Baldrige Education Winners

Jenks Public Schools and Richland College were recently named winners of the 2005 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the education category.

With 9,271 students, Jenks Public Schools is the 11th largest school district in Oklahoma. The school system has nine schools on five campuses, with 665 teachers and certified staff and 576 nonteaching staff.

The school district has had 68 National Merit semifinalists and 64 National Merit finalists and two presidential scholars in the past five years. Two classroom teachers were selected as Oklahoma Teachers of the Year, and in 2004, one of Jenks’ teachers received the Milken Family Foundation Educator Award, which honors outstanding educators. Graduation rates have risen each of the past three years, with rates at 93% in 2003, 94% in 2004 and 95% in 2005.

ASQ member Lee Jenkins, an educational consultant and author, has conducted training for the school district. He said Jenks has pursued continuous improvement for 10 years or more.

“My perception is they were not pursuing the Baldrige award, but were attempting to be the very best they could,” he said. “Two examples are Jenks offers 23 of the 24 AP courses and has two sections of 8th graders in 10th grade geometry. These are not improvements that occur overnight, but are the result of a relentless pursuit of excellence.

“The Baldrige examiners observed improvement data in food services, maintenance and transportation; it was everywhere,” Jenkins continued. “Further, the examiners observed graphed evidence of learning in almost every classroom and hallway. It is pervasive.”

Dallas’ Richland College, which has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students each semester, is the first community college to receive the Baldrige award. The school has 558 full-time faculty, support staff and administrators and 811 part-time faculty and seasonal staff members.

The school’s key student segment is transfer students who seek credit hours before ultimately attending a four-year college. Since 2002, Richland has more than doubled the number of students—from 500 to 1,660—who complete the core curriculum in preparation for transfer to four-year schools. These gains came at the same time state funding was reduced from 70% to 30% of the college’s total budget.

Jenkins said by listening to the stories of Baldrige winners, it is obvious success is about more than how much an organization spends.

“It is not for sale on the convention floors,” he said. “The changes cost money because staff development costs money, but not because they believed one could buy enough programs to be excellent.”

Visit www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/2005baldrigewinners.htm for more information.