Continuous Improvement in Education

In recent years, 'continuous improvement' has become a popular catchphrase in the field of education. However, while continuous improvement has become commonplace and well-documented in other industries, such as healthcare and manufacturing, little is known about how this work has manifested itself in education.This white paper attempts to map the landscape of this terrain by identifying and describing organizations engaged in continuous improvement, and by highlighting commonalities and differences among them. The findings classify three types of organizations engaged in continuous improvement: those focused on instructional improvement at the classroom level; those concentrating on system-wide improvement; and those addressing collective impact. Each type is described in turn and illustrated by an organizational case study. Through the analysis, six common themes that characterize all three types of organizations (e.g., leadership and strategy, communication and engagement, organizational infrastructure, methodology, data collection and analysis, and building capacity) are enumerated. This white paper makes four concluding observations. First, the three case studies provide evidence of organizations conducting continuous improvement work in the field of education, albeit at different levels and in different ways. Second, entry points to continuous improvement work are not mutually exclusive, but are nested and, hence, mutually informative and comparative. Third, continuous improvement is not synonymous with improving all organizational processes simultaneously; rather, research and learning cycles are iterative and gradual in nature. Fourth, despite being both iterative and gradual, it is imperative that improvement work is planned and undertaken in a rigorous, thoughtful, and transparent fashion

Learning our way towards a sustainable agri-food system Three cases from Sweden: Stockholm Farmers market, Ramsjö Community Supported Agriculture and Järna Initiative for Local Production

This research is based on case studies of the Stockholm Farmers Market, Ramsjö Community Supported Agriculture, and Järna Initiative for Local Production. These cases are examples of alternative consumerproducer links in the Swedish agri-food system. An adapted SWOT analysis highlights key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints in each case from the multiple perspectives of producers, consumers, the organization, as well as the environment and society. Diagrams show where learning opportunities exist in the three systems, and how the structure of the consumer-producer link influences learning processes. Implication assessments consider how each link may affect surrounding ecosystems and social aspects of the agri-food system. A framework for assessing a process of development identifies six components that contribute to agri-food system development. Four key issues are discussed in terms of their potential to significantly affect the development of the agri-food system: the length of the food chain linking producers and consumers, the definition of “local”, learning in the system, and what is really being sold – is it food, or values? Critical research questions are highlighted and recommended for future research

Opiate Drug Seeking and Addiction: The Influence of Sucrose Consumption on the Acquisition and Expression of Morphine-induced Conditioned Place Preferences (CPP)

Sucrose intake may lead to changes in brain and behavior similar to the effects of abused drugs. For example, sucrose may agonize endogenous opiate systems and modulate opiate-seeking behavior. Previous research reported equivocal outcomes where sucrose may either enhance (i.e., cross-sensitization) or attenuate (i.e., cross-tolerance) drug seeking as measured by morphine-induced CPP. The present experiment extends from past work and evaluated the impact of sucrose administered prior to place conditioning. Additionally, unique groups received sucrose prior to tests for CPP to measure sucrose influences on CPP expression. Sprague-Dawley rats (n=24) were assigned to sucrose (15% w/v) or water pre-exposure conditions. Subsequently, subjects received morphine place conditioning where morphine (10mg/kg) was administered on the initially non-preferred side of the apparatus. Three post-tests were conducted and, prior to each test, animals within each pre-exposure group (sucrose or water) received either sucrose or water. Factorial ANOVA was used to analyze data. Results showed robust morphine-induced CPP. Although animals in the sucrose pre-exposure condition displayed enhanced CPP, the outcomes were not statistically significant. The present findings support the value of CPP techniques to measure opiate drug-seeking behavior. Future work may discover the sufficient conditions for detecting sucrose cross-sensitization of morphine CPP

Class A Average Handle Time Standard

This report provides an analysis and evaluation on the Average Handle Time performed at Class A. The Universal, Shipping, International, Tracking, InfoNotice, Amazon, Field Support Group, and Preferred Customer Associates call types are evaluated in this study. An Average Handle Time Standard is created, while meeting the appropriate sample size, covering multiple site locations, at various times of the day and days of the week, and meeting corporate quality expectations. Methods of cost analysis, Six Sigma, and optimization are utilized in this study. The V-Process Model is used to verify the system. The implementation and results served as the verification approach to monitor and compare the changes in Average Handle Time across sites. The minimum success criteria set for this project is to decrease annual Average Handle Time spending by 10%. After implementation of the Adjusted AHT Standard, Class A spends an estimate of $38,676,988.75 on handle time. This is$9,613,696.45 less than before implementation and a reduction of 19.91%. All calculations and details can be found in the appendices. The recommendation on how to hold sites accountable for their Average Handle Time is to implement a benefit/ penalty system by percent effective

Resistance to Change: Why Does it Happen?

Change in an organization is paramount to its survival. The need for organizations to change and adapt to the needs of their current environment are known to be a necessity of success but are often met with resistance within the organization. This research aims to analyze current information on change resistance and why it occurs. Along with a literature analysis, a survey was conducted to compare information found in literature to real accounts of people\u27s resistance to change and what they feel they need for successful change within their organization. by Understanding people\u27s reasons for resistance organizations can begin to plan and prepare resistance to make organizational change successful and sustainable. A video recording of this presentation is available here

Investigation of team dynamics and group performance in the product engineering process

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 19).The cultural traits of a project engineering team can strongly influence the performance of its members and the quality of the product. The 2.009 Product Engineering Processes class provides an opportunity for investigating the relationships between group dynamics and performance as the student groups work with customers and advisors on brainstorming, designing, testing and construction a fully-functional mechanical prototype over the course of a semester. Performance was measured as a function of time using information from the class ranking system while each team's cultural traits were measured using two surveys that all students were required to complete. Results of this study revealed that the most influential traits on group performance were task understanding, organization and creativity. Analysis of the survey data showed that feedback and professional communication increased while flexibility decreased as the student groups matured from their initial formative stages into fully defined teams. A comparison of teams with sections that reported polar opposite team dynamics revealed that sections with negative group dynamics performed worse than their positive counterparts, though this trend did not hold in the context of the entire class.(cont.) Investigation of the dynamic profiles of these teams revealed that organization, task understanding, creativity and efficient use of resources had the greatest influence on performance. The results of a direct comparison of high and low performing teams for each assignment confirmed this trend.by Stephanie K. Lee.S.B