As schools consider how to restart in the fall, some are galvanizing their community to consider this an opportunity for reinvention, a way to rethink how we educate our young, while others simply want to get students back in the building and return as quickly and safely as possible to the normal that existed prior to the pandemic. Regardless of a school’s position on the spectrum from restart to reinvention, a more sophisticated manner in which to analyze student engagement and track efforts to improve engagement will be necessary.

Getting BetterBen PachtJuly 13, 2020COVID-19, coronavirus, remote learning, school closure, school performance institute, united schools network, process behavior chart, data analysis, PBC, improvement, improvement science, improvement in action, school improvement, thinking about improvement, w. edwards deming, mark graban, measures of success

How do you measure remote learning engagement?

For the last two months, my colleague Ben Pacht and I have been writing about the work we are doing at United Schools Network (USN) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent school closure order in Ohio (see here, here, and here). In this fourth post in the series, we’ll summarize some key points we’ve made before, plus offer a few ideas specific to measuring and analyzing remote learning engagement.

Learning to ImproveJohn A. DuesJune 11, 2020remote learning, student engagement, improvement science, improvement in action, thinking about improvement, school closure, SPI, School Performance Institute, crisis, COVID-19, coronavirus, education, United Schools Network

Getting Better: What is student engagement, anyway?

As we are all aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered how our society has functioned over the past few months. The education sector is no exception. As science teachers can attest, one of the unfortunate, enduring realities for life on this planet is that a minuscule virus, just microns in diameter, can leave an outsized impact on life as we know it. Yet a second enduring reality is that the form of life known as Homo sapiens is awfully resilient, and educators across the country are thinking creatively to ensure continuity of education for our students in a remote setting.

Getting BetterBen PachtMay 21, 2020improvement science, improvement in action, thinking about improvement, school improvement, COVID-19, remote learning, student engagement, School Performance Institute, school closure, United Schools Network, SPI, crisis, coronavirus, teachers

Improvement Science Tool: Fishbone Diagram

Why are we getting the outcomes that we currently do? In my last post, I implored organizational leaders to slow down and take the time to deeply understand this question before moving ahead with solutions.

The only way to understand current outcomes is to step back and see the system - the people, the policies, the attitudes, and the physical environment - in which a problem resides.

Learning to ImproveJohn A. DuesMarch 6, 2020improvement science, thinking about improvement, school improvement, improvement in action, School Performance Institute, United Schools Network, SPI, student achievement

Getting Better: A Reflection on Intuition vs. Formula

In December 2014, my first child was born. She was ready to enter the world, and my wife was even more ready. Our emotions were similar to most new parents – a combination of exhilaration, anticipation, nervousness, and bliss. Yet in the midst of everything I distinctly remember taking a moment to ask the doctor a question: “What’s my daughter’s Apgar score?”

Getting BetterBen PachtSeptember 3, 2019school improvement, improvement in action, thinking about improvement