Schools of Quality


Book Description

This book presents the concept that quality as a keystone philosophy in today's business world can be applied to school systems as a means to improving education and all aspects of school culture, producing a school of quality. The author uses examples such as Japan's adopting William E. Deming's quality-control principles to help it skyrocket from post-World War II destitution to becoming a powerful driving force in the global economy, whereas America experienced a decline. The intelligent application of quality control in process as well as product lowers the costs involved in correcting errors further down the product assembly line. Additionally, the creation of meaningful relationships among departments, work groups, and customers enhances worker morale and effectiveness. Application of this philosophy of Total Quality Management to the school environment produces a meaningful and enriching experience for students, teachers, and administrators conducive to lifelong learning. Appendices provide practical tools for school organizational transformation, charts defining roles for School of Quality participants, Deming's management scheme applied to companies and schools, a comparison of Quality and traditional paradigms, an educational impact report, the SCANS report, a description of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program, and sources of additional information. (RT)




Total Quality Management for Schools


Book Description

Presents the principles and applications of TQM for transformation of schools.




Quality School


Book Description

"This should be required reading by every school administator, every teacher, every board member and all university faculty involved in the training of teachers. There is no doubt that we need to squeeze all blame, all coerion and all criticism out of any people-related business. Not until we realize that schools are in a people business will we ever be able to make meaningful changes." --Dr. Albert Mamary, former superintendent of schools, Johnson City, New York




Monitoring the Quality of Education in Schools


Book Description

The monitoring of quality has been part of the educational landscape for many decades. Originally the need to monitor arose as part of an economic process whereby policy makers wanted to discern the return on investment in education. This bottom line thinking, while still prominent, has receded into the background in light of global changes and the emergence of a global economy. Now in addition to the question “what is the return on investment?”, the more important question is “are the students in schools ready to participate in the economy of a 21st century society?”. This is underpinned by the inquiry into what knowledge and competencies are required for students to participate meaningfully in nation-building. This inquiry can only be undertaken by means of monitoring, evaluating where the students are and what is required so that students reach their potential. In an ever-changing technologically-oriented world the manner in which competencies and knowledge are identified and how these need to be measured and identified is important. In this book, the theory and practice of underpinning the monitoring of the quality of education is described. This is followed by a number of practical examples, in the form of country case studies, on how theory plays out in practice. The book further provides common themes across developed and developing emerging economies underscoring the need for approaches which are locally relevant but internationally transferable.




Courage to Connect


Book Description




The Inspector of Schools


Book Description

The Inspector of Schools: Quality Assurance is a book by Ben D. Odhiambo, a Kenyan educationalist with over thirty-three years experience in all matters education. Having served as a school teacher, a teacher trainer, an inspector of schools, an educational administrator, an education publisher amongst many other varied roles, the author is uniquely placed in his outlook in what makes a successful inspector of schools. It is this distilled wisdom in the form of theory on matters pertaining to the inspection of schools and backed by solid experience on the ground that he has shared with us this book. The book is not only relevant to the aspiring or practicing inspector of schools, but to a host of other stakeholders in the education sector including teachers, administrators, parents, governmental officials and employers.




Equity and Quality in Education Supporting Disadvantaged Students and Schools


Book Description

Across OECD countries, almost one in every five students does not reach a basic minimum level of skills. This book presents a series of policy recommendations for education systems to help all children succeed.




Authentic Achievement


Book Description

This new book presents the findings of a five-year, federally funded study that examined the connection between school restructuring and student achievement. Investigating twenty-four elementary and secondary schools from twenty-two districts across the country, the researchers found that restructuring efforts fail when there is too much focus on structure and technique and not enough attention paid to the intellectual quality of student and teacher work and to the vitality of the school community. Using a wealth of examples, the authors provide a vivid picture of the conditions under which innovations in a school's organization contribute to student achievement - extending learning beyond rote memorization of isolated facts to thinking, disciplined understanding, and complex communication.




Quality Management


Book Description

A direct, straightforward text, this title provides students with material that focuses on making the theories and principles of total quality practical and useful in a real-world setting. It covers all of the elements of total quality, including several that receive little or no attention in other total quality books.




Quality Middle Schools


Book Description

Building on 20 years of careful research and real-world testing, the authors show administrators how to assess their schools' health. The goal is to improve middle schools by making sure the "culture" is right for all groups - students, teachers, staff. The authors call their measurement tools the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire Revised for Middle Schools (OCDQ-RM), for tapping the openness of a school's professional interactions, and the Organizational Health Inventory for Middle Schools (OHI-M), for capturing the health of interpersonal relationships in schools. The OCDQ-RM (openness) questionnaire and the OHI-M (health) inventory are included in this book - ready to copy and administer. These measurements are user-friendly and easy to interpret; scoring directions are clearly explained. School leaders, especially superintendents and principals, can use these hands-on tools to understand what's going on in their schools and then make changes as necessary. Actual case studies show how using the questionnaires can help make every middle school a high-quality and positive learning environment.