ABSTRACT
In quality-managed organizations, leaders rescue themselves from micro-managing the organization to focus on the future. The plans at all levels—district, department and school—taken as a whole become the district’s Quality Management Plan. “Pinellas County Schools unites with the community to provide a quality education enabling each student to succeed.” In the case of public education, standards of quality would be descriptions of what graduates need to know and be able to do upon graduation, and thus should drive decision-making regarding curriculum and instruction at every grade level. Institutionalizing quality will require changing the rules of the game in order to reinforce the values of the new culture. Changing the rules will hinge upon new policies, procedures and processes for managing and integrating the change process. A feedback or data management system on performance that provides data for decision-making and “management by fact” is the most critical component for Continuous Quality Improvement.
