Run Schools Like Businesses? Sure. Here's How. - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Run Schools Like Businesses? Sure. Here's How. - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Run Schools Like Businesses? Sure. Here's How.

By Nancy Flanagan on August 16, 2013 7:56 PM

Guest post from Dale Rogers.

Dale Rogers is currently in 32nd year of teaching with 20+ years at Novi High School in Novi Michigan. He achieved National Board Certification for Career and Technical Education in 2007. In addition to his teaching duties he serves as the technology integration specialist at his school and has been a perennial presenter at many state and regional education conferences for the past 13 years.

Many of the current education reform trends in America attempt to improve the quality of our public schools by applying various management strategies used in the business world. These model business lessons, heralded as tough, effective reform, don't always look like the strategies being seen in business-to-business advice about managing systems and working effectively with people, however.

Take, for example, the groundbreaking and very influential work of Edwards Deming. Deming is best known for his 14 points of quality management. Deming and his principles were instrumental in working to improve the quality of Japanese manufacturing after World War II. As companies in the United States began to see the improved quality of Japanese products, they too adopted Deming's principles.

For some reason, however, the Deming strategies of quality that businesses utilize are all but ignored when trying to improve education in America.

For example, consider Deming's third point of quality, "Cease dependence on inspection to