The Pewaukee School District (PSD) located in Waukesha County, Wisconsin (just west of Milwaukee), with 2,760 K-12 students and 296 employees in four schools (two elementary, one middle, and one high school) was a 2013 Baldrige Award Winner. Despite having one of the state's most rigorous graduation requirements (28 credits), it has had a higher graduation rate and percentage of graduates attending college than other county, state, and nearby high-performing districts. Its AP exam pa ss rate (76%) was higher than the county and state, and its ACT composite score (23.4) was better than both state and national averages. Parent surveys showed satisfaction with communication was 20 percent higher than the national average, and satisfaction with education quality was over 93 percent. PSD also significantly outperformed county and state districts in dropout and truancy rates and in student volunteering. PSD has been named one of "Wisconsin's Top 100 Workplaces" by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and staff satisfaction ratings for salaries, benefits, and engagement/ involvement greatly exceed national averages. PSD's strategic planning process is based on Deming's PDCA cycle. In the "plan" stage of the cycle, a large stakeholder group assembled in the spring clarifies purpose and direction by assessing performance and reviewing progress on goals and action plans, and validates missions and strategies. In the "do" stage, administrative, school, and department teams align action by updating plan goal measures, creating short-term action plans during the summer, and creating school improvement plans for five strategy areas. The strategic plan is approved in the summer, resources are allocated, and action plans are deployed in the fall. In the "study" stage, senior leaders and the board of education measure plan goals and analyze the results of action plans quarterly during the school year. In the final "act" stage of the cycle, senior leaders and the board of education evaluate action plan results and goal attainment, identify successes and opportunities for improvement, make recommendations for continuous improvement, and evaluate the strategic planning process before beginning the cycle again. Some of the innovations resulting from this strategic planning process include personalized learning, a 1:1 laptop initiative for grades 5 and higher, a community volunteer program, an elementary world language study, and innovative student schedules that maximize learning time. a. In this example, the PDCA cycle is used in education; can you think of specific processes in a service organization you are familiar with that the PCDA cycle might be applied to, perhaps even your own university? (10 marks)
