Lean is known mostly as the Japanese management method that enabled Honda and Toyota to take market share from American auto manufacturers using superior quality. State education because of its many facets and problems is an even better application of Lean Teams than the automotive industry. Many state educators would ague that they are already doing Lean. That is probably true as a stated goal but Lean puts massive focus on education including: parents as teachers, community and business involvement with extra focus on the classroom where it counts.

Begin by forming a variation of the Lean Team. I would call it by a more relevant name such as Classroom Quality Team (CQT). Each curriculum area English, history life Sciences and others would have their own CQT. The CQT would meet as required more often at the start of the semester and maybe once a month later. The CQTs are qualified to determine their own curriculum eliminating the need for a curriculum coordinator. While we are doing this we may as well eliminate the paperwork that the coordinators do. We should keep the measures used for student progress they determine success and failure not only of the student but of the entire system. A Key element for maintaining teaching quality is the support given to inexperienced teachers through the CQT. Experienced teachers should submit their best lesson plans to the CQT for review and documentation as a standard set of lesson plans to be shared with new teachers. This solves a critical problem for new teachers who don’t have the time or the experience to develop their own lesson plans. The CQT would continually evaluate and improve their teaching methods in relation to student achievement.

Now let’s talk about parental involvement first I am not talking about parents who support school sports. This is good thing but most parents don’t get involved until they can be entertained. High school is too late even grade school is not soon enough. We know that learning starts at birth and maybe even before. We also know that the fastest learning for a child is in his brain development years from birth to two or three years old. This is the age where the parents critically affect the education of the child. If we are going to address TQM of education this is where we should begin. A Parents As Teachers organization is the minimum that should be done. This program and other early efforts is a critical part of TQM and must not be ignored. This all occurs before kindergarten. After students start grade school is the time to get tough on parents. Get them to pledge to shut off the TV for a couple of hours each evening and sit down with their kids for study time. There is no way that this activity should be avoided it will soon become a daily routine to be followed through high school.

The next critical area is in class sizes especially in the first two years of elementary school where students are learning to read. Individual attention to each student is vital to learning to read therefore there should not be more than a dozen students in each class.

The next area of effort should be in the teaching of students to write. The only way for students learn to write is to write. The problem is that an English teacher needs to read, correct mistakes and evaluate each paper a job not possible when it should occur on a daily basis. Reduced class size would help but a teacher’s aid may be of more help.

Open the school’s libraries and gyms on Saturdays and staff it with community volunteers. Open the school at night for Parent’s As Teachers meetings and Adult Education classes. Make the school the center of the community involvement in public education. Have the parents pledge to shut off the TV set for two hours of study time each night before school.

I am convinced that if we concentrate our education efforts in the above areas many of the later problems in high school will be solved.

For more information see the following:
Article 69. Ideas for Child Rearing that the State can Do
Article 107. Saving the Cost of Foreign Speaking Child Education
Article 111. Example of a Lean Team in the Classroom