PDSA - Best Practice Resources
| Math Resources |
| Reading/Thinking Resources |
| Iowa Content Network |
| ASCD (Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development) |
| Best practices and research sites (including continuous improvement) |
Learn more about quality and continuous improvement... read the blog!
Another component of the continuous improvement classroom is the utilization of the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycle (also called Action Research).
PDSA
is a systematic, data driven 7 step process. There are
several questions to answer when working through each of the 7 steps:
-Define The System:
What system do I want to improve? Why? What is the current way this process
is done or handled?
-Assess The Situation: How big of a problem is it? What
data do I have that show current levels of performance (baseline data) of
the area I’m trying to improve?
-Analyze Cause: In reviewing the baseline data, what are
the root causes that are producing the results I’m getting? What does
research say about how this system could be improved?
-Try Out Improvement Theory: Based on the root causes,
what can I do differently to get more positive results? What’s my
improvement theory based on best-practices?
-Study Results: Did my improvement theory work? What data
do I have that show the new level of performance? How does this new data
compare to the baseline data?
-Standardize Improvements: How can I incorporate the new
way of doing things (that produced positive results) to make it part of my
regular practice?
-Plan For Continuous Improvement: How will I sustain the
positive changes? What area will I work on next?
The PDSA cycle can be used to improve processes at the District, school, classroom and individual student level. Quality tools are used at each step of the process. PDSA teams can use a PDSA Team Assistance Guide to walk through the process. Ideally, educators can involve students in the PDSA process to take ownership and responsibility for their own learning.