Ep 73 - School District uses ISO 9001 to Improve Education

Racine Unified School District found themselves in a similar
situation as other school systems and business, they were facing
huge budget cuts and rising costs in education.  The district
wanted to provide high quality education to their population, just
under half of which were economically disadvantaged.  In a
case study found at the ASQ website and authored by Dr. Stephen
Miller, we learned that this school district turned to a quality
management system to help them improve student achievement, student
engagement, customer satisfaction, and operational
efficiency.  Yes, ISO 9001 benefits any business and all
school districts.   With ISO 9001:2000 in place, the district
was able to show that attendance rates increased, and truancy and
suspensions decreased.  Their customer satisfaction survey did
not show favorable results for middle and high school levels, which
would normally be discouraging for the leaders of the
district.  However, they were able to show that while it was
low, there was an increase in satisfaction in both levels showing
movement in the right direction.  Perhaps the most exciting
part, as quality managers, was seeing that their Nonconformance
reports increased from 91 in 2004-2005 to 134 the next year. 
This is exciting news; it shows that people are on board with the
system and happy to identify areas from improvement.  It shows
the employees believe in the system and believe their leaders care
about change for the better.  Education and our children are a
passion for Darci and you’ll see that come through at the end of
the episode.  School districts could be so much better with
continual improvement.  ISO 9001 also provides a better
process for all departments, often resulting in more money for the
bottom line, which could go directly back to the children and their
education.  Most often, we find these case studies and then
learn that the district is no longer working on their quality
management system.  In education, the next person comes along
to take a position and has a different idea or does not want to
keep that one up.  Quality Management should be here to stay
for all businesses, and school districts. Racine Unified School
Districthttps://www.rusd.org/
http://asq.org/edu/2007/05/change-management/partnerships-and-the-racine-unified-school-district-en.html?shl=089963
If you or your team are interested in knowing more about how
Quality Management and implementation of a standard such as ISO
9001 can improve your school district, email Darci directly at
dchambers@texasqa.com Learn more about #QualityMatters & Texas
Quality Assurance
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