Hoover Institution
11/19/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/19/2024 06:35
Understanding The Promise And Reality Of Continuous Improvement In US Public Schools
Continuous improvement is a long-standing and widely used approach for driving organizational change across a variety of private and public domains. This essay discusses the origins, character, and impact of continuous improvement with a particular emphasis on education. Dee explains the conceptual appeal of continuous improvement and the specific barriers to realizing its potential for driving educational improvement.
Key Takeaways
- Continuous improvement seeks to drive organizational impact through locally grounded, problem-focused cycles of piloting reforms and making data-driven assessments.
- Though continuous improvement is conceptually appealing and widely used, evidence for its efficacy is limited.
- The barriers to realizing continuous improvement's promise in education include requirements for high-quality data systems, staff training and time, and an institutional commitment to its cyclical process of problem solving.
Understanding the Promise and Reality of Continuous Improvement in US Public Schools by Hoover Institution
About The Author
Thomas S. Dee is the Barnett Family Professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Education and a senior fellow (joint) at the Hoover Institution. Dee is also a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and a research associate with the programs on education, children, and health at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
About Hoover Education
Hoover fellows have been and remain at the forefront of education reform research, including school choice and accountability. The Hoover fellowship conducts extensive research in education policy. Specific issues of focus include expanding school choice, boosting American K-12 student achievement, ensuring school accountability, and increasing teacher effectiveness. Hoover's education experts also engage the larger community of state and local policymakers, parents, and other stakeholders to develop solutions that are relevant, meaningful, and actionable.
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