The Application of Quality Management Principles in Education,at Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Sitka, Alaska

Myron TribusNovember, 1990

Myron Tribus divides his time between Exergy Corpora-tion, a company which is introducing a new approach toelectric power generation, and his work as a consultant inquality management. With over 30 years experience as ateacher he has also served as Assistant Secretary for Sci-ence and Technology in the US Department of Commerce.He was a senior vice president in the Xerox Corporationand Director of the Center for Advanced Engineering Studyat MIT. He is a colleague of Dr. W. E. Deming.

INTRODUCTION

Mt. Edgecumbe High School (MEHS) is situated on asmall island across the channel from Sitka, Alaska.Started in the 1947 as a school for Native Americans,in 1984 the school was removed from the control ofthe Bureau of Indian Affairs and converted into an "al-ternative" school under the control of the State ofAlaska.

The phrase, "Native Americans", denotesa variety of peoples descended from theTlingit, Haida and Tsimpshean Indiantribes as well as Eskimos and Aleuts.Archaelogists have traced Aleutian cul-ture back to 6,000 B.C. Some portions ofthe Eskimo culture have been traced backto 300 B.C. They are the descendents of ahardy race of people who learned howto survive for centuries in a harsh natu-ral environment. Now they have to sur-vive "civilization".

Alaska is a very large state with the small-est population of all the 50 states. Thispopulation is spread over a land massmore than twice the size of Texas. With such a lowpopulation density, it is difficult to maintain high qual-ity high schools in the small villages and towns. (Fromthe fourth to the eighth grade, I attended a one roomschoolhouse in a rural area, and while we did not havemany so-called modern facilities, I often think thatbeing in a school where the eighth graders taught thefifth graders and all 17 of us played together at recess,gave me a better start than if I had been in a big cityschool.) At the high school level, it just isn't possibleto equip a large number of small schools with all thefacilities they require for a first rate, modern educa-tion. MEHS is one of the solutions to this problemattempted by the State.MEHS is a residential school with about 210 studentsanda teaching faculty of 13 people.

I went to Sitka during the first week of November, 1990,because I had heard that the school was engaged in aunique experiment in education, applying the qualitymanagement concepts of W. Edwards Deming to theoperations of the school. This is a report of what Ifound.

THE INCOMING STUDENTS

It is important to understand the origins ofthe students at MEHS. Many are drawnfrom the same population which wouldhave come to the school when under theBureau of Indian Affairs, that is, the stu-dents are 90% "rural". Some come from vil-lages and settlements in Alaska with toofew students to support a well equippedhigh school., while others come from mod-ern cities such as Juneau.

The average income in rural Alaska is low,compared to the rest of the USA. At MEHSthere is a mix of native Alaskans, havingtheir own tribal customs and language,along with the children of immigrants, from

"the lower 48", who came to Alaska, seeking a differentway of life. All types are brought together at MEHS.

Larrae Rocheleau, the Superintendent, described theincoming native Alaskan students this way:

"Our Native American students, for the most part, haveextremely deep ties to their heritage and are strugglingto keep the values and pride of the past while adjust-ing to a world dominated by another culture, anotherlanguage and different social values. We attempt tonurture that Native pride and build on those positivefeelings without emphasizing the negatives of adjust-ment"

The Superintendent is clearly an idealist. That factcomes through as soon as you start to interview him.He is also a very practical man. He accepted the job ofstarting a new school because he wanted to create aninstitution which would make the most of these youngpeople. He was not interested in creating an elitestschool. "Our job is to provide value-added education,not to select a few who don't really need us." One ofhis major objectives was to turn these students intoentrepreneurs who would go back to their villages andmake a difference.

The State Board of Education and the Superintendent recognizedthat Alaska is a member of the Pacific Rim Countries and thatAlaska’s natural trading partners are Japan, China and the coun-tries of Asia. In that spirit they decided that all students wouldlearn either Chinese or Japanese. The Superintendent plannedcourses in entrepreneurship and sought teachers who would use"project oriented learning" as a way to get the students into thehabit of being purposeful in the application of what they learned.The Superintendent recruited faculty who shared this view.

HOW DEMING'S IDEAS ENTERED THE SCHOOL

The new faculty shared the vision of the Superintendent, but amongthem was one who was extremely enthusiastic. David Langfordsaw in the plans for the school an opportunity to fulfill his ownambitions as a teacher.

According to the Superintendent and David Langford, the schoolran with enthusiasm for the firstthree years. Then it began to"flatten out". A fortunate turn ofevents changed the school’s ap-proach. During one of David'sexcursions to the "lower 48", vis-iting Gilbert High School inPhoenix, he attended a sessionwith an executive in a companyinvolved in the quality move-ment. David was intrigued withTQM concepts. He followed upby reading as much about qual-ity as he could, by talking withexecutives who were in compa-nies applying TQM and by quiz-zing the quality experts he couldfind. David concluded thatDeming’s ideas could andshould be applied in education.David persuaded the Superinten-dent, Larrae Rocheleau, to ac-company him to another DemingSeminar and both men cameaway convinced Deming's message would apply to their school.

David began by introducing Deming's ideas into his classes in Busi-ness and in a special course he dubbed "Continuous Improvement".In this latter course the students read Out of the Crisis while Davidprepared workbooks for the students to use to develop data on theirown study habits. Although the first efforts were far from perfect,the stu

dents took to the instruction with great enthusiasm.(See box be-low, left) By applying simple run charts to their own study habitsthey began to discover and remove inefficiencies from their ownlives. One student reported that whereas he had THOUGHT hewas spending two hours in study, by keeping records he found hewas spending only about 35 minutes!

David experimented with different approaches to overcoming stu-dent indifference to learning. Before he became involved in qual-ity management techniques, he observed a general lack of moti-vation on the part of the students. He found, however, that if hespent a great deal of time at the start of the semester (some wouldsay an inordinate amount of time,) discussing such questions as"Why are we here?", "What do we want to get out of the course?","What are the barriers to success?", and in general, examining thequestion, "What does it mean to do this course with quality?" hecaused the students to examine their own objectives and therebyalter their attitudes. The result was that in the remainder of thesemester, the student enthusiasm, drive, and efficiency so improved

that they learned much more than they otherwise would havelearned. What was "lost" at the start of the semester, was morethan regained in the remainder. It takes a great deal of courage tobreak with tradition this way. It could not have been done withoutthe support and encouragement of the superintendent. Those whowould attempt something similar should keep this point in mind.

Having taught elsewhere, David was impressed with what a dif-ference the explicit examination of quality made in student per-formance. Through this dialogue, the students developed theirown sense of why they studied. When I asked students about thisthey concurred, saying, “We really didn’t understand before. Thenwe just did what we were told, but didn’t think about it”.

David's first workbook on the use of statistics was highly creativeand original but because he had no formal training in statistics, itcontained several errors. However, when these were pointed out hequickly corrected them. There are a few text books which have beenaimed at teaching statistics in high schools but none of them havebeen written to present statistical thinking as a "tool" for a studentto use to improve their own approach to learning. David Langford'sworkbook is, to my knowledge, the first attempt in this direction.

For students and faculty, alike, the computer is a tool, useful for all classes. Here, forexample, is Don Surgeon, who teaches global issues and government, working alongsidestudents from other classes

An unexpected dividend was that the student's enthu-siasm for this approach to learning began to affect theother teachers. Indeed, it is fair to say that the studentsin David’s class in “Continuous Improvement” becamethe shock troops of the school. Gradually, some, butnot all, of the teachers began to follow David's exampleand adopted similar approaches. The students in theseclasses became "co-managers" of their education. Theteachers became enablers, not task masters. Moraleimproved. Motivation improved. With theSuperintendent's enthusiastic support, TQM waslaunched.

PURPOSE IN EDUCATIONOne of the basic tenets of Deming's teachings is thatindividual workers cannot know what to do to con-

tribute to the enterprise if they do not understand andgive support to its purpose. Furthermore, this pur-pose must be constant and not changing every day. Itmust be a purpose which attracts their hearts andminds. The students, the faculty and the administra-tion spent considerable time developing a consensusabout the purposes of the school. Given a purpose forthe school, the teachers and students translated theschool purpose into the purposes of their classes. Thestudents could relate these to their own purposes. Thisaffirmation took time, but it provided a good basis forattacking the task of applying continuous improve-ment, for now everyone knew the direction they shouldtake.

One weakness, which became apparant later, was thatthe people who work at the dormitories were not partof this consensus building. During my visit it becameclear that this deficiency would have to be rectified.The class-rooms and the dormitories are physically

separated by being at opposite ends of the campus.During a session with the dorm personnel, it becameevident that they are eager to be involved. Actions arenow underway to include not only the dorm person-nel, but also food service, office staff and maintenancepersonnel.

The faculty and students have continued to work onthe educational objectives of the school. See, for ex-ample, the statement of purpose adopted through con-sensus reproduced at the end of this report.

The purpose of the school was not crafted on high andhanded down to the students. Because it is the productof consensus building at all levels the statement of pur-pose of the school permeates all aspects of campus life.

I believe this is unique amongeducational institutions at alllevels.

SPREADING THE COMPE-TENCE

As more of the teachers beganto show an interest, David andthe Superintendent developedworkshops in which the teach-ers could develop their skillsand understanding of continu-ous improvement.

In this effort they were handi-capped by not having beentrained in TQM themselves.They attempted to adaptwhatever they could read invarious sources. They ac-

quired videotapes from the Juran Institute, from MIT,from Bill Conway, from anywhere they could (on a lim-ited budget). They also read widely in the literature ofthe social science. The Superintendent, for example,was greatly influenced by the writings of Covey (Seebox, below, left) The faculty are aware of this lack oftraining and are eager to learn.

On the other hand, I concluded that their isolation fromthe main stream thinking was an advantage. They hadto learn to recognize and solve their own problems.Had they been exposed to the “advantages” of train-ing, it seems likely to me they would not have been sobold and would not have taken the novel paths theydid. They are now positioned to be very critical learn-ers and in some areas, leaders.

The students exhibit a surprising maturity with respectto TQM. What they know, they know well. At the endof this report I have reproduced a student analysis of

the problems they see other people (and themselves)having in changing paradigms. What they found, ontheir own, in MEHS, describes many of my own expe-riences, on four continents, over ten years.

WHAT I SAW DURING MY VISIT

During my four day visit I met and talked with stu-dents, faculty, administration, dorm managers, thenurse, the counsellors and a few people from Sitka andthe Sitka School System (across the channel, on the 'bigisland'). To my knowledge, this is the only school inthe world which is attempting to apply Deming's ideasto the totality of education. I know of many schoolswhich are doing some parts ofTQM, but no other school, at anylevel, to my knowledge is tryingto do it all in an integrated fash-ion.

I looked at student homework(mostly done on a computer),talked with the students,quizzed them about their un-derstanding of what they weredoing, and what they hadlearned. I talked with the fac-ulty, trying to judge their com-mitment and understanding ofTQM. I talked with the admin-istration.

My reaction? Amazement andadmiration. A young girl, ofTlingit/Haida descent, in herjunior year, asking me abouthow to get into Harvard. An-other girl, probably about 17 years of age, talking seri-ously with me about how people in industry are work-ing to remove the effect of fear which an executive ofhigh level might engender in a worker with whom hetalked. Or wanting to know if so many levels wererequired. In a biology class, taught by Gary Jarvill, Ireviewed the hypercards the students had prepared asa form of "computerized-mini-encyclopedia" suitablefor instruction. Only a few minutes of examination ofthe student prepared hypercards and I understood thatno one could prepare this information in such a formwithout having learned it very well. One student's deckof hypercards had 76 cards in it, each one linked to theothers in a logical fashion. By clicking on one card theuser could inquire into the influence of soil chemistryon the plant. By clicking on another icon the user couldlearn about the economic importance of the plant inAlaska or how the plant reproduces itself and spreads.

From these hypercards anyone can see that the studentshave learned some facts about biology. But more im-portantly, from the way the facts are organized, it isalso clear that they have learned how to relate thesefacts to one another in a logical fashion. In this stage oflearning, they could use the hypercard structure as atool. But beyond that, they had learned how to orga-nize their knowledge of facts. In my own experiencesas a teacher, I always found this the hardest to teach atthe college level. Here I saw it happening with highschool juniors.

In the class on entrepreneurship, taught by MartyJohnson, I watched the students prepare and package

smoked salmon for sale inJapan. The students hadused a taste panel of localJapanese to determine theflavor and texture Japa-nese people liked themost. Then they devel-oped a standard proce-dure to produce the sametaste and texture everytime. To achieve the de-sired taste required usinga certain kind of salmon,exposing it for a certaintime and temperature, us-ing a special brining solu-tion, which they had de-termined experimentallyyielded the proper taste,and a certain amount oftime in the smoke fromthe right mixture of woodshavings, using slices of

the fish cut to a certain thickness and size. By study-ing the packages of smoked fish sold in Japan theydeveloped an attractive package which would fit insmall Japanese refrigerators. They developed their owndistinctive label, in Japanese, of course, and they testmarketed the product in Japan. In 1989 the studentsreceived an order for $140,000 worth of the smokedsalmon that they could not fulfill. At the time of myvisit they had received another order, this time from aKorean Company, which would amount to over$600,000 per year! Their current problem was that thecompany, which had asked to take on the task of ful-filling the order, did not want to follow their qualitystandards. I do not know what they will decide to do.

The high school class is becoming the source of localexpertise just as the Superintendent had hoped it wouldbecome, though I doubt he expected it to happen sosoon and on such a scale.

Bill Denkinger, Principal, with entrepreneur-ship students fromMarty Johnson's class, with their smoked salmon for export toJapan.

In this class I had good discussions with the teachersand students over how to use SPC to gain informationon the variability and perhaps to reduce it.

The students and faculty have not yet studied designof experiment. The course on entrepreneurship is ob-viously a wonderful situation in which to learn aboutit. Ron Moen has been teaching design of experimentto junior high school students. When I telephoned himfor help, he was greatly interested in sharing his work.Ron and David hope to meet this summer and to buildon Ron's experiences.

One course which I saw only by videotape, but whichimpressed me greatly, is the "Ropes Course", which issimilar to the "Outward Bound" courses which havebeen so much publicized. At the start of the schoolyear all the incoming students and all of the facultyparticipate in this course. The students (protected bysuitable safety harnesses) undertake a number of chal-lenging activities such as climbing to a high place andfalling backwards to be caught by their classmates, orleaping to grasp a trapeze r about 30 feet high, or jump-ing from a shaky platform, high on top of a pole, withsafety provided by classmates on the end of a rope. Inanother exercise, they taketurns leading one anotherblindfolded through parts ofthe Alaskan wilderness.

Superintendent LarraeRocheleau explained the ob-jective of the course this way:"When the students arrivethey are dependent. Theirparadigm says, "I can't do itbecause you don’t do whatyou are supposed to do". Theylook to "you" for guidance andsupport. By being challengedthey begin to become indepen-dent. In this mode they say,"Yes, I can do it". They become not only self confident,but also self centered. They say “I” a great deal. Fi-nally, some recognize interdependence and they say,"We can do it together". The objective of the course isnot only to give self confidence, but to move the stu-dents from “You”, to “I” to “We”. Larrae believes thatthis course is an essential pre-requisite to the successof all the other courses. Many of the students need toestablish their self confidence, otherwise they will nottry the things they are asked to do. They will be un-able to form teams. As I see it, MEHS is trying to de-velop autonomous team players.

I did not appreciate how important the rope course is

as a deliberate attempt to build character, until I metsome of the first year students who came from a smallcommunity. I was reminded of youngsters I had metin the hills of Kentucky who came from similar (ifwarmer) rural backgrounds. When bussed to thecounty schools, they often do not take to the classroomsituations where they are made to feel inferior. Thrustinto an entirely new life in which they had to learnnew habits of thought and in a very short time becomeindependent learners, I saw many of them turn away,not because they were not bright enough, but becausethe system judged them on artificial grounds. An edu-cational system which ignores the psychological aspectsof the students' prior preparation (or lack of it) foreverassigns them to the lowest rungs on the social ladder.In my view it is no educational system at all. Such anapproach does not look upon the youngsters as humansto be developed. Rather it looks upon the young gen-erations as a crop to be winnowed. The “RopesCourse”, to the casual outsider, might look like a lot offun (it is) but not as a serious element of education.The ropes course does for all the students what com-petitive athletic contests are supposed to do for a few.In my opinion, it does it better.

DEMING'S IMPACT ON THE CURRICULUM

David's class has rewrittenDeming's 14 points so thattheir application to educationis more apparant. They havealso identified the various"customer-supplier relation-ships". (See box at end of thisreport) After flowchartingsome of the activities of theschool and studying the objec-tives of the various teachers,the students and teachers, to-gether, set about restructuringthe system. (The words"peristroika" and "glasnost"often appear on the walls of

the school, even in the Superintendent's office!) Theclass schedule was changed to combine functions. Forexample, when the students write a report for the en-trepreneurship class, that report is accepted as part ofthe homework in English. (Eliminate barriers betweendepartments) The students are expected to turn in aperfect report. The phrase, "No Excuses" appears ev-erywhere. The students say, "We are after quality , notquantity. What is the point of writing a number ofmediocre essays? Instead, let us write a few reports,but let them be excellent." The English teachers,Kathleen McCrossin and Ruth Fairchild, insist on per-fect spelling, on good style, on correct grammer...inshort on excellence. Actually, after an inquiry into what

Deming's influence at MEHS is very strong. Here BillDenkinger, Principal, David Langford, Instructor, Dr.Deming and Larrae Rocheleau, Superintendent, meetin Minneapolis in May, 1990.

characterizes a perfect essay, the students do not haveto rely on the teacher’s judgment. They supply theirown.(Eliminate mass inspection)

I inspected a few hypercards prepared by students onthe theme "How to Write A Perfect Five Paragraph Es-say". In this essay they discussed how to choose anappropriate title, how to write an introductory para-graph, how to structure a logical argument, how todevelop conclusions and how to avoid cliches. Hav-ing, themselves, written such a learning instrument,they were equipped to apply the criteria themselves.

There are no grades, no "incompletes", no "F's". Thetask is not complete until the work is perfect. The stu-dents have defined perfection for themselves and,therefore know how to aim for it. (Create joy in work)

Incidentally, the first computer course begins by usingthe computer to teach speed typing. All students un-derstand that they will do their homework on a com-puter, using word processors, spread sheets, graphicsprograms, etc. They appreciate the importance of be-ing able to type well, because they know they will bedoing so much of it. The typing exercise is the onlyone in which I saw the computer being used in the “drilland grill” mode. All otherctivities seemed to be cre-ative; using the computer as a tool to accomplish some-thing, as opposed to learning computers as an end inthemselves.

In the business class I watched studentspreparing spread sheets to reflect what itwill cost them to live in their chosen lifestyle after they graduate. They take intoaccount mortgage payments, taxes, cost ofliving changes, projections for cost of trans-portation, schooling, etc. In this way theylearn the importance of inflation, interestrates and taxation. They analyze what itwill require to live as they wish and in theprocess learn about graphical presentationof data, about simple finance, about busi-ness. I saw a great deal of mutual learningas students compared their results andtaught one another some of the tricks offinancial analysis. Because the students areworking creatively on something which

interests them, the teacher does not have to be in theroom when classes start or during the class time. Myhost sat with me to discuss the course and from time totime a student would come with a question. Most ofthe times the questions were not answered but insteadthe teacher would pose a question or make a sugges-tion for something to try.

My visit coincided with the November elections. Inthe Alaska Issues and Government class, taught byBrenda Campen, I saw the result of some "desk toppublishing". The students had prepared a small guideto voting, including a very well written essay on theimportance of voting, an analysis of some of the propo-sitions on the ballot and some of the candidates posi-tions. When I first read it, I thought it had been sentfrom outside the school, it was that professionally writ-ten.

DISCIPLINE

Student behavior problems have all but vanished. Iexamined the data from the front office on the rate of"conduct report" issuances. In the last period exam-ined, the number of students involved in disciplinaryaction varied between 1.5% and 0.5% of the studentpopulation.

All categories of discipline problems are analyzed sepa-rately (using the spread sheet, Excel) and examinedgraphically. There were a few minor errors in deter-mining how to set the control limits. When I reorga-nized the plotting, it could be seen that the process goesout of control every weekend. The faculty is thinkingof what to do about this "special cause". One facultymember, however, was concerned over the very lowrate of discipline reports. Her concern was that theremay be too much discipline and that this may result in

One evening I spoke for a class David Langford andLarraeRocheleau teach at The University of Alaska forpeople in Sitka. The local postmaster, a student in the class,complained bitterly that he is required, by postal rules andregulations, to rate all his people. Although his postofficehas three times received a rating of outstanding, due to hisadoption of TQM, he still has to follow regulations. Wehad a spirited discussion in the class about what to do whenthe system forces a manager to use bad management.

Students in the entrepreneurship class engage in problem solving sessions.

psychomatic illnesses. I proposed that an analysis bemade of visits to the nurse to see if they correlated withexams, etc.

I came away enthusiastic over what I saw. The attemptis genuine. The school is obviously at the beginning ofa journey. The faculty is far back on the learning curvebut well aware of what they have yet to learn. They donot practice the self delusion I encounter so often inmy industrial visits. They know they do not know andare committed to doing something about it. The mostprominant attitude is one of frustration at seeing a vi-sion of what could be and having so far to go. But inmy eyes, they have come a long way and have no needto apologize to anyone. I compare their achievementswith what I know goes on elsewhere in the USA. I amaware of the poor preparation that many of the stu-dents have before they start at MEHS. Through theuse of TQM the staff is able to de-vote more attention to each indi-vidual student. The students alsohelp one another to become inde-pendent learners. This school isdemonstrating the true power ofeducation.

The extraordinary results MEHSproduces with their students re-calls the remark of Hutchins, whenPresident of the University of Chi-cago, “No one knows what can bedone with education because wehave never really tried.”CHALLENGES

When a school undertakes such a radical change ineducation, it is bound to encounter new problems. Themost difficult one to resolve is concerned with theevaluation of students and staff. The faculty, the stu-dents, and the administration, all agree that evalua-tion is destructive to the learning process. Yet whenthe students apply for entrance to a college, they areexpected to show the usual grades and test scores.

The faculty is confident the students will succeed wher-ever they go. 47% of the students who graduated fromMEHS have entered college and are still there or havegraduated. This is significantly better than the nation-wide average.

Students who have left MEHS and are now in collegereport back that they are disappointed to find that theenvironments into which they have gone are not "learn-ing environments". I was asked by several students toadvise them where they could go to continue their stud-ies of quality and be in a quality environment. I had tosay I did not know of a single school, anywhere, that

might meet their needs. Perhaps one of the smallerliberal arts schools, such as Antioch College, might beappropriate. I did not know (but I did put in a goodword for Dartmouth College!).

The principal, Bill Denkinger, frets over the fact thathe is expected to rank the faculty in his reports to thestate. He sees such ranking as destructive to morale,but he is stuck in a system which is designed for a dif-ferent paradigm.

On the other hand, the faculty is anxious to know howthey are doing and wants to get feedback. They aresincere in their desire to understand if they are doingthe right things.

Another serious problem arises because the faculty isessentially self taught in quality management. I was

their first visitor who has seriouslystudied TQM. The teachers, stu-dents and staff were hungry for les-sons in TQM methods techniques.They were especially weak in sta-tistics, none of the faculty ever hav-ing had a course in its applicationto quality improvement. Tradi-tional educational statistics coursesare useless for a TQM situation. Idid what I could, in a short time,to make some suggestions. Betterthan that, however, I used the oc-casion to do a little telephoning topeople in the quality movementwhom I knew would be

interested.(See box, lower left, previous page) Every-one on whom I have called has indicated a willingnessto help and the people at MEHS are eager to learn. Ibelieve, therefore, that this matter of getting consulta-tion and instruction in various aspects of TQM for thefaculty will be relatively easy to solve.

I only wish I could find the same thirst for learning inthe rest of the country.

IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION IN THE USA

I went to Sitka because I had heard that the were usingTQM in education. What I saw exceeded my expecta-tions. It is also clear that what has been done at MEHScannot be "cloned" and simply reproduced elsewhere.Mt. Edgecumbe High School is a residential school. Theenrollment is very small, compared to the national av-erage. The ratio of students to teachers is smaller thanthe national average. What we have at MEHS is a smalllaboratory in which it has been demonstrated thatQuality Management Principles work in education.

Two students in biology class use a mi-croscope to create a scanned image whichthey will use in their homework report.

The staff at MEHS is eager to share what they havelearned. However, they are beginning to be swampedwith phone calls, letters and their fax machine runnethover. During my visit a few of the faculty discussedwith me the potential to hold a conference during theSummer of 1992, to which educators from around theUSA would be invited. They have considered runninga mini-summer school on their campus, complete withhigh school students, faculty and administrators froma dozen schools, as a way to provide “seeds” whichmight flourish elsewhere. They have also considered aresearch conference at which there would be paperson various aspects of the experiment thus far. Plan-ning continues.

Probably what they need most of all now, is the addi-tion of a few more staff so they can devote more timeto teaching others, to planning for the conference andsimply to host the number of visitors who can be ex-pected to show up on their doorstep in the coming year.

It is well known that the educational system in the USAhas been failing its citizens. Political leaders, from thePresident down, have issued solemn pronouncementsand "goals". Those who understand TQM have beenunhappy and critical of these statements because theyconsist of goals, without plans to achieve them. Theseofficials apply the managerial techniques which havealready ruined much of American enterprise. We ex-pect them to have similar unsatisfactory results whenapplied in education.

I only wish every one of our political leaders wouldread the student's interpretation of Deming's 14 pointsapplied to education (see end of report), especially point#12.

Having made such critical remarks, I have also to ad-mit that even those of us who know about TQM in in-dustry have not, heretofore, provided anyone with aclear directions on how to apply TQM in education.Frankly, we haven't known how to begin.

The experiences at MEHS, however, now change allthat. MEHS provides everyone with an example of howto start. MEHS is an important laboratory for the na-tional cause of education and as such deserves the sup-port and encouragement of all who care about the edu-cation of the young. TQM should not be viewed asanother educational fad that will come and go. Mt.Edgecumbe High School has adopted TQM as a partof its culture.

The MEHS example should provide the courage to tryTQM in education on a larger scale and to learn HOWTO MAKE IT WORK. Having observed one anotherfalter along the road to quality, the students have ana-

lyzed the stages through which everyone seems to pass.(see box at end of reprort). As the students and staff atMEHS say, NO EXCUSES.

Robert Gordon Sproul, President of the University ofCalifornia, used to say, "Youth must be served in itsday, or not at all." Let us begin.

The librarian is proud of the way computers are used in thenew library. Because the students, like the one shown here,are involved in so many of their own creative projects, li-brary use is up.

Students are expected to apply their knowledge in practicalproblems. Here the students visiting a local fish plant, look-ing for ways to apply quality methods.

They apply these methods to school operations, such as thecafeteria, design of dorm rules and regulations, and mainte-nance.

Reading the following analysis of the problems of transforming a culture, makes it clear these youngsters are ready tobecome consultants in TQM. Their observations parallel those of every consultant with whom I have ever discussed theproblem.

The Transformation ProcessThe Continuous Improvement Process Media class at Mt. Edgecumbe High School is responsible for presenting the processto other students, teachers, administrators, parents, business people and other community members. Through their experi-ence they have identified the following transformation process that people typically progress through when moving from theold management system to the new paradigm for quality improvement. It should be noted that some individuals begin atdifferent levels.

1. Oh no, another thing to do.2. This is interesting, but a waste of my time (or some other reaction).3. Works for you, but it could not work for us; usually followed by listing reasons

why it cannot be done at their site.4. Denial that it could actually be working.5. Questioning - about initial reaction in #1.6. Angry/mad/frustrated/defensive7. Seek more information and look for transference of theories and applications or

completely reject.8. Like the idea, but no action; advanced lip service.9. Attempt involvement.10. Enthusiasm and relief11. Progress not as fast as they like.12 Understanding and then profound knowledge.

The computer class-room is in almost constant use, from early morning to late at night. Here students inthe Computer II class are working while students from other classes use the otherwise vacant computersto do their homework .

There is a great deal of sharing of technical information about computers. Some students, of course, areinterested in computers themselves; most consider it a tool for other purposes.

The following statement was preparedby the students and staff of the school.

MT. EDGECUMBE HIGH SCHOOL

Sitka, Alaska

MISSIONSTATEMENT

Mt. Edgecumbe High School is aparadigm shift in philosophy to theusual high school program. Each cur-ricular area offers innovative teach-ing methods that not only enhanceopportunities for Mt. EdgecumbeHigh School students, but serve asmodels for other high schools.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School pro-vides new and important educationopportunities for Alaskan students.The school places high expectationsupon students, administrators, andstaff. Program and curriculum arebased upon a conviction that stu-dents have a great and often unreal-ized potential. The school preparesstudents to make the transition toadulthood helping them to deter-mine what they want to do and de-velop the skills and the self confi-dence to accomplish their goals.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School stu-dents are required to pursue rigorousacademic programs that encouragestudents to work at their highest lev-els. Administrators, teachers, and

other staff are required to keep currenton educational advances and to ini-tiate innovative, challenging, andstimulating classroom programs andactivities.

Teachers and staff analyze issues toanticipate future social and economicneeds of Alaska, such as Alaska's eco-nomic position among the Pacific Rimnations, and to integrate an educa-tional approach to these issues into thecurriculum. A strong curriculum inEnglish, social studies, mathematics,science/marine science, computers/business, career exploration, Asianlanguages, and physical education isprovided.

Special emphasis is placed on thestudy of both historical and contem-porary topics specific to Alaska. Studyof the history, culture, and languagesof the Pacific Rim are a major curricu-lar area and to the extent possible Pa-cific Rim studies are applied across thecurriculum.

Vocational education is stressedthrough entrepreneurship and workstudy. Cottage industries are run bystudents. Traditional vocational edu-cation is offered on a limited basis.

Opportunities for leadership, publicservice and entrepreneurship are in-tegrated into the program, both dur-ing and after regular school hours.The school prepares students for theacademic demands of being away

from home and managing time effec-tively, Some students are selected foradmission who are having a difficulttime with their local environment.Staff work within available resourcesto help these students become produc-tive citizens.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School as aboarding school offers students a widerange of support activities in both aca-demic and rߺesidential programs, toassure the success of all students. Tofacilitate personal growth and deci-sion making skills, each student is as-sisted, guided, and challenged tomake choices about future academicor technical schooling and alternativemethods of making a living. Studentsare respected for their cultural back-ground and diversity. Students andteachers are encouraged and expectedto offer insights to increase the effec-tiveness of the school.

These students in the CIP-Media class are the "shocktroops" for culture change. I wonder if an admis-sions officer in a university will understand the sig-nificance of this subject. Will it be allowed "collegecredit"? I wish every MBA candidate would gothrough this course.

This is a course which could be copied in any highschool in the USA.

The following modification ofDeming's 14 points was prepared byDavid Langford's class, "ContinuousImprovement"

Modified Deming PointsforContinuous Improvementof Education

1.Create constancy of purpose towardimprovement of students and service.Aim to create the best quality studentscapable of improving all forms of pro-cesses and entering meaningful posi-tions in society.

2.Adopt the new philosophy. Educa-tional management must awaken tothe challenge, must learn their re-sponsibilities, and take on leadershipfor change.

3.Work to abolish grading and theharmful effects of rating people.

4.Cease dependence on testing toachieve quality. Eliminate the needfor inspections on a mass basis (stan-dardized achievement test, minimumgraduation exams etc.) by providinglearning experiences which createquality performance.

5.Work with the educational institu-tions from which students come.Minimize total cost of education byimproving the relationship with stu-

dent sources and helping to improvethe quality of students coming intoyour system. A single source of stu-dents coming into a system such as jr.high students moving into a highschool is an opportunity to build longterm relationships of loyalty and trustfor the benefit of students.

6. Improve constantly and forever thesystem of student improvement andservice, to improve quality and pro-ductivity.

7.Institute education and training onthe job for students, teachers, classi-fied staff and administrators.

8.Institute leadership. The aim of su-pervision should be to help people usemachines, gadgets and materials to doa better job.

9.Drive out fear, so that everyone maywork effectively for the school system.Create an environment which encour-ages people to speak freely.

10.Break down barriers between de-partments. People in teaching, specialeducation, accounting, food service,administration, curriculum develop-ment and research etc. must work as ateam. Develop strategies for increas-ing the cooperation among groups andindividual people.

11.Eliminate slogans, exhortations,and targets for teachers and studentsasking for perfect performance andnew levels of productivity. Exhorta-

tions create adversarial relationships.The bulk of the causes of low qualityand low productivity belong to thesystem and thus lie beyond the con-trol of teachers and students.

12.Eliminate work standards (quotas)on teachers and students, (e.g. raisetest scores by 10%, and lower dropoutsby 15%.) Substitute leadership.

13.Remove barriers that rob the stu-dents, teachers and management(principals, superintendents and cen-tral office support staff) of their rightto pride and joy of workmanship.This means, inter alia, abolition of theannual or merit rating and of manage-ment by objective. The responsibil-ity of all educational managers mustbe changed from quantity to quality.

14.Institute a vigorous program ofeducation and self-improvement foreveryone.

15.Put everybody in the school to workto accomplish the transformation. Thetransformation is everybody's job.

Control SpectrumTEACHERS

DO TO DO FOR DO WITH ENABLE

MASTER

SLAVE

ALL KNOWINGPROVIDER

PASSIVE RECIPIENT

EXPERT/COACH

LEARNINGPARTICIPANT

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MENTOR

ACTIVESELF STARTING

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CUSTOMER SUPPLIER SERVICES

Students Teachers System ManagementCurriculum DesignCounselingLeadershipMaterials and Equipment

Administrators Systems development and analysisMaterials and Equipment

School Boards Policy

Teachers Administrators Materials and Equipment