6.5: Continuous Improvement

The Glossary of Education Reform: “Continuous Improvement”

Read this overview of continuous improvement in the context of education. Education is a service. Therefore, operations management concepts apply in the education industry. Keep in mind; some would argue that students are a product manufactured by the education system. This can create a different perspective when reviewing this process in relation to education.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

In education, the term continuous improvement refers to any school- or instructional-improvement process that unfolds progressively, that does not have a fixed or predetermined end point, and that is sustained over extended periods of time. The concept also encompasses the general belief that improvement is not something that starts and stops, but it’s something that requires an organizational or professional commitment to an ongoing process of learning, self-reflection, adaptation, and growth. For example, when a school is continuously improving, a variety of small, incremental changes are occurring daily and in ways that cumulatively, over time, affect multiple dimensions of a school or school system.

Generally speaking, the concept of continuous improvement also reflects a tacit recognition that improving the effectiveness of schools and teaching is not only highly complex, but it entails unforeseen challenges, complications, and reversals, as well as steep or prolonged learning curves—among other unavoidable factors—that require a sustained commitment to incremental, ongoing improvements, rather than the execution of rapidly implemented, breakthrough changes that deliver up the desired results in a predictable fashion.

In the view of many educators, continuous improvement also requires schools to have the on-staff knowledge, skills, and expertise needed to improve educational results and sustain improvement over time. For example, if a school’s improvement depends on external organizations, consultants, contracts, and expertise, any realized improvements would probably be neither continuous nor sustainable. In this way, the concept of continuous improvement is related to capacity—the abilities, skills, and expertise of school leaders, teachers, faculties, and staffs—and to action research—informal, in-process research that helps educators develop, in real time, adaptive solutions and improvement strategies. In some cases, a continuous-improvement plan or process will be graphically represented as a circle or ring of arrows—often called acycle of action or cycle of inquiry—since the process may follow a defined series of steps that are repeated over time.

It should be noted that continuous improvement has become something of a buzzword in education, and the appearance or use of the term does not necessarily mean that a school or school system is actually executing, in any practical or authentic sense, an improvement process that could be accurately labeled “continuous” in the senses described above.

Kira Greer’s “What is a Kaizen Event?”

Watch this video about the use of Kaizen events to increase the quality of your process. Kaizen is one tool that is used when practicing Lean methods. This provides you with background information on the development of this tool.

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: http://pb.libretexts.org/b/?p=110

Markets for Good: Beth Kanter’s “Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement Based on Data”

Read this article. Consider the importance of creating a culture focused on continuous improvement within both service and manufacturing organizations. This is important because the culture either supports or hinders any initiative started within an organization. If the culture does not support continuous quality improvement, then either the CQI process will fail or the culture must be shifted.

Creating A Culture of Continuous Improvement Based On Data

Beth Kanter returns in her latest column, describing how nonprofits can develop a culture of improvement through the application of data.

I’m always on the look out for useful and thought provoking resources on how nonprofits can use data to make better decisions that lead to greater impact. So, when Mary K Winkler, one of the nonprofit data nerds I follow on Twitter and Senior Research Associate at Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits & Philanthropy specializing in performance management told me via Twitter she had just published a new guide on this topic, I had to check it out.Moving Beyond a Culture of Compliance to a Culture of Continuous Improvement is a resource guide to help leadership, management, supervisory, and data-focused staff in Head Start and Early Head Start programs (1) understand how data, including data they already collect, can help them achieve their program goals; (2) learn techniques for fostering a culture of learning in their organization; and (3) increase their ability to identify and address gaps and continuously improve their programs. It was designed to complement existing technical assistance resources through tip sheets, examples, and links to multiple resources.I was most interested in Part 2 (pages 17-21) because I think the advice is applicable to organizations beyond those managing head start programs. This section of the report covers new ways of thinking about organizational culture based in continuous improvement based on feedback. It speaks to establishing culture norms among staff of curiosity, reflection, and trust. It outlines the practices and skills needed to create a learning culture. Here’s what I learned:Definition: A culture of continuous improvement

The term means learning culture. The term “continuous” that the organization has create a virtuous cycle of feedback that repeatedly inspires staff to reflect on what is working and what can be done differently to get better results. This process of reflection is embedded in the organization’s working style, not a random moment of inspiration after a program evaluation is completed. Everyone on staff understands that the questions are the best teachers and in an effort to sustain learning articulate questions and seek answers to those questions.

Organizations that have this type of culture do not play the blame game if something needs to be improved. They have a created a safe space for staff and program participants and other stakeholders to give feedback, reflect, ask questions, and think creatively about solutions. Senior leaders model the skill that Edgar H. Schein calls “Humble Inquiry” – the art of asking questions based on curiosity and building trust.

Cultural Indicators

The report describes the indicators below as hallmarks of a culture of continuous improvement.

The report points out that Head Start Programs often have to balance compliance with creating a culture of continuous improvement, not an easy task. Not only do organizations need data collection systems, but also systems for observation, learning, reflection, and action or as the report describes “systems that help us identify and solve problems proactively instead of always reacting.” The report offers up the metaphor of “how shift from fighting fires to innovation.”

The report also talks about an organization’s cultural readiness to switch to a culture of continuous improvement, using a blog post I wrote about being data-informed for inspiration. It maps out stages of change, but also recognizes that organizations may be in different stages at the same time:

• The report also includes a reference to this excellent tool for evaluating an organization’s capacity to do evaluation activities. The report identifies these criteria:

  Core Competencies of Organizations: With a Culture of Continuous Improvement

  • For people who are in the data for good space, technical work and “janitorial” work are only a part of their jobs. Understanding organizational data culture or creating a culture of continuous improvement based on data is a hot topic. It’s on the agenda at Do Good Data Conference later this month (I’m co-facilitating the ending plenary). It’s also on the Data on Purpose Conference at Stanford in June. For some organizations, it is more zen – it’s about beginning it and continuing it as Laura Quinn from Idealware points out in her latest Markets For Good blog.

    Does your nonprofit have a culture of continuous improvement based on data? What does it look it? How did it get started?

    Unit 6 Discussion

    Most of us are familiar with the education system. This might be through our personal experience with K-12 or post K-12 education or our children’s experience. Using information in this unit, evaluate the operations of an education system. You may choose a K-12 system, a Higher Education (community college, college, or university) program, or a technical institute that you are familiar with to complete this evaluation. Discuss how and where continuous quality improvement processes could be embedded within the system to increase the quality of the outcomes.

CC licensed content, Shared previously

• Continuous Improvement. Provided by: Great Schools Partnership. Located at: http://edglossary.org/. License: CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• What is a Kaizen Event?. Authored by: Kira Greer. Located at: https://youtu.be/og6j761NyQ0. License: CC BY: Attribution
• Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement Based on Data. Authored by: Beth Kanter. Provided by: Markets for Good. Located at: https://marketsforgood.org/creating-a-culture-of-continuous-improvement-based-on-data/. License: CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial