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March 31, 2008
The path from 'random acts of improvement' to Baldrige excellence
Northbrook School District 27 northwest of Chicago [1,250 students in K-8] is about to submit its second application seeking recognition by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program. The Board of Education and staff were exposed to the Baldrige Framework at a past NSBA Annual Conference. In 2006, Northbrook submitted its first Baldrige application and in 2008 it will submit its second as they continue on their path of continuous improvement.
In this session, Northbrook Superintendent David Kroeze [Photo] shared background on the Baldrige framework and how his school district and board are using it as a tool for continuous improvement. Board member Sally Lane said it was not about getting the Baldrige award. “In all honesty… our focus is to figure what is important to us, how to get there, to then get there, and how to sustain it.”
Before Baldrige, Kroeze said his district was making “random acts of improvement.” Initially the district found it to be a challenge to think of the systematic and repeatable things they were doing to improve performance. “Performance improvement is about organizational and personal learning,” said Kroeze.
The Baldrige approach gave them a framework for identifying and assessing their five key success factors. “This gives us a focus on the future…and sustainability,” said Kroeze.
Kroeze mentioned the importance of benchmarking his district against similar organizations as one example of performance improvements inspired by Baldrige. The district started doing satisfaction surveys in the community to help assess their schools and the survey return rate was only 7%.
As part of the first Baldrige application, feedback from the examiners raised questions about how they could create a better assessment tool. This is what the Baldrige examiners call an “opportunity for improvement” or OFI. In response, the district started working with School Perceptions, a firm that now helps them with online surveys and peer benchmarks. Their return rate on surveys went from 7% to 32% of community.
Kroeze closed by predicting that performance excellence models will be the next big wave of change in education. Are you ready?
Brian Wheeler
Albemarle County School Board (VA)
Posted by Brian Wheeler, Blog Team, at 9:41 AM | Educational Sessions & Workshops
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