Article Abstracts

And the Award Goes To. . .
by Homer H. Johnson

State quality awards and other programs increase the interest of schools and colleges in quality principles and tools. Twenty-four states, as of 1995, accept applications from educational institutions for quality awards based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Five states, including New Mexico and Tennessee, use a tiered approach to their awards. This permits recognition of both beginning and experienced quality programs. Arizona offers a Certificate of Readiness in addition to its state awards. Other programs include business-school partnerships, as in New Jersey and North Carolina, where businesses train school faculty and staff in quality methods. States also can sponsor awareness presentations, application workshops, quality starter kits and other publications, self-assessment questionnaires, and the coupling of state quality award criteria with state quality reviews. To combat the business-language barrier for educational institutions, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island have written their award criteria in education terms. A crucial factor for school involvement in all these programs may well be visible support from governors and state boards of education.

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