A common refrain among directors goes something like this: "I have to get that food order in now." "I have to meet with Mrs. Miller about her bill." "I have to meet with the pre-k teachers today." "I have to get those marketing packets out today." Is it any wonder that so many directors are stressed out and tired? Many people have a tendency to…

Total Quality Management (TQM) is being adopted by many governmental entities, including public school districts. A basic tenet of quality improvement is that the customer, not the organization, defines quality. Other tenets are that the organization must satisfy the customer in order to best the competition; and that the organization must change…

Quality improvement, or Total Quality Management (TQM), has been used for years in the corporate world to help companies achieve better customer satisfaction, increase market share, and improve profitability. More recently, TQM has emerged as a promising strategy for school improvement and educational reform. In 1991, the school district of…

This book presents interactive problem-solving situations based on the principles of Total Quality Management. Following the introductory chapter, the second chapter describes the two stages of the problem-solving process: (1) analysis of the problem and its causes, and (2) identification of a solution. Each stage is comprised of three…

A growing number of schools and districts are considering using teams to handle all types of decision making and advisory activities. The term "teams" can be applied to a wide spectrum of groups with various purposes or powers. This bulletin was designed to assist those who want to create efficient, successful teams. It provides…

New managerial techniques such as total quality management and similar worker participation programs are an important albeit controversial component of the recent changes in the workplace brought about by increasing globalization of the economy. In addition, organized labor is faced with a changing and increasingly diverse population of new…

In the face of increasing demands for school reform, educational leaders are looking anew at the core elements of the instructional program, including the curriculum. This book serves as a guide to both understanding and practicing sound curriculum development. It lays out the steps of a quality curriculum-development process and emphasizes that…

This paper addresses issues and the viability of applying participatory management (PM) to education, with focus on Total Quality Management (TQM). Following a description of PM techniques with an TQM focus and a historical overview of Deming's management theory, four stages of team growth experienced during the implementation process are…

Total Quality Management for camps involves establishing ongoing assessment of campers' and parents' needs, marketing the capabilities of the organization, applying input of key staff members, and constantly making program improvements. This approach calls for discretionary decision making at all levels, and empowers staff to enter into the…

This paper presents the initial findings of a comprehensive 28-school multi-site case study, which sought to identify patterns in schools that are changing bureaucratic work patterns to those found in quality-management systems. The schools are located in Florida, Virginia, Minnesota, and Louisiana; all are led by principals who are trainers in…

A formal governance system was adopted by the Board of Trustees in April 1991 at Burlington County College in New Jersey after the Commission on Higher Education and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools observed that it was lacking. The policy defines the path for maintaining a governance structure which fosters clear and timely…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the change process in 28 schools, with a focus on how principals went about transforming traditional school-work cultures into quality systems. The principals had participated in Managing Productive Schools (MPS), a comprehensive systems-approach program based on quality management concepts.…

Those engaged in school restructuring can find direction in the philosophy of W. Edwards Deming, which has guided the operations of many American corporations. This paper provides an overview of Deming's Fourteen Points of Total Quality Management (TQM) and discusses their applications to education. To develop a successful TQM system, the school…

Quality work teams that are based on W. Edwards Deming's business-management theories have proliferated at the school and district levels to handle problem solving and decision making. Teams are said to build stronger relationships among those involved in education and, ultimately, to benefit students because more people with broader perspectives…

Ways to apply the concepts and processes of Total Quality Management (TQM) to education are discussed in this document. Following the introduction and the preface, chapter 1 provides a historical overview and describes the four cornerstones of TQM--an understanding of systems, psychology, knowledge, and statistics. Chapter 2 describes some of the…