Making the grade with quality in the classroom

Although improvement projects have saved countless resources in the administrative functions of schools and colleges, it is actual classroom applications that suggest the real potential that the theory, process, and tools of quality have for transforming education. An increasing variety of student projects demonstrate the versatility of the materials and the creativity of teams that are empowered to make changes in the ways things are done.

Fifth graders use flow charts to learn long division

One group of Florida fifth graders, for example, developed a flow chart of the long division process. After they had learned the rudiments of long division, their teacher became frustrated by their dependence on her as they worked on problems. “Now what do I do?” became the classroom refrain as students applied what they had just learned. She shared her frustration with the fifth graders, who decided that if they had flow charts for the long division process, they wouldn't have to keep asking for help.

As a class, they walked through a problem and documented the steps in solving it. After trying their flow chart a few times, they made copies for every student. The questions stopped, since the students knew how to refer to the flow chart when they were stuck; in fact; they soon found that they no longer needed the flow charts, since the steps had been committed to memory once they had taken responsibility for learning them.

Problem-solving shifts from teachers to students

What was the most dramatic about that example was the subtle shift in responsibility for problem-solving from the teacher to the student. As long as young people think they can get immediate answers from their teachers, the chance that they will take responsibility for learning is diminished. A simple process tool can initiate a shift to that responsibility.

Students find causes of poor behavior in their school

A team of eleven-year-olds in school in Nueve Leon, Mexico, took on discipline as its improvement project. Undoubtedly, improving discipline is a concern of nearly every teacher and school administrator, but in this case, the students themselves wanted to address the problem. Students developed a survey to determine the extent of discipline problems in the school, and with the information generated by this process, they created a check sheet and Pareto chart to help analyze the causes for poor behavior in school.

Understanding the process of improvement, they continued to gather data and analyze it before trying out their improvement theory. One of the steps they ultimately took, after they found that many of the problems were caused by improper learning at home, was to invite all the parents to a meeting, where the team shared its observations. Students suggested to the parents ways that they could improve behavior at home, with the hope that school behavior would be enhanced as well.

Of course, what is remarkable about this example is the confidence that the young people had in their ability to make a difference with discipline in their school, and their temerity in offering suggestions to their elders.

Process and tools of quality improvement bring positive change to education

Increasingly, teachers are using the process and tools of quality improvement to bring about changes in how they teach. PQ Systems' Process and Tools Training helps educators in schools across the nation do just this. When schools transfer what they have learned about administrative processes such as purchase order management to what they already know about learning and teaching, classrooms will begin to experience the transformation that can change the face of education.