Sample from the book

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Bridges, Tunnels, and School Reform: It's the System Stupid

Also published in Phi Delta Kappan fall 2007

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"We all make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." ~Sir W. Churchhill

Sample from the book

The problem is at the policy level and its correction must start there. Present policy is defeating its own purpose of improving schools

After almost three full decades of school reform nationally student achievement is about where it was when we started and student behavior has declined dramatically. Numbers of drop outs, especially in our cities and among the poor and minorities are much higher. This despite the fact that reform efforts have involved many billions of dollars, countless professionals, honest and extensive amounts of work, endless state and federal legislation, regulation and mandates, and no end to good intentions. After thirty years of failure, its time for something different.

W. Edwards Deming has pointed out that persistent problems in organizations are due not to the workers but the system; the structure of the work, systemic practices, policies, methods and conventional thinking. Toyota is one outstanding example of how his methods can take an inferior company to excellence and dominance.

When I was a young teacher I lived in New Jersey and worked in the Bronx. Each morning I would drive to the George Washington Bridge and cross the Hudson River to the Bronx. If all went well (no breakdowns, accidents, bad weather), my usual delay was about ½ hour. In the evening I reversed the process again hoping all went well.

While I sat in my car wasting gas and polluting the air, I frequently cursed the toll takers (blamed the workers). In retrospect I now understand that they could not have improved traffic flow more than ever so slightly even if every toll taker operated at 100% efficiency all of the time.

What caused the dramatic improvement we now see in the river crossings (and now being extended to toll roads all over the country)? Reconsidering the structure of the system and changing it not only helped but transformed the results. This is essentially the same process that transformed Toyota from a third rate product to world class.

The structure of work at the bridge was essentially the same for over 50 years. Then one day someone reconsidered the whole toll taking system/structure and made a startling observation. If tolls were eliminated on one side of the bridge and doubled going the other way the same amount of revenue would be collected and delays would be cut by more than 50 % since extra toll takers were transferred to places on the collection side. The consequences of this creative systems thinking are many, all positive and in effect to this day:

Delays were significantly reduced.

The same amount of revenue was collected.
Toll taker productivity was dramatically increased.
This was accomplished with the same or even less resources.
We could also generalize and do the same thing for all of the bridges and tunnels up and down the river.
We could even do the same things to collect tolls and improve all of the above in other parts of New York State and all across the United States.
Reduction in driver stress and related medical and emotional problems, health care costs, etc.
A great reduction in air pollution.
A great reduction in use of gasoline.
Many more peaceful and enjoyable dinners at home.
Reduction in family stress, conflict and prevention of some divorces.
Happier drivers.
Happier toll takers.

This change was actually continuous systemic improvement # 2. (The first improvement was the advent of exact change lanes. This change resulted in collection of the same amount of revenue while requiring fewer resources.)

Having made such a simple brilliant systemic improvement, the leaders at the bridges and tunnels did not stop. They continued to try to improve the system? In fact they committed to continuous self improvement of the system? How did they know what to improve? They committed to continuous self assessment of the system to find out. All involved in the system are welcome and encouraged to suggest ways to improve it. The sources of such suggestions are not limited to the bureaucratic hierarchy.

Adhering to Deming’s principle of continuous improvement, subsequent changes have been made:

Continuous systemic improvement # 3 was Easy Pass. Again productivity was further significantly increased while decreasing resources.

Indications are this commitment is permanent. Why stop? Continuous systemic improvement # 4 was Express Easy Pass. Even greater productivity was achieved with even less resources.

What next? We wait in hopeful anticipation.

Is there a message here for school reform?

Compared to the bridges and tunnels in terms of systemic change the schools are at the stage before exact change toll lanes were instituted to increase production. While the bridges and tunnel process was unchanged for 50 years, the structure of K – 16 education is basically unchanged from its origin well over 100 years ago. It is producing what it was designed to produce. If everyone in the system performs to the maximum there can be no more than marginal improvement.

We can learn a great deal from what they did not do:

Raising taxes annually to improve the productivity of the toll takers would not have improved traffic flow (productivity).
A merit pay plan for toll takers would not have helped.
Giving all toll takers more money (even if you paid each toll taker a million dollars) would not have helped.
Years of state and federal toll taking legislation, regulations and mandates would not have helped.
Increasing toll taker accountability would not have helped
Increasing certification requirements for toll takers would not have helped
Taking away toll taker tenure and firing toll takers would not have helped.
Removing tenure and firing toll taker supervisors would not have helped
Toll taker reform programs to improve the toll takers’ performance in the existing structure would not have helped.
New assessments (even authentic assessments) of toll taker performance and productivity would not have helped.
Raising standards for toll takers would not have helped.
Reporting poor toll taker performance in the newspapers would not have helped.

School improvement is not happening because the present system prevents it. Ironically both state and national reform efforts intended to improve the schools reflect the 12 futile practices listed above and add to the inertia of the system to frustrate and block improvement. The very measures now employed to reform education have not only failed consistently but will continue to fail as long as they are employed.

What can we do? The knowledge needed to improve the schools already exists.

Leadership must recognize the indisputable fact and accept the failure of current school reform policy in terms of causing increased student achievement, no matter how well intended.

Leadership, starting with the United States Department of Education and fifty State Departments of Education, must recognize, practice and advocate the systems ideas of W. Edwards Deming including his 14 Points to start.
Leadership must advocate and model continuous self assessment and self improvement of all professional educators, stating with leadership. Excellence is a choice. It can not be mandated. The only person in the world who can make me excellent is me.
Leadership must advocate and model continuous collective self-assessment of all educational organizations including departments of education, school boards, and schools.
Leadership must advocate and model commitment to continuous self-improvement of all educational organizations including departments of education, school boards, and schools.

In addition to improving student achievement, public education in America faces a funding crisis. For almost two full decades the rate of increase in school budgets has consistently exceeded the rate of increase in income levels of our citizenry. These two lines of contingency are near crossing. In some areas they already have crossed. We must learn to increase achievement while reducing and even cutting costs or risk forcing our citizens to seek cheaper alternatives. Systems thinking can enable us to do this.

The problem is not lack of concern or good intentions. The problem is at the policy level and its correction must start there. All students are capable of learning far more than they presently do. Constructive policies that empower teachers to teach and students to learn and restructure the system to remove obstacles to improvement must be enacted and implemented. Present policy that is defeating its own purpose of improving schools while constantly driving up costs must be abandoned and those failed policies must be replaced with the proven systems ideas of Deming. When they are applied to education we will experience a learning renaissance and decrease per student costs at the same time.

This article is a selection form Dr. Kelly’s new book,"We Can Do More and Better With Less: Education Reform Can Work."

http://www.wecandomoreandbetterwithless.com/

Contact Thomas F. Kelly, Ph. D.

Professor of Educational Administration, Leadership and Technology (retired)
Dowling College, Idle Hour Blvd., Oakdale NY, 11769

Email: tkelly7662@aol.com

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