Continuous Improvement in Practice
Legislation & Policy
(Policy Analysis for California Education)
This policy brief presents research-based information on
“continuous improvement” and identifies characteristics present
in organizations that are successful in building a culture of
continuous improvement. It also identifies some areas that
district and school administrators have identified as challenging
within the current context.
While acknowledging that continuous improvement holds promise as
a means for improving educational outcomes, the brief states,
“However, the education leaders interviewed for the brief also
identified several barriers to the implementation of continuous
improvement. Three barriers include 1) a lack of clarity about
the what continuous improvement looks like in practice and how to
get there, 2) insufficient strategies and supports to grow
internal capacity for continuous improvement, 3) difficulty
prioritizing continuous improvement in a resource-constrained
environment, and 4) variation in the availability and use of data
to support continuous improvement.”
The brief goes on to identify key features of a continuous
improvement approach:
● Taking a systems perspective. Continuous improvement assumes
that it is the system and not individuals that produces current
outcomes and accordingly focuses attention on system design and
operation. It also assumes that systems can be reengineered to
address inequities in educational outcomes.
● Being process-oriented. Improvement efforts focus on
the processes that produce the outcomes as opposed to focusing
exclusive attention on the outcomes themselves.
● Using a disciplined methodology to solve problems. Assumptions
about cause and effect are made explicit and tested in
practice.
● Engaging the “front line .” Those directly responsible for
implementation (e.g., classroom teachers) are actively
involved in experimentation).
While the brief consistently identifies the intent of recent
state education policy to move away from punitive accountability
toward a growth-oriented system, one with greater capacity to
innovate, collaborate and respond appropriately to student-level
data through collective inquiry, better understanding of how the
state, county offices of education, and support providers can
effectively support continuous improvement is needed.
Access the full report HERE:
https://edpolicyinca.org/sites/default/files/CI%20in%20Pratice.pdf
