KEY FACTORS IN ACHIEVING EDUCATION QUALITY

Ashraf S. Youssef, Ph. D.

Mechanical Engineering Department, National Research Center

Dokki, Cairo, Egypt.

E-mail:a_youssef68@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Most educational organizations seek quality to improve their outcomes. Quality students are

becoming essential objectives for all. The main objective for the education process is to

graduate a student who has the ability to be a thinker, creative, and solve problems. For this,

there are many quality standards which are internationally recognized and create the

necessary conditions to improve quality in education. Some of them are general such as ISO

9000:2000, and Baldrige Education Criteria. Others are related to specific disciplines such as

ABET (criteria for accrediting engineering programs) standards, and AACSB (accreditation

criteria in Business education). In this article, three standards were chosen to be presented and

key factors that all educational organizations should take into consideration if they are looking

to achieve quality whatever the quality system chosen to implement.

KEY WORDS: Quality, Education, Total involvement, Performance measures.

1. INTRODUCTION

Recently education leaders in many countries have started to recognize the potential of

implementing quality concepts in educational organizations due to global competitiveness.

Most of them considered education as a national security case. All aspects of living in a nation

will be affected by the education system. For this reason, researchers and quality professionals

have started to transfer quality concepts from industrial and commercial businesses to

educational spectrum. In this article the author summarizes criteria for selected international

standards and demonstrates key factors which play a major role in achieving quality.

Quality is creating an environment where educators, parents, government officials,

community representatives, and business leaders work together to provide students with the

resources they need to meet current and future academic, business and societal needs [1].

Goldberg and Cole [2] reported the story of an American school that won the Texas quality

award based on the Baldrige educational criteria, and analyzed the outcomes and implications

for continuous improvement. They listed three levels of application of quality management in

education, 1) the management process of the school, 2) teaching quality to students, and 3)

learning process. They concluded that, decision makers must be willing to make systematic

changes in education. In the same view, Montano and Utter [3] presented a case study of

applying Total Quality Management (TQM) at Lamar University. They worked with a

campus operation where processes were already efficient and morale was high. They asked to

discuss the feasibility of a quality improvement effort centered on the process of selecting

students for admission. They performed SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and

Customers) analysis, Deming quality cycle and Flowchart of the Process to determine process

and service quality improvements. They concluded that, when the educational institution

management decides to implement TQM, it should start small before going institution wide.

Moreover, Evans [4] introduced an informal model that described the key linkage in the

Baldrige award criteria for performance excellence in education. He stated that, the Baldrige

award framework suggests critical linkages among fundamental management process of

leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human

resource development and management, and process management. These linkages are leading

to improve business results. Cobb et al, [5] stated that, the baseline objective for supporting

continuous improvement efforts in education should maintain a competitive advantage in the

marketplace. They presented success stories about the partnership between industries and

universities and concluded that, this partnership can form problem solving teams to improve

quality in education. In addition to that, Sayle [6] listed opportunities for quality professionals

which they can make a good contribution in increasing quality for those areas. He stated that

there is a huge opportunity to show how better process management and management process

could improve an education sector that directly determines that nation’s prosperity and

security.

The objective of this article is to discuss three standards which are related to educational

organizations and present the key factors that should be taken into consideration when

implementing any of the quality systems in educational businesses.

2. QUALITY STANDARDS IN EDUCATION

Three internationally recognized standards are discussed in this section. One of them is ISO

9000:2000 whish is valid for all businesses and organizations. The second one is Baldrige

education criteria which is suitable for all educational organization. The third one is ABET

standard which is designed for engineering and technology education.

ISO 9000:2000 [7] is one the International Standards issued by the International Organization

for Standardization in Geneva, Switzerland. It is a Quality Management System (QMS) and is

valid to be implemented in all organizations. The latest version of ISO 9000 was issued in

year 2000. It consists of 5 clauses that contain 23 requirements. The main five clauses are 1)

QMS Requirements, 2) Management Responsibility, 3) Resource Management, 4) Product

Realization, and 5) Measures, Analysis and Improvements.

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established in 1988. The Award is named

for Malcolm Baldrige, who served as Secretary of Commerce from 1981 until his tragic death

in a rodeo accident in 1987. His managerial excellence contributed to long-term improvement

in efficiency and effectiveness of government. The Baldrige award is given by the President

of the United States to businesses: manufacturing and service, small and large, and to

education and health care organizations that apply and are judged to be outstanding in seven

areas (criteria): leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement,

analysis, and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and

results. The latest version of educational criteria for performance excellence was published in

2005 [8].

ABET, is a recognized accreditor for college and university programs in applied science,

computing, engineering, and technology. It is a federation of 30 professional and technical

societies representing these fields. Among the most respected accreditation organizations in

the U.S., ABET has provided leadership and quality assurance in higher education for over 70

years. ABET currently accredits around 2,700 programs at over 550 colleges and universities

in and out of the U. S. Over 1,500 dedicated volunteers participate annually in ABET

activities. The latest revision of ABET was published in 2004 [9]. ABET has 8 criteria: 1)

Student, 2) Program educational objectives, 3) Program outcomes and assessment, 4)

Professional components, 5) Faculty, 6) Facilities, 7) Institutional support and financial

resources, and 8) Program criteria. Table 1 represents a general comparison between the three

standards.

Table 1 Comparison between ISO 900, Baldrige, and ABET standards

ISO 9000 Baldrige (Education) ABET

Purpose Any organization Any Educational

Organization

Engineering and

Technology

Education Programs

Scope International U.S. U.S./International

Level Department Organization Educational Program

Criteria 5 Clauses, 23

requirements

7 Criteria 8 Criteria

Result Compliance

Certificates

Excellence Award Accreditation

Certificate

Validity 3 Years 5 Years 5 Years

The careful investigation of the previous three international standards can lead to the

following three common quality concepts which are becoming general trends for the most

quality standards. These three concepts are:

1. Process-Based approach model, all new revision of quality standards uses Deming Quality

Cycle to link all criteria/elements of the standards in a logical model.

2. Customer Focused, the customer is the boss in those quality standards. The main objective

of the quality standards is to achieve full customer satisfaction.

3. Continuous Improvement concept, there is no limit of quality. It measures the ability of

organization in achieving its goals. There is always a way to improve.

Key factors in achieving quality is extracted from most of the quality standards, and

represented in the following section.

3. KEY FACTORS IN ACHIEVING QUALITY

In any educational organization, there are some essential factors which all organizations

should take into consideration to achieve quality even if they do not have any potential to

implement a quality standard. Theses factors are:

1. Develop a mission and vision. All educational organizations should develop their own

mission and vision based on the type of organization (Public or Private). A good vision is

SMART (Specific, Measurable, Ambitious, Realistic, and Time-Based) vision. Moreover,

the organization vision should be translated into proper objectives and action plans. All

recourses should be available to implement these action plans. A Mission example could

be “To produce world-class learners by building a connected learning community”

2. Promote a quality culture within the organization. Educational leaders should establish

awareness programs in their organizations for all the partners (teacher, staff, students and

their parents) in the educational system. The main objective of the program is to create

and improve a quality culture within educational organization. The importance and impact

of achieving quality in education should be addressed. In order to do this, leaders should

assess the students and employees culture and start from their cultures and beliefs. Total

involvement message should be delivered to all partners and how far each partner can

affect the quality. Figure 1 shows all the elements which are affected in educational

quality. Moreover, leaders can promote positive family relationships through workshops

and seminars to emphasize the role of family and community.

Figure 1 Cause-and -Effect diagram for Quality Student

3. Implement a process-based approach. Educational organization should start their

business from constituent (market) needs and all activities which are related to educational

process should be integrated to achieve the mission and the vision for the organization. A

Deming quality cycle which consists of (Plan “a change or a test aimed to improve” – Do

“carry out the change or the test” – Study “the results” – Act “adopt the change”) is a

good approach for implementing a continuous improvement process in education.

Continuous improvement is one of the quality standards’ pillars. Figure 2 depicts Deming

quality cycle. In this approach, a dual role for student as a worker and a customer could

also be considered.

Qualifications

Delivery Style

Effectiveness

Cost

Culture

Advisory System

Hiring System

Market Needs

Monitoring

Mission/Vision

Strategic Plans Society

Quality Student

Teachers

Support Staff

Learning aids and Facilities

Curricula

Student

Educational System

Environmental

Qualifications Parents

Figure 2 Deming Quality Cycle

4. Design Performance Measures. In effective educational organizations leaders should

identify a system for monitoring and assessing organization performance. The following

performance measures could be covered: student performance, teachers’ performance and

financial performance. For example, GPA in selecting courses like Math, English and

physics, attendance rate, teaching hours rate for each course, and average class size could

be measure of quality of student and average teachers experience years, percentage of

teachers with Bachelor’s degree and percentage of teachers with Master’s degree could be

measures of teachers’ qualifications, and productivity index could be used as a financial

measure. Baldrige scoring system gives 45% weight from total score for the performance

measures. Paul [10] listed area of challenges of effective schools research. He said that, as

a new research agenda should investigate new indicators of school effectiveness, and

leaders of schools should be aware of statistical tools. Performance measures are a good

vehicle to manage organization by facts and to measure how far an organization has

achieved its goals and objectives. The importance of establishing performance measures

was listed by Keith and Laurie [11] as follows:

a. create a closer linkage between schools and management systems,

b. develop process and strategies that improve management practice,

c. enhanced target setting and review procedure, and

d. it is a good tool for managing by facts (used for personal development, performance

monitoring and reward).

PlanAct

DoStudy

5. Establish a Quality Control Unit. The responsibilities of a quality control function are to

monitor and maintain a system, make suggestions for improvement, measure business

performance, and report directly to educational leaders. Management support of this

function is a very important concern to do its work properly and accurate.

4. CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, three international standards which are related to education were presented.

Common quality concepts were extracted and listed. The main three quality concepts are use

process based approach, customer focused, and continuous improvement. Moreover, five key

factors which all educational organization should take into consideration if they are truly

seeking quality were discussed. At the end, performance measures are very important factor

and it needs more investigation and research to develop good indicators for educational

performance. A Balance Score Cared (BSC) could be a good tool to develop for these

indicators.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to thank Prof. Adel A. Aly and Dr. Souhaila Almutawa for their valuable

comments from Kuwait University.

REFERENCES

1. Arcaro, J. “Quality in education: An Implementation Hand-book” Deleray Beach, Fla.: St.

Lucie Press, 1995.

2. Jacqueline S. Goldberg, and Bryan R. Cole, “Quality Management in Education:

Builiding Excellence and Equity in Student Performance” Quality Management

Journal, Vol. 9, No. 4, 2002, pp 8-22.

3. Carl B. Montano, and Glenn H. Utter, “Total Quality Management In Higher

Education: An Application of Quality Improvement in a University”, Quality

Progress, August 1999, pp 52-59.

4. James R. Evans, “Critical linkages in the Baldrige Award Crieteria: Research Models

and Educational Challenges” Quality Management Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1997, pp 13-

30.

5. Richard Cobb, Michale B. Marker, and Johnny W. Mulkey “Guidelines for TQ

Partnerships Between Industry and Universities”, Quality Progress, September 1998,

pp 81-85.

6. Allan J. Sayle, “Opportunities Are Everywhere”, Quality Progress, April 2005, pp 33 –

38.

7. American National Standard Institute (ANSI) (2000), ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q9001-2000

Quality Management Systems – Requirements.

8. 2005 Educational Criteria for Performance Excellence, Baldrige National Quality

Program, National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), USA

9. Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) (November 2004),

Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs.

10. Paul Le Mahieu “New Challenges to Explore in Effective Schools research” The

Education Digest, February 1986, pp 21 - 23.

11. Keith Jennings and Laurie Lomas “Implementing Performance Management for Head

teachers in English Secondary Schools: A Case Study” Educational Management and

Administration, Vol. 31, No. 4, October 2003, pp 369 – 383.