EDUL 6015 Pamela Barnett
Total Quality Management Assignment #1
Examine figure 1, ("As-Is" and "to-Be") and then complete the following. Reflect on the governance structure and procedures at your school for each of the listed "As-Is" statements, and provide specific examples for each of the "As-Is" statements as they currently exist at your school.
such as our administrations emphasis on increasing students academic performance and tests scores, but restricting amount of homework in some content areas and not allowing it at all in others. This policy is due to parents complaining to the principal that their children have too much homework and can’t get it done because they have other things to do after school. Parents also say they are too tired and busy to help with and monitor their children’s homework. Yet, parents want their children’s grades and test scores to be at the top of the spectrum. Teachers feel that students need a certain amount of practice outside of the classroom to ensure academic success and believe they should have the authority to assign homework as they find necessary during an instructional sequence.
to one that has a common vision shared by its divisions and departments.
such as students wearing their pants below the genitals even though the school has a published dress code that prohibits this behavior. The dress code is not enforced consistently. The administration gives students repeated daily warnings and reminders with no improvement in the behavior. Rarely are any consequences suffered by the students that break the dress code. When teachers express their concern, the principal says his purpose in not enforcing the dress code is to provide students an "outlet", a way to bend or break the rules without going to a more severe level of breaking rules such as fights, gang behavior, weapon possession or drugs. We are told that students are only breaking a little rule and to just keep reminding them about the dress code and asking them to pull up their pants and tuck in their shirts. The majority of the students that break the dress code have developed other behavior problems that disrupt the learning environment. They expect other rules to be enforced the same way the dress code is enforced.
to one that openly discusses problems and sees defects as opportunities for improvement.
such as monetary rewards for "perfect attendance" for teachers when they do not use any sick or annual leave during a school year. A thousand dollars for just showing up everyday—regardless of what you do or do not do during each of those days.
to one that rewards risk-taking and creative thinking.
such as administrations that are so busy putting out the small fires that they do not have time to consider long-term solutions to the problems. For years, each time teachers do their permanent records they find required information has been removed from the folder and not replaced or that records are placed in the folder that should not be there. Since homeroom teachers are responsible to keep all permanent records completed and in order at all times, teachers continually have to expend effort and time to replicate the same work. This problem has been repeatedly and emotionally explained to the principal without a solution. He gives assurance that he will deal with the problem when he finishes dealing with the immediate discipline problems in the hall and the parents waiting in the office and clears his desk of the paperwork.
to one that focuses on long-term continuous process improvement.
such as teachers inspecting progress reports and report cards to find errors in grades and attendance. We have often had to reprint grade reports at the last minute due to errors in exporting and/or printing. Teachers have to scramble to get report cards ready to give parents that come to our PTO meetings for the purpose of getting their child’s grades.
to one that improves work processes to prevent mistakes from occurring.
such as spending funds on what leadership perceives as needed rather than using teacher input and requests. Teachers’ requests to attend a content related conference are denied due to lack of funds, yet principals and county office personnel and their spouses are going to attend a technology conference in California for 4 days.
to one that trusts and empowers employees to contribute to decision making.
such as teachers that take a stance against each other just to exercise some power even when they do not truly support or believe in their stance. This is often done when one teacher feels they have been slighted. For example, during a content meeting a teacher felt they should have been given certain information to disseminate when the Curriculum Director decided to give the info to another staff member to disseminate. The "slighted" teacher had objections to the proposals presented during the meeting and spoke for and influenced the other content teachers to see things her way. No redirection was given by the principal to emphasize team work and to resolve the problem to make the meeting productive.
.
to one that facilitates and rewards cross-functional cooperation.
such as in an effort to make class scheduling easier the principal assigns a teacher to teach larger classes to decrease the number of classes necessary to teach Reading so the teacher can also teach a Social Studies class. The number of students in the reading classes increases and concerns over class size and grouping on reading scores and student performance grows.
to one that bases all decisions on objective data.
such as when teachers express concerns over student behavior/learning disruptions and work ethic in the classroom and they are often told to "just do what you can with what you have". No viable solutions are offered. Yet there is a continuous pressure and emphasis on how important meeting AYP is to the school and the system. Teachers develop an attitude that nothing they do matters and they are just knocking themselves out trying to accomplish the impossible.
to one that feels like a winner, with achievements creating good morale.