Improving Student Learning: Applying Quality Principles in Classrooms

Citation

Narasimhan, K. (2002), "Improving Student Learning: Applying Quality Principles in Classrooms", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 12 No. 5, pp. 347-348. https://doi.org/10.1108/msq.2002.12.5.347.2

When I obtained this book for review, my colleague questioned, “Isn’t it too old a book to be reviewing?” The answer is yes and no. Yes, it is five years old; and no, it is not old for reviewing, as we tend to lag behind the USA in adopting quality improvement tools. Improving student learning has become a key issue now in UK, from primary stage to university education. Schools and teachers have to demonstrate that they are continually improving to obtain increased funds and performance‐based salary increases. This book by Lee Jenkins provides answers to what to measure and how, based on Deming’s profound knowledge. Lee Jenkins, a PhD graduate, is the superintendent of Antioch Unified School District, California, and does extensive consulting work in USA and has addressed educators in Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, and South America.

The book comprises 23 short chapters grouped into six sections, and supported with authentic examples (158 exhibits) of use of data in the classroom. It shows how quality of learning can be improved by assessing and documenting the effectiveness of changes made in the classroom. Though the book is written for teachers, trainers in industries could also apply the principles to improve the learning of the trainees.

Section I, comprising two short chapters, introduces the reader to Dr Deming’s aim of education of decreasing the negatives and improving the positives to maintain students’ desire to learn and the basics of variation. Section II comprises four chapters and deals with Dr Deming’s profound knowledge. The seven elements of an education system – aim, supply, input, process, output, customer, and quality measurement – are briefly dealt with and the importance of information and knowledge are dealt with respectively in Chapters 3 and 4. The topics of the next two chapters are the importance of maintaining children’s enthusiasm to learn (and not destroy it, for example, by ranking) and reducing variation. A table summarizing Dr Deming’s profound knowledge is provided.

Improving student learning is the topic of Section III comprising six chapters. In this section measuring information and knowledge, and effecting improvement at different levels – student, classroom, school, and district – are explained with numerous examples using run charts, scatter diagrams, histograms and “Web” charts. He emphasizes that the process of improvement should be we based and not top‐down or site based and that it is possible to eliminate athletic‐type statistics in education. Section IV deals with the need and the methods for measuring, studying, and improving students’ enthusiasm.

Jenkins turns his attention to improving the decision‐making process in Section V, comprising six chapters. In Chapter 15, he describes the plan, do, study, act (PDSA) process. In Chapter 16, the ills of ranking are dealt with. In the next four chapters, he describes the quality decision‐making tools:

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  priority matrix to assess the relative importance of customers’ requirement;

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  the application of cause‐and‐effect diagram for listening and consensus building;

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  scatter diagrams for displaying relationships; and

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  control charts for identifying common and special causes of variation.

Societal issues that hinder improved learning forms the topic of Section IV and is covered in three chapters. Legislative tampering is dealt with in Chapter 21. The drawbacks of indices and how to overcome them using multiple measures are briefly explained in Chapter 22, and the application of force‐field analysis to understand the forces helping to maintain status quo is covered in Chapter 23.