Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TQM is a philosophy and system for continuously improving the services and/or products
offered to customers. Now that the technologies of transportation and communication have
replaced national economic systems with a global economy, nations and businesses that do not
practice TQM can become globally non-competitive rather rapidly. This march towards non-
competitiveness can be avoided if citizens are helped to become TQM practitioners. Therefore,
the potential benefits of TQM in a school, district or college are very clear:
1. TQM can help a school or college provide better service to its primary customers--students
and employers.
3. Operating a no-fear TQM system with a focus on continuous growth and improvement offers
more excitement and challenge to students and teachers than a "good-enough" learning
environment can provide.
In a TQM school or college, improvement teams and individuals are constantly working on
improving service to customers. The concept of a service being "good enough" is considered
inadequate.
The talents of a student will not be developed to their fullest potential unless EVERY member of
a teaching-learning partnership promotes the highest possible quality at each step in the
development process. An excellent way to begin is with a total staff meeting. The meeting can
provide:
a. A dynamic overview of TQM elements and potential by one or more presenters who have
experienced both and
b. A clear commitment from the school board, superintendent, and principal that they will fully
support TQM efforts and that they do not expect (to use the language of W. Edwards Deming)
"instant pudding" results.
The hierarchical organizations of yesterday are still dominant in too many businesses and
schools. Such organizations tend to promote individual effort "good enough" to satisfy a
supervisor who sometimes knows less about how to achieve quality than those he/she supervises.
Cross-department teams can and do promote stronger improvement if they are:
Support is a major element in the success or failure of TQM. If administrators, supervisors, and
department chairpersons support task improvement teams, those teams can generate more
motivation and improvement than can otherwise be achieved. If not, TQM cannot achieve its
potential. In properly operated TQM programs, administrators and supervisors work diligently
at:
b. Coordinating among task or improvement teams c. Supporting the efforts and authority of
improvement teams to the highest possible degree.
These are very critical support actions. Unless administrators and supervisors fulfill them
properly, task improvement teams can fail because of this system weakness.
Traditional do-it-to-them evaluation systems by themselves generate fear and lack of initiative.
Staff members focus on doing whatever is enough to keep the boss happy. However, if volunteer
members of empowered improvement teams are given opportunities to become experts and/or to
use experts, that enabling generates excitement and dedication. School districts should support
members of quality improvement teams with funding and time others. Teams function best if
team members are given the background and authority to make informed decisions. Each district
and school should define and implement objectives for a strong focus on being a learning
organization.
6. Focus on Mastery Learning.
7. Management by Measurement.
In the section above, you were introduced to an adapted Shewhart Cycle, a basic part of a TQM
process. Be aware that measurement is very important in the ** marked steps of this cycle. For
example, if a reading teacher used a new computer program in the ACT step to assist students
having trouble, he or she might gather data in steps #3 and #5 and plot it in a scatter diagram to
investigate the relationship between use of that program and final learning results. If careful
analysis showed that the new program promoted strong progress in reading, that would affect
planning for future instruction. This management by data rather than by opinion allows objective
pursuit of the two basic purposes of TQM in education:
a. Improved learning.
Excellent books on quality processes and measurement in education are available in a free
catalog from ASQ Quality Press; PO Box 3005; Milwaukee, WI 53201-3005. The telephone
number is (800)248-1946; the fax number is (414)272-1734. Member discounts are available to
those who join the American Society for Quality. ASQ's web site is http://www.asq.org. State or
regional chapters also exist.
In addition to using TQM to improve learning in general, every school district should
specifically equip its students to understand and use TQM. This is a basic part of schools
contributing to readiness for work in the global economy. Whether a school staff decides to
integrate learning TQM into existing courses or to provide it as a separate course, it is important
that students DO and not just study about TQM. Excellent resources in this area are books from
ASQ Quality Press at the address shown in section #7 above. These books are relevant to student
activities -- (1) THINKING TOOLS FOR KIDS; (2) FUTURE FORCE: KIDS THAT WANT
TO, CAN, AND DO!; (3) a CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT SERIES covering science,
language arts in primary classrooms, mathematics, and history and social science; and a SMART
TEACHING handbook that presents a complete 8-step teaching system. An excellent way to
have students live TQM is to establish a system in which student assessment portfolios are
dynamic records of constant improvement in which the students can take great pride.
In the Learning Environment Dr. William Glasser has provided one of the best translations of
TQM principles into suggestions for a very productive learning environment. Every educator can
profit from reading his book: The Quality School Teacher, by William Glasser, M.D. (1998)
Harper Paperbacks. Working with people is much more complex than manufacturing widgets.
Dr. Glasser offers an excellent blueprint for TQM in classrooms in the context of deep sensitivity
to human relationships. Also,one of the most productive areas in which a school task
improvement team can work is in helping all staff members use the model more brain-friendly
techniques in teaching.
10. A Transformation Plan. Under element #1, an awareness presentation was recommended as
the first step in considering transformation from traditional to TQM operation. Two other basic
actions are recommended here:
(1) Develops a plan for supporting the staff in TQM implementation and
(2) Builds a positive connection between that committee and the traditional supervisors. in
b. Use advice from consultants and/or from schools that have succeeded at TQM transformation.