Beginning in the mid to late eighties, America, at a national level, began to focus on the problems of an underachieving public school system. Prescribed solutions for these problems focus on traditional education responses to problems: add more to the curriculum, spend more money, and specify a set of elevated standards for students and schools. However, in this environment, a growing number of schools are succeeding by applying total quality management (TQM) principles to the education process. This paper looks at TQM application in K-12 schools, focussing on those schools major common themes. Those themes are: constancy of purpose, commitment to quality at all levels, metrics to measure improvement, employee training, and partnerships for quality with businesses and government. It looks at the similarities between these themes and Deming's 14 quality points. It also examines TQM implementations in two school districts: Central Park East Schools in East Harlem, NY, and Johnson City Schools in Broome County, NY. The paper concludes by reviewing the positive results in school systems using TQM and stressing the importance of adopting Deming's principles to the education workplace.

In May, 1994, President Clinton signed the Goals 2000 Educate America Act. The act authorizes $647 million in FY94 for education reforms to help all students meet a set of national academic standards by the year 2000; $400 million of the appropriation goes to state and local school agencies. The Clinton administration has requested $700 million for FY95 ("Setting Standards," 1994).

The Goals 2000 standards, covering curriculum content, student performance, resource requirements, and teacher preparation, address the problems of school systems whose effectiveness, measured by the performance of their students, has declined significantly over the past two generations. Peter Likins, president of Lehigh University, summed up the state of American K-12 education in a 1991 speech:

"The mind-set of most educators is not that different from that of plant managers a decade or two ago. Educators tend to accept the notion that they're going to have a 25% dropout rate.

In the factories, they used to say 'the materials are no good,' 'the suppliers are falling down on the job,' and 'the workers aren't working.' But now we hear that kind of thing about education - that 'kids come to school not ready to learn,' 'society is falling down on the job,' and 'teachers aren't committed.' When one of four students drop out of the system, we send him or her back for rework - or we scrap that individual. It's not so different."

You only have to look at the unemployment lines, the homeless, and prisons to see the human rework and scrap areas. Seventy-five percent of the American prison population are high school dropouts (Kelly, 1991). These costs are obvious drains on society, but less obvious is the estimated $20 to $40 billion spent every year by American businesses to bring workers up to basic skill levels (Schargel, 1993). These costs are passed on to all of us in the forms of higher taxes, higher prices, and fewer job opportunities. However, historically, spending more money by itself has not improved student performance in the long-term. The key reasons are that school systems tend to absorb money at high levels and, more importantly, the schools' practices remain the same (Forest, 1993). In this climate, a growing number of school systems are succeeding by applying total quality management (TQM) principles to education.

This paper looks at the application of TQM principles in K-12 school systems. It examines TQM theory as it relates to education and how that theory is applied successfully in various school districts. The paper also looks in detail at TQM implementation in the Central Park East Schools in East Harlem, NY and the Johnson City Schools in Broome County.

Many discussions about using TQM in education get bogged down trying to assign positions or objects to the terms in Deming's lexicon. Positions and objects like student, teacher, administrator, government, business, community, and curriculum get applied to terms like customer, employee, product, and stakeholder.

From a TQM perspective, education is unique in its external customer relationships. For this paper, external refers to any entity not directly connected to the school system as a formal employee or a tangible product. However, students, who are external, are deeply involved in classroom (workplace) operation and organization, more than in most service industries. This puts the student in the dual role of external customer and informal employee. The school has an obligation to provide a quality education (product) to the student (customer), but the student (employee) has a reciprocal obligation to work and participate with teachers, administrators, and other students (all internal customers).

There is no consensus answer to "who is the customer?" There are several TQM models being applied in a number of school districts. Some of these define the students as the customer, some the parents, and some define businesses and the community. Some models list students as the product, while others classify students as employees. However, the majority of school TQM implementations do not get caught up defining terms, although they do identify and research their external relationships. Most do not identify themselves as TQM, and the majority of people driving these implementations had no formal TQM training when their programs began. Many educators are uncomfortable using terms like "customer" or calling what they do "management." Even though their techniques are TQM-based, their procedures are referred to by terms like participatory management, shared decision-making, or site-based management (Axland, 1991).

A challenge in implementing total quality in education is to avoid a rigid interpretation of Deming. Instead, educators need to look at other school systems and other related service industries, study their successes, and ask how that success can be replicated and applied to their situation (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993a; Salmon, 1993). Even though strategies vary, school systems making advances toward continuous quality improvement share several common themes. These themes are also common with several of Deming's 14 points. Although all of these themes are important, this paper focuses on five of them; they are: creating a constancy of purpose, commitment to quality at all levels, metrics to measure improvement, employee training, mastery learning, and partnerships for quality with business and government.

Constancy of Purpose

Emphasis on test scores, a "push the kids through the system" mind-set, and focus on other short-term goals all detract from the quality of education. This short-term thinking is sometimes referred to as visible numbers only management (Holt, 1993). From an educator's perspective, test scores, grades, and promotion rates are the equivalent of the financial ratios in a corporate annual report. However, in a total quality school, there is a more focused effort: the emphasis is on providing an education rather than on producing the evidence of an education.

The foundations of any quality movement are visible leadership and a clearly articulated vision or mission (Horine, 1992). Based on a review of current literature, all schools involved in continuous quality improvement have defined a mission statement. A sample mission statement from George Westinghouse Vocational and Technical High School in New York City is shown in figure 1. Typically, mission statements take up to a year to develop, and involve input from administrators, teachers, parents, and students.

To be successful, the mission or vision must be meaningful and visible. In quality schools, it's common to find posters or bulletin boards in every classroom relating a theme from the mission statement (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). Reinforcement like this is important for staff as well as students. Mission emphasis must pervade every aspect of the system. Schmoker and Wilson (1993a) found that school systems that have made significant quality improvement have employees that clearly understand the school's mission and goals, but just as important, the employees know how their job relates to the mission and can assess their performance against the organization's goals.

Commitment at All Levels

Commitment at all levels is Deming's point 2, adopt the new philosophy. Commitment for any existing organization means a management departure from the conventional, MBO-style approach. The new philosophy must emphasize employee empowerment, shifting from a paradigm of management by authority to a paradigm of management by expertise (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). The employees who have knowledge or expertise with a particular process need to be given a strong measure of authority over that process.

It is vital that empowerment extend to all organizational levels within a reasonable time. TQM failures, in most cases, can be attributed to management's lack of commitment to the new system, denoted by adopting some superficial elements of TQM without providing any real empowerment (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993a). This is a particular challenge for educators, since historically American school systems have been remarkably resistant to any fundamental change. Traditionally, problems with education are solved by adding additional programs onto the existing system (Holt, 1993). This is a classic example of what Deming calls tampering, or attacking the symptom of the problem instead of the root cause.

Employee Training

Employee training ties to Deming's points 6 and 13, institute training and encourage education and self-improvement for everyone. For quality implementation, training means both training in TQM methods and tools as well as attending courses/seminars to build job-specific or professional skills. The commitment to training, like the commitment to empowerment, must be ongoing and extend to all levels. The continuing education and training of all employees is a prerequisite to adopting Deming-style management (Holt, 1993).

All quality schools described in current literature have some type of training and/or continuing education program. The training is not necessarily statistically based as Deming advocates, but concentrates mainly on problem solving and teamwork techniques such as nominal group technique and brainstorming. Continuing education programs include school-sponsored inservice programs, school-funded third-party professional training (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b), and scholarships and grants for continuing related degree-based course work (Salmon, 1993).

Continuing training also helps with Deming's point 9: break down barriers between staff areas. Most quality schools hold cross-departmental meetings, both to solve problems that do not fit into the rather rigid departmental guidelines and to better integrate curriculums to make them more meaningful and interesting. For example, Clovis Schools in Fresno, CA used TQM team tools to integrate the history and fine arts curriculum; students now study the art and music of a place or time while learning the history (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). TQM team techniques and TQM's team approach are important for the design, implementation, and monitoring of such programs.

Partnerships for Quality

As part of their quality implementations, many school districts have formed partnerships with area businesses and/or with state and local government agencies to promote quality. Partnerships with the private sector usually take the form of donated materials, apprenticeship programs, donated training, or consulting. For example, George Westinghouse High School has an agreement with Ricoh Corporation to provide training for students to repair and maintain the copiers at the school. Ricoh also provides cooperative education opportunities to Westinghouse seniors. Also at Westinghouse, IBM donated twelve personal computers to help the quality program. Additionally, IBM invited a group of Westinghouse faculty, students, and parents for a weekend at the company's Customer-Driven Quality training program (Schargel, 1993).

Partnerships with government are usually administered through local or state quality councils. An example is the Millcreek Township School District in Erie, PA. Millcreek joined a regional quality movement called the Erie Excellence Council, a non-profit organization put together by the Erie Area Chamber of Commerce, in 1986. In 1992, Millcreek won the Stueben Crystal Erie Award, the council's equivalent of the Malcolm Baldridge Award, for highest quality achievement. Millcreek is the first public school system to win such an award in direct competition with private industry. The Erie Excellence Council assists Millcreek by assessing and giving feedback on their quality programs, helping with quality training, and providing grants and loans for Millcreek employees to continue their career development (Salmon, 1993).

Mastery Learning

Mastery learning literally translates to quality over quantity. Deborah Meier, director of Central Park East Schools, which are discussed in more detail later, refers to a "less is more" approach, that it is better for a student to produce one quality item than several inferior or mediocre items. This attitude is a direct contradiction with traditional educational theory, which holds that you get improved student performance by adding more work to the curriculum; the educational equivalent of trying to get increased output by speeding up the assembly line.

For schools, implementing mastery learning means eliminating many extraneous elements from the curriculum; reducing the course content to its most essential elements (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). It also means giving (empowering) teachers the flexibility to move at an appropriate pace for a particular class or student. The teacher's objective should be to cover as much material as the student(s) can master and retain. The theory is that if you offer students less content, but teach it well, they will retain more than students who are overloaded with trivial subject matter (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). Structure changes brought on by a mastery learning approach typically include flexible scheduling with longer class periods to allow students more "hands on" experience, the use of student tutors to allow students to reinforce skills in a practical setting, and teacher control over the pacing of the curriculum application.

Metrics to Measure Improvement

For education, metrics to measure improvement encompasses Deming's points 3, cease dependence on mass inspection, 5, improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, 8, drive out fear, and 11, eliminate numerical targets from the workplace. Many current education improvement initiatives, like America 2000, are top-down goals oriented. The first 3 points of the America 2000 strategy call for national standards in five core subject areas, a series of American Achievement Tests that will measure student performance at different grade levels, and encouragement of these tests as a basis for college admission and employment (Bemowski, 1991). When you strip away the rhetoric of America 2000, it translates to more of the same old thing: everything will be beautiful if we specify an enhanced final product and assess it through a series of output measures (Holt, 1993). Historically, this type of approach ends up one of two ways. Either the higher standards exclude a large number of people by labeling them as failures or inferior, or the standards are watered down so that the mandated success rates (quotas) can be achieved.

Deming argues that the only good use of process measurement data is providing the feedback used to improve a process. For quality schools, this means data measuring student performance and customer satisfaction.

With no consistent definition for who the customer is, schools focus efforts on the external entities that they supply and the types of products they provide. The Millcreek Township Schools conduct an annual survey of area employers to measure their satisfaction with Millcreek graduates, and identify areas where graduate's skills may be less than excellent. Millcreek is planning to implement a similar survey with local universities (Salmon, 1993). The Central Park East Schools have a similar program. They run a longitudinal study of their graduates, surveying them to find out how their education at Central Park East helped or failed to help prepare them for higher education or for the workplace (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

Measuring student performance is done with two goals in mind: first, to provide feedback on an individual student's performance and to identify problems as soon as possible, and second, to provide feedback on the teaching process. In quality schools, examinations are kept to a minimum, and the multiple-choice tests so common to primary and secondary schools are virtually eliminated (with the exception of state-mandated assessment exams). Each student's education is viewed as a work in progress. Staff members keep portfolios of each student's work. If teachers find that a student's work falls outside acceptable limits for the curriculum, then some special action is taken. Evaluation of students' work is done weekly or by-weekly, not the traditional once in a nine week marking period. The evaluations are less formal, tailored more to the individual student, and take up less overall teacher time than the process of formally preparing report cards.

Most quality schools still issue course grades, largely because their state education agencies require them to and most higher education institutions require a minimum grade point average in core subjects for admission. The degree to which grades are used varies. Westinghouse issues standard report cards and has a minimum GPA graduation requirement. Central Park East schools also issue course grades, but director Meier views grades as "written in pencil," and grades are not part of the schools' extensive graduation requirements (see figure 2). Mt. Edgecumbe High School, in Sitka, AK, has eliminated letter grades completely (Mt. Edgecumbe uses a system similar to Central Park East's graduation requirements, where students prepare works in written and oral form and present them to teacher and/or peer teams) (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

The important point is that quality schools evaluate student performance more frequently, but less formally than traditional schools. This gives teachers more reference points to discover problems and correct them early. It also provides the student with almost constant feedback in a less threatening format about how he/she is performing within the curriculum. It does this without resorting to mathematical minimums which, historically, limit performance.

There is a saying common to many quality schools, "if you can not measure it, it did not happen." In quality schools, teachers are given a great deal of flexibility about the way they run their classrooms and how they approach the curriculum. One objective is getting the most out of each teacher's expertise, but another objective is gathering information on how to improve the teaching process. This information is in the form where it can be used and applied by other teachers.

Driving out fear is an essential element of any quality implementation, since fear is the chief impediment to innovation and change. Schmoker and Wilson (1993b) noted several common fears: fear of putting forward an idea, fear of taking the long-term view, fear of performance evaluations, and fear of fear, or management using fear as a control tactic. Educators must feel free to innovate with the realization that their methods must be clearly defined and their results measurable in some way. It is necessary not only to know that students improved, but why they improved. This is what Deming meant by "measuring what is important," and what is important is data that can be used for process improvement. The traditional method of using test scores to see if an arbitrary standard is being met focuses on the outcome only, and focusing on the outcome is not an effective way to improve a process (Blankstien, 1993).

Central Park East is located in community district 4, East Harlem, New York City. Central Park East is described as "a resident and creative institution that has both soft-heartedly and tough-mindedly reached youngsters in the inner city" (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). Director Deborah Meier views the role she plays as promoting a democratic and collaborative setting in which there is a relentless concern with assessing quality and improvement (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993a). Understanding the systemic nature of organizations, Meier envisioned a school that reflects a real community, and one that was democratically governed with synergistic relationships among teachers, children and parents. Central Park East resembles what would be a typical inner-city school system in make-up only, with students from New York City's two poorest neighborhoods: 45% African American students, 30% Hispanic, and the remaining Anglo and Oriental (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

Central Park East School has done something that is not traditional and that is contrary to most stereotypes of an urban school. There is virtually no dependency on textbooks, there is no structure that typify traditional curriculum. Instead there is an exceptional level of spontaneity and autonomy. There is also an open six year curriculum plan for grades 7 through 12.

The level of achievement of Central Park East students is very impressive. The average dropout rate among African Americans and Hispanics in New York City is about 75%, but at Central Park East the dropout rate is only 3.1%. Even more impressive, 95% of Central Park graduates go on to college, many of them to some of the best colleges in the land. Students also do extremely well on standardized tests (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

In order to understand the success of Central Park East, one has to understand the issue of school choice. One could conclude that some of Central Park's success is attributable to school choice. However, about 70% of students at Central Park East come from within the immediate area (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). Those who argue for school choice have cited New York District 4 schools as the best proof of how choice can bring improvement. Others would argue that school choice programs focus more in attracting customers than improving schools.

It is interesting to learn that Meier is a choice advocate, "choice is necessary but not sufficient for school improvement . . . innovation and experimentation are essential to making better schools" (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). This requires decentralization and autonomy, but the innovation and experimentation that this autonomy produces should not be forced on anyone. Parents should have the right to decide which innovations are most appropriate for their children. In this way, choice can ensure that all participants can have "unity purpose," with all agreeing on the school policies and practices (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

The policies and practices applied in Central Park East have an uncanny resemblance to Deming's teachings. Meier has gained respect and notariety by creating a school environment that conforms to Deming's major themes: a democratic atmosphere, supportive leadership, team and collaborative effort, a clear and unified purpose, and an existence on regular analysis and data as a basis for continually improving on past practice to serve the schools customers (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993a).

Habits of Mind

Deming's first point of emphasis is to establish a clear and energizing sense of purpose. At Central Park East, the central purpose of the school is on helping the students to use their minds well, which means cultivating "habits of mind" which will help them to be successful. Every classroom has a poster largely displayed in plain view, with the teacher's interpretation of those habits: variations on the ability to infer, analyze, synthesize, and extrapolate (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993a).

Meier regularly meets with faculty and grade level teams to ask for "evidence, evidence, evidence." Meier focuses on data to find out how many students are succeeding on a given project and why. Her role is one that she has to constantly articulate the school's purpose, and at the same time help teams of teachers ensure that all effort and activity support that purpose (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

Another approach taken at Central Park East, is the notion that "less is more," meaning doing things in greater depth. They believe you can not have quality in education if you try cover everything. "Less is more" at Central Park East means teaching in a way that is memorable, that really means something to students (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). This is manifested through longer class periods allowing student involvement in pursuing a real interest. One of the arguments for a shorter class period is that, if periods are longer students will become bored and difficult to control, but the Central Park East belief is that when students are really interested in a topic and become engaged in pursuing it, they want and need the extended time that a longer period provides (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b)

Dispel Fear

Another parallel between Deming's principles and the operation at Central Park East is that Meier and her faculty do not operate through intimidation or by portioning blame. Nobody can work eagerly or imaginatively when they are afraid of being blamed for their mistakes. When freedom and support are given to people, they can do work that they can be proud of. At Central Park East, Meier and the faculty provide the necessary support. Meier's classroom visits and faculty team meetings provides not just purpose, but feedback and often precise evaluation that enables the teachers to know if what they are doing for the students is the best they can offer.

Emphasis is put on performance, on what students can actually do. These take the form of exhibitions. Student portfolios have for most part, replaced tests. These portfolios include, but are not limited to, written, oral, visual, independent and group work (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). Meier and the teams routinely examine the portfolios and every Spring business and community members (external customers/stakeholders) are invited to the school to evaluate work in the portfolios. The information from these public displays of student performance "fishbowls," as they are called, guides the following year's improvement efforts (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

Engagement and Enthusiasm: Prerequisites to Learning

Another parallel between Deming's principles and operations at Central Park East, is the belief that engagement and enthusiasm are prerequisites to learning. Central Park East operates on a very strong belief in what Deming calls "joy of labor" or "pride of workmanship." For administrators and faculty, student engagement is more important than covering every textbook. Meier believes that the environment for better learning is the one where students learn to look at themselves as the possessors and creators of wonderful ideas, an environment where teachers have autonomy and the latitude to do whatever they see as effective.

Quality Control

Inspection, according to Deming, does not improve quality and is costly and ineffective. Quality does not come from managing everything that workers do, it comes from managing employees in ways that encourages them to monitor and inspect their own work and from teaching them to do better, both as individuals and as a team (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). Mass inspection encourages complacency, and allows workers to ignore quality by making someone else the judge of their work. It also creates a feeling that few people are trusted.

There is no mass inspection at Central Park East. This does not mean that there is no quality control. Quality control in Central Park East has been refined by continuous feedback that enables teachers to know whether their efforts are consistent with what they want their students to achieve. Feckless mass inspection violates Deming's point about dispelling fear. Students are trusted to do their own quality control. Meier says that the students must "convince us that they are ready to graduate" (Schmoker and Wilson, 1993a). Trust and respect are the overriding characteristics that prevail at Central Park East.

At Central Park East, assessment is not based on standardized test data, although they do refer to them. Students received some brief training in how to take standardized tests. About 70% of the students score at or above grade level. These good results free teachers from some concern that drives so many schools toward dull remediative measures when test scores are low (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). Central Park East does not wait for standardized test scores to make improvements. They make them "up the pipe," at the point of implementation, where the teachers' expertise comes into play (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

The best example of this is the Senior Institute, which establishes requirements for all graduates. The Senior Institute covers work completed in 14 areas, including work contained in portfolios and competencies demonstrated through a variety of performances and presentations. The purpose of schooling at Central Park East is explicitly stated in the Senior Institute Handbook (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). Again, the aim of Central Park East is to teach students to use their minds well, defining intellectual development in terms of five habits of mind.

These are the ability to:

1. Critically examine evidence
   
2. See the world from multiple viewpoints
   
3. Make connections and see patterns
   
4. Imagine alternatives (What if? What else?)
   
5. Ask: "What difference does it make? Who cares?"
   

The handbook goes on to say:

"These five are the heart of all our work, along with sound work habits and care and concern for others: habits of work and habits of heart. The curriculum affirms the central importance of students learning how to learn, how to reason and how to investigate complex issues that require collaboration, personal responsibility and tolerance for uncertainty. Students graduate only when they have demonstrated an appropriate level of mastering in each area" (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

The requirements for graduation are listed in figure 2. Some students who cannot complete in two years take an addition year in Central Park East.

To have completed all the requirements and mastered all the competencies so far enumerated would be considered exceptional enough for upper-class suburban students. But for Central Park East students, many of whom come from poor, even welfare families, to have done so defies the stereotypes we have of inner-city schools (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

Another case where Deming's influence can be seen is the Johnson City Schools in Broome County, NY. This enormously improved school district has become something of an educational Mecca; it is one of the most-visited school districts in the country (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). Johnson City Schools have just recently been influenced by Deming's theories, and the theories easily align with what had been the practice in Johnson City Schools for many years.

In the 1970's Johnson City School district was the lowest achieving among the 14 districts in Broome County, until director John Champlin arrived. Champlin started his improvement effort by simply distributing and discussing educational research with the faculty of one school. Champlin's improvement program was a new style of management with a radically different view of schools and how they work. The first was simply that all students could learn, they all could succeed. Failure was not part of the program. Champlin said, "we in the school had control of variable . . . a top-down model of management stifled teachers, instead of seeing them as responsible decision makers" (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). During the first year, Champlin spent good amount of time simply conducting discussions, beginning with articles by John Carroll and Benjamin Bloom, whose work on mastery learning had clearly demonstrated that all students can learn. After some initial resistance, teachers begin to see that they have the ability of helping students reach far higher levels of achievement.

Johnson City Schools improvement effort embraced Bloom's seminal work. It helped to spawn the Outcomes-Driven Developmental Model (ODDM) which has brought national recognition to Johnson City. Bloom's belief that success depends more than anything on the quality of instruction and the amount of time allowed for the learning task (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). His writing is rife with strong pronouncements:

"The most wasteful and destructive aspect of our present educational system is the set of expectations about learning each teacher brings to the beginning of a new course term. The instructor expects a third of his pupils to learn well what is taught, a third to learn less well, and a third to fail or just "get by." Such a system fixes the academic goals of teachers and students. It reduces teachers aspirations and students desire for further learning. Further, it systematically destroys the ego and self-concept of a sizable proportion of students under conditions which are repeated frustrating and humiliating" (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

Bloom strongly feels that we must give away our expectations for students to better evidence. He cites a two year study on the effectiveness of mastering learning strategies conducted between 1965 and 1967:

"In 1965, before introduction of the Master Strategy, about 20 percent of students received A grades on the final examination. In 1966 the first year of the strategic use, 80 percent of the students reached the same mastery level on a parallel examination and were given A's.... The final result of 1967 parallel final examination showed 90 percent of the students had achieved mastery and are given A's."

Bloom concludes:

"It is hoped that each time a strategy is used, studies will be made to find out where it is succeeding and where it is not. Who did it help and who did it not? Hopefully, each new year's efforts can take advantage of the experience accumulated over the previous year" (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

One can see a parallel with Deming's philosophy here. Deming stressed emphasis on improvement through assessment and corrective action, that focus should be on the system faults rather than blaming the individual, the tendency to underestimate the capability of the student/worker, and most importantly, the emphasis on constancy of purpose and ongoing improvement (Deming's points 1 and 5) that is cultivated through regular analysis of data. Deming maintains that the only way to improve quality is to keep statistics so that you know whether the organization is going forward, is moving backward, or standing still where quality is concerned. Statistics should also be kept to which is the best way to teach. The parallel ideas of Bloom and Deming all point to the need for statistics and other data when carrying out continuing improvement efforts.

Pride of Workmanship

One of the important features of mastery learning is its emphasis on quality over quantity. If students and teachers want to find joy in their labor and also to experience "pride of workmanship" (Deming's point 12), it is imperative that irrelevant content be eliminated from the curriculum. This will also be consistent with Deming's principle to reduce waste and add value. Time spend on peripheral matters should be drastically reduced and more time spent on the matters that are worth learning. For example, a math teacher in the Johnson City system has doubled the number of his students who master Algebra I. He attributes his scuccess to the fact that he reduced his curriculum to most essential elements. For improvement purposes, data should be kept on the kind of learning that will remembered and applied when needed.

Eliminate Numerical Quotas and Numerical Goals

Specifying quotas or targets is a major concern for Deming because they usually do not include a system to help anyone to do a better job. The point is that quotas or targets should not be unilaterally instituted top-down. This usually places emphasis on quantity over quality. Although Deming eschews quotas, he insists that numerical data and evidence be gathered wherever possible to isolate important problems.

If, as Deming contends, collecting data on what is most important is essential for improvement, for validating our efforts, and refining our strategies, then it has done so for Johnson City Schools. Also, evidence from Johnson City also would indicate that Bloom's studies on expectations and mastery learning are valid. The following are indicators of success:

When director Champlin arrived in 1972, K-12 composite scores indicated that 45% to 50% of student were at or above grade level. By 1977, 70% scored at or above grade level. By 1984, it ranged between 80% and 90%. Also, by 1986, 77% of Johnson City graduates were receiving New York State's prestigious Regent's Diploma; the state average was 43%. Johnson City's score put them among the top three districts in the county (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b).

Another impressive indicator is a study that showed that the longer a student is in the Johnson City system, the better they do as they progress through the grades. This study took the class of 1989 and looked at the average achievement of these students in grades 2, 4 and 8. The data revealed that in grade 2, the average student was 0.3 years above grade level, by grade 4, the average was 1.5 years above grade level, and by grade 8, the average was 3.5 years above grade level.

Employee Training

Johnson City takes seriously Deming's point 6, institute training on the job, and point 12, institute a vigorous program of training and retraining; especially with regard to working in teams (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). Over the years the district has taken serious steps to adequately train its employees and also ensure that they continue to learn from each other. There is an orientation program for new teachers. Employees have ten staff development days per school year. The district even pays the teachers for days they work during summer recess. The bulk of staff development is in-house, and arrangements are made so that teachers or administrators can share ideas and expertise. Collective growth is encouraged through team meetings.

Trust and collegiality thrive at Johnson City. So does achievement, as is evidenced by students' standardized test scores, although good test scores are not at the heart of what Johnson City Schools want to accomplish. Rather, they want to concentrate on more authentic and performance based outcomes. Johnson City has recently sought a temporary variance from the state department of education that would allow them to put standardized testing on hold while they are refining more authentic assessments, on which teams of teachers have been working (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993b). Here again we are seeing more push for improvement.

Translating total quality principles to K-12 education is still in its early stages. A longitudinal survey, published each October by Quality Progress, tracks the number and characteristics of quality schools. The number of schools or school systems reported in the survey has grown from 40 schools in 20 states (Axland, 1991), to 64 schools in 25 states (Horine, 1992), to 102 schools in 32 states (Horine, 1993). This represents a 255% increase in the number of schools and/or districts reporting using quality methods over the last three years. These numbers are actually underreported, since many schools do not classify themselves as TQM, and some schools asked not to be named in the survey's listing.

Based on last years survey, 79% of the reporting schools were in their first or second year of quality implementation. Only 5% of the schools have been using TQM for five years or more. Even with that somewhat limited results database, the results are very promising. The successes of Central Park East and the complete turnaround of Johnson City are directly attributable to the use of TQM tools and methods to improve the educational process. School districts in different circumstances have applied TQM principles, most with some degree of success. Although, quality schools are quick to point out that TQM is not a quick or easy fix; results could follow as much as three to five years behind implementation (Schmoker & Wilson, 1993a).

A key point seems to be taking Deming's view that management is not generic, even within an industry, but unique to each organization. In a Deming model, reform is a matter of taking each individual case and developing it's "internal goods" (Holt, 1993). That is what these schools have done with TQM principles, some more consciously than others. To reiterate, the common themes for these schools all correspond to a subset of Deming's 14 points. Even though Deming insisted that all 14 points were necessary, it is more important that Deming's themes are being adapted to fit the education workplace.

If we stop being stringent about particulars, the essence of Deming's philosophy and principles can be beneficial. Educators should study Deming, because his philosophy is precisely what is needed most in our schools. It is inspiring that many schools are already successfully practicing or implementing Deming's basic methods and principles. The experiences of these schools give us a promising and proven pattern on which to base large scale improvement efforts.

Axland, S. (1991, October). Looking For A Quality Education? Quality Progress. 61-72.

Bemowski, K. (1991, October). America 2000. Quality Progress. 45-48.

Blankstein, A.M. (1993, February). Applying the Deming Corporate Philosophy to Restructuring. Education Digest. 28-32.

Forest, S.A. (1993, August 2). True of False: More Money Buys Better Schools. Business Week. 62-63.

Holt, M. (1993, January). The Educational Consequences of W. Edwards Deming. Phi Delta Kappan. 382-388.

Horine, J.E. (1992, October). Reading, Writing, and Quality Tools: A Higher Degree of Quality. Quality Progress. 33-38.

Horine, J.E., Hailey, W.A. & Rubach, L. (1993, October). Transforming Schools. Quality Progress. 31-38.

Kelly, T. (1991, October). Elementary Quality. Quality Progress. 51-56.

Likins, P. (1991, July 24-26). Academia's Responsibility as a Supplier to Industry and Government. The Role of Academia in National Competitiveness and Total Quality Management. Symposium conducted at Los Angeles, CA.

Salmon, V.R. (1993, October). Quality In American Schools. Quality Progress. 73-75.

Schargel, F.P. (1993, October). Total Quality In Education. Quality Progress. 67-70.

Schmoker, M.J. & Wilson, R.B. (1993a, January). Transforming Schools Through Total Quality Education. Phi Delta Kappan. 389-395.

Schmoker, M.J. & Wilson, R.B. (1993b). Total Quality Education: Profiles of Schools that Demonstrate the Power of Deming's Management Principles. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa.

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