Quality management in education: building excellence and equity in student performance

This research is based on a study of Brazosport ISD, an exemplary school district in Texas that used a quali ty management approach that resulted in greater equity and higher student performance. Faced with deteriorating state test scores in several schools, particularly those with a high population of economi-cally disadvantaged students, this district elected to apply the philosophy, tools, and methods of quality management as a means to raise student achieve-ment through system alignment and improvement of instructional processes. The findings of the study reveal a school district that successfully transformed its approach to education, redirecting its goals and processes to assure the suc-cess of every student. This article provides an analysis of the approach and deployment of changes, outcomes obtained, and implications for continuous improve-ment in other public school systems. In validation of the success of its new methodology and the results achieved Brazosport ISD won the Texas Quality Award in 1998 and received a site visit for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1999, the only school district to date to achieve both honors. Key words: educational reform, instructional process