Storytelling

THE SPIRIT AND SUBSTANCE OF QUALITY IN EDUCATION

When the concept of Koalaty Kid—a quality program centered on school children—was first proposed to ASQ leaders more than a decade ago, it struck some as a wild departure for a society of quality professionals that had its beginnings in manufacturing control of the quality of wartime materiel. Today, the fit seems as natural as a pair of favorite shoes.

“Koalaty Kid fits very nicely with the direction of ASQ,” states Connie Faylor, president of the ASQ Koalaty Kid Alliance, which sets strategy for this volunteer initiative that strives for excellence in the education system.

The Koalaty Kid approach entails the rigorous application of total quality principles and tools to school improvement objectives. Through this approach, educators learn and share tools to improve the curriculum and the environment for learning. Students learn to use process thinking and tools to take ownership of their own educational improvement.

Since its inception in the1980s, Koalaty Kid has evolved from an incentive-based reading program (for elementary grades) into a training-based staff development program grounded in theory, process, and tools.

Faylor describes this evolution by tracing her involvement with Koalaty Kid:
“I was a member of ASQ and read a notice in Quality Progress about the Koalaty Kid conference set to take place in Corning, NY, where the concept originated. My kids weren’t even in school at that time, so I didn’t really understand the neat things going on in schools. But I went to that conference and was impressed. The organization I work for (Ben Franklin Technology Partners in Bethlehem, PA) was then doing quality training for manufacturers. That was the late 1980s and there were a lot of demands on those companies from their customers to use statistical process control. Because of the level of demand in our customer base, we felt there was a need for quality training for the schools, too—something that Koalaty Kid’s recognition and reading incentives emphasis didn’t provide at that time. So we funded five pilot partnerships in schools and translated quality training materials into educational terms. Ultimately, we had 15 such educational partnerships here in the Lehigh Valley. The Koalaty Kid Steering Committee looked at our training-based system and decided they wanted to adopt the process, and the rest is history. I joined the Steering Committee, which then became the Alliance Board, and I’m now in my second term as its president. So I’ve been involved sort of since the beginning—not on the original Steering Committee but for a good 12 years.”

What really makes Koalaty Kid work, according to Faylor, is having teachers trained to know the theory, process, and tools, and then being able to take what they’ve learned and integrate it into learning in the classroom.

“I’ve said this for years—we’re not adding another program to the overwhelming list that teachers deal with,” states Faylor. “Rather, we are helping the teachers understand systems thinking and the quality process and they themselves see the benefits of integrating this into the learning process. The kinds in turn learn and apply the tools, and it makes them a lot more responsible for their learning.”

And how do students use these tools?

“I’ve seen kindergarten students doing flowcharts on how to carve a jack-o-lantern and doing Pareto analyses on reasons why their homework assignments are late. The kids grasp the tools and the systems thinking so easily! I’ve seen older students develop a flowchart for the long-division process, then going back to it if they get stuck rather than going to the teacher for help. The students use basic control charts to look at trends in how they’re doing. Even the youngest kids are able to do that—track their grades and track their improvement. So I think it really helps with responsibility. It helps with self-esteem, and it’s building a foundation of tools they can use for a lifetime.”

There are tangible rewards for the adults, too.

“Having the opportunity to see the results, seeing kids who may have struggled, and giving them tools to be able to document their improvement and have some personal improvement—seeing the process make a difference with kids—it’s just phenomenal!”

In addition to noting how the Koalaty Kid approach works with kids in the classroom, Faylor points to two other significant milestones in the program.

1. The accumulation of documentation showing improvement in learning
2. The development of the Koalaty Kid self-assessment tool for schools

“In the early days we didn’t quote any data or talk about results because we didn’t have the validation, but now we’ve got tons of results with improvements in test scores, so we can really say it’s had an impact on learning,” according to Faylor.

She points to one school out of many—Mark Twain Elementary in Richardson, TX—that showed improvement in passing rates from 72% to 93% in writing and reading comprehension and from 65% to 81% in math in their standardized tests. “They attribute the improvement to having Koalaty Kid and the quality process in the school,” says Faylor.

The Baldrige-based self-assessment tool, which Faylor says “principals have praised as a wonderful starting point, a first step on the path to Baldrige,” guides schools in assessing where they are and what they need to do to go forward on their quality journey.

Looking at the big picture, Faylor hopes the program grows because she sees its value for society. “There are long-term benefits for business and society. More responsible citizens and more-experienced problem solvers. It helps with higher-level thinking,” she says.

ASQ Koalaty Kid itself is in the midst of a transition—living its own ongoing strategy, so to speak—a transition that will probably involve a name change. “We have the potential to affect so many more people by being seen as the information source for quality in education. That’s the direction we’re moving. Schools will still be able to be trained in the Koalaty Kid process, but Koalaty Kid as we know it today will exist as a subset within that larger framework,” according to Faylor.

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