA's newsletter, "Quali.4 Network News," contributed by educators
who describe their own experiences with quality management. Appended
are lists of further readings about quality and other AASA resources
on quality management in education, bibliographic credits for each
article, an author index, and a school district index. (MLF)
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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
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TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)"
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READINGS ON
QUALITY MANAGEMENT
IN EDUCATION
American Association of School Administrators
'D
I
Quakty Goes to School
Readings on quality management in education
Quality Goes to School is AASA's second collection of readings on quality
management in education. The first, Introduction to Total Quality for
Schools, was published in 1991. Both collections are sent to AASA's
Total Quality Network subscribers as a membership benefit. For ordering
information, see page 240.
Dorothy Mulligan prepared Quality Goes to School, with assistance from
Martha Bozman, Lewis Rhodes, Leslie Eckard, Katie Ross, and Florence
Guyer.
AASA is gateful to authors and publishers who permitted their articles
to be included in tins collection.
NOTE: AASA does not hold the copyright to most of the articles included
in this publication. Permission to reproduce those must be obtained from
the sources. See credits on pages 241-243.
Copyright © 1994, American Association of School Administrators
1801 North Moore Street, Arlington, Virginia 22209-9988
ISBN: 0-87652-204-5
AASA Stock No.: 21-00425
Additional copies of this publication may be purchased for $24.95 each. Orders of 2-
9 copies of the same publication receive a 10 percent discount, orders of 10 or more
a 20 percent discount. Please add $4.50 for postage and handling on orders under
$35; $5 for orders from $35 to $50; $5.50 for orders of $50 to $65. For orders above
$65, add 8 percent.
For information about AASA membership, products, or services, call the Mem-
ber/Customer Information Center at 703/875-0748; FAX [phone].
Please tell us how useful you found this AASA collection of readings and
Call Martha
how we might improve similar publications in the future.
Bozman, Director of Quality Initiatives, at 703/875-0754; Lew Rhodes at
703/ 875-0733; or Dorothy Mulligan at 703/875-0721. Thank you..
4
Introduction
Quality Goes to School
Readings on quality management in education
But what does it mean?
Hard to define, impossible to legislate for, quality, like truth,
is an attitude of mind.
Charles Handy, in The Age of Unreason
.
Quality...you know what it is, yet you don't know what it is.
But that's self contradictory. But some things
are better
than others, that is, they have more quality. But when
you
try to say what quality is, apart from the things that have it,
it all goes pool? But if you can't say what quality is, how do
you know what it is, or how do you know it even exists?
Robert M. Persig, in Zen and the Art
of Motorcycle Maintenance
In 1991, AASA published An Introduction to Total Quality for Schools to initiate
its new learning network. The publication included articles focusing
on the concepts
of Total Quality Management and W. Edwards Deming. We hoped the readings
would
provide a base of learnings from applications in various fields.
The fundamental questions we addressed then are still foremost in the minds of
most school practitioners when they try to understand why people get
so excited
about the principles and practices that underlie this approach to organizational
management. What does this mean for me? How does it relate to learning and
children's achievement?
This search for meaning has been fettered by a lack of consistent language and
definitions. Old familiar terms with meanings we assumed
we knew -- such as
quality, customer, and supplier
suddenly became invested with new meanings. We
see quality, total quality, and total quality management interchanged as catch-all
concepts, so it is easy to see why W. Edwards Deming was such a stickler for precise
definitions, why he addressed quality as a result and not a
process, and why he totally
disavowed the term Total Quality Management.
In education today, meaning is important, not Just for students but also for
those who shape the daily environments in which they learn. Unfortunately, the shelf
life of organizational concepts
such as restructuring, site-based management, and
excellence
decreases the more they become convenient ways to appear knowl-
edgeable without experiencing the discomfort of thought. A real danger exists that
many terms associated with the core concepts of quality management are on that
same track toward relative meaninglessness.
This condition can be countered (and is) in two ways. The most powerful is
through direct personal experience with these principles and practices in the work
setting. Few have that opportunity. however. A second way to develop comprehensive
understanding of reality can be to view it from multiple perspectives. AASA publishes
this volume to further that possibility.
This publication offers a series of perspectives through which readers can refine
their own definitions and knowledge.
Three years ago, when we put together the first collection of readings, we had to
search extensively for articles: most of those we found came from business and
industry. This time we had the luxury of choosing from many articles within the
education world. Moreover, as educators have begun to integrate theory with actual
practice, the nature of their writings have shifted from whys and whats to hows.
This book of readings includes experiential depth and horizontal breadth. It
contains lessons from practice within classrooms, buildings, districts, and statewide
networks as well as in fields such as vocational and special education. Also included
are summaries, historical overviews, lessons from other fields, and assessmems of
current status.
For some, the down side of this publication's multiple perspective approach
may be the apparent lack of agreement on the whats and whys of quality manage-
ment. For others, this divergence may facilitate their own search for common
underlying principles.
The first section of this book gives the broad picture of how in the 1980s the
United States finally began to listen to W. Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran, and others
advocating a new non-hierarchical system of management, one based on teamwork,
empowerment of workers, and commitment to continuous improvement.
The second section describes how educators interpret quality management
principles in education, and the third shows how these principles are being applied in
classrooms, schools, school districts, community colleges, and universities.
The final section taps a resource not available in 1991. Each issue of AASA's
newsletter, Quality Network News, contains articles contributed by educators who
describe their own experiences with quality management. These "Systems Leaders
Speak" and "From the Trenches" columns make up the final section.
Lewis A. Rhodes
Associate Executive Director
January 1994
Table of Contents
Quality Goes to School
I. Lessons Learned from Others
1. "The Turning Point of the Quality Revolution" by Gerald A. Michaelson
1
An NBC white paper in 1980 sparked Americans' interest in how Japan became
successful by heeding the teachings of an American guru, W. Edwards Deming.
7
2. "The Cost of Quality" by Jay Mathews and Peter Katel
TQM has worked for some business firms and not for others, but in. this age of tough
competition, some consultants believe it's a must to "stay in the game."
9
3. "The New Society of Organizations" by Peter F. Drucker
Management expert Peter Drucker says command-and-control is out, teamwork is in.
19
4. 'TQM: Lessons We Can Learn from Industry" by Steven E. Brigham
Higher education should evaluate the mistakes and accomplishments of organiza-
tions that have used TQM in the past decade.
25
5. "Lessons from the Workplace in the Classroom" by Mark Trumbull
"TQM, long a buzzword among companies struggling to regain their competitive
edge, can also work significant changes in the American educational system..."
28
6. "Deming's Ideas Changing the World" by David Kerridge
Too few of us understand the lessons taught by statistician W. Edwards Deming.
Planning Period: Thinking Through Theory and Concepts
II.
31
7. "Commentary" by Richard A. Rossmiller
Wisconsin schools are using the Effective Schools process together with Outcome-
Based Education and TQM to guide their school improvement efforts.
32
8. "What Do We Do To Improve?" by Anne Turnbaugh Lockwood
Myron Tribus says quality in education is what makes learning a pleasure and a joy
37
9. "TQM in Education: The Theory and How to Put It to Work," by Myron nibus
The theory of management developed by W. Edwards Deming provides an excellent
framework within which to examine proposals for improvement in education.
41
10. "Two Official Visions of the Future," by Myron Tribus
The author contrasts the Bush administration's plan for improving education,
America 2000, with the Labor Department's SCANS Report.
11. "Putting Quality Management to Work in Schools: Getting Started,"
by Myron Tribus
47
"Teachers who pioneer in quality management in the classroom and rely on intrinsic
motivation will have to deal with criticism from well-meaning colleagues, parents,
school boards, and even some unenlightened employers."
"On the Road to Quality" by Lewis A. Rhodes
12.
54
The principles of quality management attract educators because they "resonate with
something that many people already personally believe is right."
'Times of Scarcity Demand Cooperation" by Kosaku Yoshida
13.
59
One of the most effective approaches in reducing variation in education is to
encourage cooperation.
"Recapturing the Spirit of Learning through a Systems Appi lach" by Peter Senge
14.
and Colleen Lannon-Kim
60
"Systems thinking is a discipline for seeil sg wholes, recogniziAg patterns and inter-
relationships, and learning how to structure those interrelationships in more
effective, efficient ways."
'The Quality Revolution in Education" by Jay Bonstingl
15.
66
More and more educators are discovering that quality principles and practices
fit with their own aspirations for the continuous improvement of education.
"On Restructuring Roles and Relationships: A Conversation with Philip Schlechty"
16.
by Ron Brandt
72
The fundamental logic of Deming's Total Quality Management involves understanding,
getting control of and improving the processes, where possible.
"Quality Management in Schools" by Susan Leddick
17.
76
Quality management is neither a fad nor an oxymoron; six basic quality
principles and how schools can use them to improve their school systems.
"Management Manifesto" by Yvonne Siu-Runyan and Sally Joy Heart
18.
82
Deming's 14 principles can help restructure the education workplace.
'Total Quality Management" by Tyler Weaver
19.
86
TQM is more than a philosophy. In addition to proposing new theories about
the workplace, it advocates change in customer relationships, employee empower-
ment, use of statistical data, and an environment that promotes unity and change.
20.
'The Cost of Quality" by Jim Carras, Denny Dowd, and Betty McCormick
88
"Dollars spent in prevention are often investments that will produce savings."
21.
"Quality Is Not a Quick Fix" by Kenneth R. Freeston
91
"Although achieving quality is very hard work, maintaining it is even harder."
'Total Quality and Academic Practice: The Idea We've Been Waiting For?"
22.
96
by Peter T. Ewell
Beneath the hype, total quality seems to contain new insights about how higher
education can and should operate.
"Job One," by Lynn Olson
103
23.
Schools in Pinellas County, Fla., have found quality management promises a more
cooperative, less adversarial approach to bringing about change in schools.
"Quality Through Preventive Management" by Bill Borgers
24.
111
"Management's responsibility is to organize the workforce to solve problems,
and to model, facilitate, and coach workers in how to produce quality."
'Working Smarter Together" by Gordon A. Donaldson, Jr.
112
25.
"To work smarter, a leader faces criticism, ...welcomes self-examination, ...sets
achievable goals, ...nurtures new efforts, ...and monitors and celebrates."
"Creating Effective Schools Today and Tomorrow" by Lawrence W. Lezotte
26.
1 17
"What our society will accept as evidence of positive school reform depends
on what we believe to be the problem with today's schools."
Quality Goes to School -- Applying Quality Management
Ill:
"Is TQM for Everybody?" by Anne Turnbaugh Lockwood
127
27.
An Ohio teacher has adapted Deming's concepts to use with her second- and
third-grade students.
"Why Are We Here?" by Anne Turnbaugh Lockwood
28.
131
Teacher David Langford brought quality management to his students at Mount
Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, Alaska, a small state-run residential school.
Now the school's students are giving presentations on changing education through
quality management.
"Mt. Edgecumbe's Venture in Quality" by Larrae Rocheleau
134
29.
Students at Mount Edgecurnbe High School in Alaska pursue a rigorous academic
program: they also helped develop the school's mission statement.
"Glasser Comes to a Rural School" by Melanie Fox Harris and R. Carl Harris
138
30.
William Glasser helps a rural elementary school in Utah build a quality organization.
"A Quality Approach to Writing Assessment" by Joanne Andrade and Helen Ryley
142
31.
.
.
Centennial Elementary in Colorado collects data to improve students' writing ability.
"A Move from Effective to Quality" by Nancy Duden
I 44
32.
"As Kate Sullivan Elementary School shifted from an effective school to one oriented
to quality, the role of the principal moved from instructional leader to facilitator...."
148
"Up Close: Benchmarking Produces Beneficial Results" by Mike Dalton
33.
Five Tennessee schools discovered that benchmarking can bring impressive staff
development benefits.
'Transforming Schools through Total Quality Education"
34.
by Mike Schmoker and Richard Wilson
1/1-9
"Deming's methods help us manage schools, districts, and classrooms; they can
also help us manage and use knowledge."
"One District's Quality Improvement Story" by Patricia E. Abernethy
35.
156
and Richard W. Serfass
A New Jersey high school used tools of quality to tackle problems of tardiness
and attendance.
160
"Getting Started with TQM" by Kenneth R. Freeston
36.
The Newtown, Conn., model blends elements of Deming's 14 points with William
Glasser's approach to quality.
164
37. 'TQM in Tupelo" by Marilee C. Rist
Tupelo, Miss., educators are reinventing schools, striving to be one of the top ten
school districts in the U.S.
167
"Quality Management for Schools" by Dorothy Mulligan
38.
Teachers at McAuliffe Elementary School in Virginia say quality management has
given them the skills to do their job better by minimizing "defects" and "rework."
171
"If You Can Count It, You Can Improve It" by Robert H. Bender
39.
Project teams in Meadville, Pa, use tools of quality to solve problems.
"Quality Savings: Reducing the Cost of Poor Quality" by Wendy Cullar
40.
174
and Terrelle Buckner
Seven Florida school districts have documented quality savings measured in time,
dollars, and better customer service.
"Systems Thinking about Learning: The Paradigm Shift" by Ann Dinsmoor Case
41.
179
and Karla Baehr DeLetis
"When we use systems thinking to understand learning as a process of complex
cause-and-effect interactions among many variables, we stop blaming one indi-
vidual or one factor."
185
"Quality Tools Help Identify and Solve Problems" by Peter DeDominici
42.
Denver Place Elementary School in Wilmington, Ohio, collected data and used
quality tools to help find and solve problems.
188
'The Grading Game" by Philip Geiger
43.
Grades really should answer only one question: Did the student learn what
he was taught from one point to another?
1 0