Strategies and Methods for Planning Programs and Improving the Quality of Education - Research Paper Example

?Education Planning and Development: Monitoring and Evaluating New Programs This paper focuses on researching various models of Total Quality Management (TQM) and comparing these models with an educational organization namely Iberville Parish School District located in Plaquemine, Louisiana. This paper carefully studies four major benchmarks of quality enhancement including ISO 9001:2008, Six Sigma, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and LEAN (LEAN Enterprise Institute). Substantial research has been conducted and each of the standards has been compared against these researches. Many researchers state that these standards must not be limited to the industrial and business level only, but they can prove to be very helpful for educational organizations also. Majority of researchers from their studies concluded that these standards have improved the quality of education and performance of students. Introduction Large corporations and multinational organization have always created ways of improving quality in order to take over the leading position in the market. For this purpose, strategies of some organizations have become benchmark standards for quality improvement such as Toyota Production System (TPS) crafted the LEAN model whereas Six Sigma model was first implemented by Motorola. The purpose of these models is to utilize the available resources in the best possible manner and produce a final product which excels its competitors in terms of quality. Having observed the importance of these models in business processes, many educational institutes have also came forward with the idea of implementing these models in order to improve the quality of education. In subsequent paragraphs, each model has been compared with educational standards so as to determine their effectiveness in educational organizations. ISO 9001:2008 ISO is known worldwide for the standards which it has developed for maintaining the quality management system in organizations. ISO doesn’t formulate standards for products but for the entire system. By following the standards of ISO, an organization can assure the production of better quality products because it requires having appropriate control over all the stages of procedures including customer needs, manufacturing, procurement of raw material, personnel training and procedure & processes etc. Purpose and Value In every sector, organizations are implementing systems for improving the quality management system. These systems ensure customer satisfaction and boosts productivity. Poksinska, Eklund and Dahlgaard, (2006) have conducted a study in order to find out the implication of ISO 9001:2009 in small organizations. They found that the minimum efforts of implementing ISO 9001:2008 brought some changes in the performance of the companies (Poksinska, 2006). The value of ISO 9001:2008 can never be denied as those organizations which comply with it, are considered as more trust worthy in the eyes of its stakeholders. For Iberville Parish School, implementing ISO 9001:2008 will help in raising funds and thereby providing the best quality education to its students. Application and Relative Functionality In order to have effective implementation of quality system in Iberville Parish School, some necessary application is required. In this regard, Management Representatives (M.R) must be hired. The M.Rs will be hired in order to take care of the following aspects: Quality Manual Quality manual will consist of all the requirement of ISO 9001:2008 standards. The requirements and standards will then be followed by the Iberville Parish School. Procedure Manual The procedure manual will consist of detailed standards and requirements which will assist the individual process department. In this way, it will become easier for the staff to implement the Quality Manual. Preventive actions and corrective measures will be put into effect if required. Records/ Formats For all the activities which are carried out in the school, each data generated through the implementation of this process will be recorded as evidence. Implication of ISO 9001:2008 Implementation of ISO 9001:2008 requires taking some noticeable steps. For Iberville Parish School, quality must be shown through the system of education. Not only the education which is provided should be authentic and practical but the entire educational system must also depict improvement in quality. It includes better classrooms, utilization of better tools and software for teaching, pleasant internal environment of school, hygiene and safety etc. Cweik (2009) conducted a research in order to find the implementation of quality management system in educational institutes. The author concluded that the impact of implementation of ISO 9001:2008 in educational system was crucial. The author also stated the practical implementation of ISO 9001:2008 is that it can result in improvement in the systems of schools and universities (Cwiek, 2009). Sarbu, (2009) also stated that in order to attain excellent performance in all the activities of the university and school, this is the only way through which the schools and universities can be ranked at first at international level as well (Sarbu, 2009). Six Sigma Six sigma is referred to as practical implication of statistical measurement which equates to having 3.4 defects in every million opportunities. Essentially, it means having zero error for any services or process. The attainment of six sigma is considered as one of the greatest measure of quality. Six sigma is based upon ideology that practically all errors have the tendency to get prevented. Value and Purpose Six sigma has been widely implemented by corporations and large multinationals. Many large universities and schools have also implemented this quality management model in order to improve the performance as well as ranking. Competition is getting fierce in the higher education market place nowadays. Researchers have contributed a lot of literature in determining the efficacy and appropriateness of implementing six sigma in educational systems. Application and Relative Functionality Researchers have highlighted the importance of six sigma in educational institutions and for this purpose they have conducted extensive studies. Deshpande (2009) has proposed ways of implementing six sigma in universities and higher schools. Moreover, they have stated ways of operating six sigma in the best possible manner. They concluded that if six sigma is applied to the schools, higher school and universities, then there are higher chances of aligning the work processes with the society’s expectations (Deshpande, 2009). This research validates the importance of functionality of six sigma in educational institutes. In order to increase the efficiency of Iberville Parish School, six sigma can play a key role. Implication of Six Sigma According to Kurt (2004), lean six sigma can be implemented to higher education in order to eradicate the chances of defects and errors. According to Kurt (2004), lean six sigma is a process of improving quality by obtaining data, controlling and understanding variations and enhancing the predictability of the business processes of schools (Kurt, 2004). For implementing six sigma in education, the first step is to determine a problem. The project must be defined out of which the problem has to be completely eradicated. These projects are needed to be led using DMAIC model (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control). Basic six sigma principles must be taught to the senior level. This creates room for creativity and innovation. After that, a model can be developed which promotes close communication between students and teachers. This module assists in obtaining a technique in order to gain and evaluate the inputs of everyone (Six Sigma Training Assistant, 2007). Implementation of six sigma in education system can bring constructive changes in methodologies of teaching. Proper education will help in paving the quality learning for students. Implementing six sigma can smoothen the road ahead to reach the desired outcomes. Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award Many institutes utilize the criteria of education excellence all over the world. Malcolm Baldrige Award provides a way to obtain sustainable position across the entire organization. There are many educational organizations such as community colleges, business schools etc. which use the Malcolm Baldrige Award in order to improve the quality level of their schools and student’s education (Baldrige Performance Excellence Program , 2010). Value and Purpose Just like other quality improvement initiatives, such as lean six sigma, ISO 9000. School Improvement Planning, Baldrige criteria also addresses the key issues which are required for running a successful educational institute. Using Baldrige, productivity can be improved, effectiveness can be increased and performance excellence can be pursued. Application and Relative Functionality Applying Baldrige criteria, can improve the performance of Iberville Parish School. It will assist in sustaining and achieving highest levels of: Customer engagement and satisfaction Student learning outcomes Workforce engagement and satisfaction Process efficiency Better results of Product and service Financial, market and budgetary results Social responsibility According to Siri (2001), Baldrige can be very helpful for teachers and staff to improve the performance of students and quality of education in schools. Through continuous improvement techniques, many schools and colleges have increased productivity and product quality through Baldrige (Siri, 2001). If the Baldrige Criteria is applied to Iberville Parish School, certainly it would multiply the performance of students as well as quality of education. Other authors have highlighted the significance of leadership in Baldrige. Badri (2006) has mentioned that leadership is the driving factor behind the successful application and functionality of Baldrige. They conducted the performance of higher education institutes in UAE in order to find out the effectiveness of Baldrige. They recommended that studies in other areas need to be conducted in order to find out the reliability of the results (Badri, 2006). Furst-Bowe (2007) has also validated through their study that Malcolm Baldrige is a comprehensive model for improving quality and innovation in universities, school and colleges (Furst-Bowe, 2007). Implication of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award  In order to implement Bladrige in Education, the following aspects are considered where improvement needs to be made. 1. Leadership 2. Learning-centered education 3. Organizational learning and Continuous improvement 4. Development and Participation of Faculty and staff 5. Partnership development 6. Prevention and Design quality 7. Long-term vision for future 8. Citizenship and Public responsibility 9. Quick response and 10. Results orientation (Moore, 1996). Despite of such benefits arising from the implementation of Baldrige System, there come many challenges and issues in implementing Baldrige in non-profit organizations such as higher education. According to Sirvanci, (2004), these challenges include customer identification, leadership and cultural issues, organizational issues etc. Sirvanci (2004) has proposed some suggestions in order to overcome these issues and challenges which must be considered by every educational institute which intends to adopt Baldrige criteria (Sirvanci, 2004). Walpole (2002) has stated that Bladrige criterion has faced a lot of criticism as well. The criticism mainly addresses the idea of implementing a business model to education. Critics further state that performance factors in education are not measurable the way they are in business (Walpole, 2002). Despite of such criticism, Baldrige has brought positive results to the those educational institutes where it has been implemented such as Jenks Public Schools , Community Consolidated School District 15, Iredell-Statesville Schools, Pearl River School District etc. LEAN (LEAN Enterprise Institute) LEAN system is primarily used in the production systems of large organizations in order to minimize wastage. The major principles of LEAN system include: Driving the activities as per the needs and expectations of customers. Keeping everyone involved and participate with their skills and ideas for implementing systematic change Eliminating waste by increasing the overall value chain process Building capability and process in order to ensure sustainable competitive edge By going through the above basic principles, it is evident that this type of quality management system is especially designed for production systems but many educational organizations have successfully implemented this system. Value and Purpose Decker (2010) has highlighted the value and purpose of LEAN system in education. According to Decker (2010), LEAN system helps in: Improving efficiency and processes Improving satisfaction of stakeholders Reducing waste Accountability (Decker, 2010) Application and Relative Functionality Flumerfelt (2008) has clearly stated that schools are in a good position to consider the application of Lean system. In fact, it is easier to construct a lean system for schools than for any other organization. Value stream mapping is one way of doing that where allocation of resources and time is made for various activities of students (Flumerfelt, 2008). If this program of LEAN system is applied in Iberville Parish School, then it is expected to increase the productivity and efficiency of students.   Ziskovsky (2007) has provided a detailed paper on the application of LEAN system in education. They further state that lean process engages everyone in streamlining the process by eliminating the steps which are unnecessary and wasteful. Lean system focuses that each step adds value to the final product (Ziskovsky, 2007). Implication of Lean System in Education Alp (n.d.) has defined the apparent changes which appeared before and after implementing lean system. Some of them were improved standards for each course, improved understanding of students towards their courses, closer relationship between faculty and students, personalized assignments and cross discipline etc. (Alp, n.d.). These obvious changes after implementing lean can provide insights to other educational institutes to pursue this system for acquiring total quality. Johnson (2010) describes other ways of implementing lean system in education through which students can improve real processes. They include hands on activities and physical simulation (Johnson, 2010). These activities can be adopted by Iberville Parish School as well if they intend to implement this system for improving the standards of education. Conclusion This paper has comprehensively accumulated the researches which have been done in order to determine the effectiveness of the models used for quality improvement. The four major quality improvement models namely ISO 9001:2008, Six Sigma, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and LEAN Enterprise have been studied in this paper. After studying all the relevant researches, it has been observed that these models have significantly improved the performance of educational institutions. On a concluding note, it is recommended that each educational organization needs to implement one of these models so as to improve the overall quality of education and performance of students. It will not only improve more ways of raising funds but will also help in improving the ranking of the respective school. References Alp, N. (n.d.). THE LEAN TRANSFORMATION MODEL FOR THE EDUCATION SYSTEM. Retrieved from http://www.google.com.pk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=lean+system+in+education&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFQQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.112.4847%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf&ei=IvHAT-i_FcmJ8gOJ6cjwCg&usg=AFQjCNHFakOAz8mSgW Badri, M. A. (2006). The Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence Framework: Empirical test and validation. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 1118 - 1157. Baldrige Performance Excellence Program . (2010, February 18). Baldrige by Sector: Education. 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Six Sigma In Education. Retrieved from http://www.sixsigmaonline.org/six-sigma-training-certification-information/articles/six-sigma-in-education.html Walpole, M. a. (2002). THE PROMISE OF BALDRIGE FOR K–12 EDUCATION. ACT Policy Report. Ziskovsky, B. a. (2007). Doing more with less- Going Lean in Education. Retrieved from Lean Educator Conference: http://www.leaneducation.com/whitepaper-DoingMoreWithLess.pdf Read More