Total Quality Management has been billed as a way to improve school performance. Can TQM improve schools? If so, how?
- developing and maintaining constancy of purpose
- developing and maintaining unity of purpose, and
- driving out fear.
Total Quality Management has the potential to improve schools, but the odds of that happening are not very good.TQM's effectiveness depends on patience—an uncommon luxury in schools today. With school improvement efforts, criticism and impatience have been the rule. Key players such as board members and superintendents either don't stay around long enough to see through far-reaching changes, or they succumb to their critics by adopting short-lived, quick-fix innovations.And what are the chances that TQM administrators will be patient in their efforts to transform schools? They will need to resist the more dynamic strategy of laying out goals and slogans as they've done with other innovations. They will have to restrain the urge to publicize that they are "doing TQM." It would be a real luxury if administrators could quietly develop total quality strategies without being distracted by impatient observers. But that hasn't happened in the past, and it's unlikely to happen in the near future.At the grass-roots level, what are the odds that quality management teams will persevere as they attempt to reduce their dependence on traditional measures of quality; as they diminish their reliance on grades and standardized tests; as they experiment with flexible schedules; as they attempt to accomplish all of these things with fewer resources? Past history says the odds are pretty slim.—Leo Gensante is Superintendent of the Hollidaysburg (Pa.) Area School District.
Total Quality came to our school in October 1991, when we were awarded the Governor's Creative Schools Initiative Award. Our proposal was to train staff members in Deming's total quality principles, then allow them to apply those principles to education.After receiving training in TQM philosophy and tools, staff members identified issues to be refined, revised, or at least evaluated. The topics chosen for scrutiny were as varied as the individuals. Some were business issues involved in running a school. Our food services staff, for example, evaluated the supplies they consume, and ultimately streamlined their processes to save both time and money. Our office manager used quality tools to display data graphically, showing that our copy machines ate a huge chunk of our building budget.Other applications affected students more directly. Our guidance staff developed a process to evaluate students who are struggling academically or behaviorally, ensuring documentation and consistent follow-up. The counseling team surveyed customers (students, parents, and staff) prior to restructuring. Personnel in the media center found ways to disseminate reference materials more efficiently; they also shortened the acquisition time for new equipment from four months to six weeks by eliminating unnecessary steps.At the district level, our facilities services staff found ways to decrease energy consumption, thereby generating significant savings. Our business services staff improved delivery time on back orders. Our information systems staff greatly improved accuracy on student registration forms. Those responsible for transportation enhanced students' safety by monitoring details as minuscule (but crucial) as tire pressure.The true challenge, however, was in applying TQM directly to classrooms. A math teacher asked students to determine the correlation between homework completion and subsequent test grades. Our math department analyzed topic areas where our students are weak, then made a systematic enhancement to their curriculum. Our English department identified their processes to avoid duplication and make the best use of class time.Through these efforts, we've learned that quality is a matter of belief, commitment, and relentless hard work. Data collection and evaluation, systematic refinement of processes, and a willingness to evaluate new paradigms are imperative to a quality school environment.Our staff members now possess some invaluable tools. We're committed to the ongoing use of those tools. Further, we believe that putting them into our students' hands will give us a leading edge in addressing the challenges that public education and our society will surely continue to face.—Michael Walz is Principal of Boltz Junior High School in Fort Collins, Colo. Karen Boehler is Assistant Principal of Boltz Junior High School in Fort Collins, Colo.