Educational Dynamics Consulting

Website Links

Description

Baldrige In 1987, Congress passed the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act with “the objective of encouraging American business and other organizations to practice effective quality control in the provision of their goods and services ”. That act recognized that many foreign competitors had been outpacing U.S. business in terms of product cost and quality. Intended to increase awareness, interest and understanding in how to implement Total Quality Management, the act established a national award to recognize exemplary organizations that would be willing to share information about their processes with others. Since 1999, Education and Health Care organizations have been eligible for recognition in a separate category and four Education awards have been given. Making use of quality initiatives in education is slowly gaining acceptance, pressed by members of the business community who sit on Boards or by the shear recognition of the merits of such adaptation and adoption. Extensive information about the Malcolm Baldrige can be found on the web-site of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. International Standards Organization (ISO 9000) Total Quality Management (TQM) is a concept that has extensive roots and many cross-links. Most TQM activity grew out of the recognition by industry that just checking quality before the product was shipped was a sure route to economic failure. The realization that worldwide competition was a given and that ways to “build-in ” quality and cost management were the only solution, crystallized in the 1980 ’s. The International Standards Organization, based in Europe, launched the ISO 9000 guidelines in 1987 to give businesses a common structure for implementing quality processes. Becoming “ISO 9000 certified ” was seen as a critical element of competition, especially outside the U.S. By the mid-90 ’s the importance of shifting interest and capability in quality from the factory floor upstream into education and training was recognized. An evaluation of the status of quality integration in European education organizations led to a revision of the ISO 9000 standards in 2000 that would enable educational organizations to more easily implement the requirements. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) The “No Child Left Behind ” (NCLB) legislation has re-defined accountability in our schools. In addition to the overt change in the use of test scores and AYP, another component of the new accountability focuses on “Empowering Parents ”. In Pennsylvania ’s NCLB Consolidated Application, reference is made to this empowerment with an expectation of “Promoting Parental and Community Participation in Schools. ” This initiative relates to providing parents and the community with access to information, but I firmly believe that the intent of the law is to involve parents and other client groups we serve more and more as active participants to help to improve our schools. 1. No Child Left Behind: A Desktop Reference 2002. Prepared by Office of Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education. September, 2002. p. 15. 2. Pennsylvania ’s NCLB Consolidated Application. June 17, 2002 draft. pp. 42 & 43

Products & services