Baldrige Self-Assessment
Self-Assessment is a quick way to get started with the Baldrige Criteria (and the Baldrige-based sections of the Ohio Administrative Code/Operating Standards for Ohio Schools). The National Institute of Standards and Technology provides the following self-assessment resources at the Baldrige web site.
E-Baldrige Self-Assessment and Action Planning:
Using the Baldrige Organizational Profile for Education
The E-Baldrige Self-Assessment provides organizational leaders a quick (less than 15 minute) 27-item questionnaire with comparative results from previous responses.
Based on the Organizational Profile section of the Baldrige Criteria, organizations can use e-Baldrige:
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to help determine their readiness for a full self-assessment
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to possibly reveal gaps in information and opportunities for improvement
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to compare themselves to others who already have completed the e-Baldrige challenge
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to assist with developing an action plan for improvement or continue with a more complete self-assessment
Some questions from the self-assessment could facilitate discussion in staff meetings:
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What are their key requirements and expectations for your programs, offerings, and services? What are the differences in these requirements and expectations among student segments and stakeholder groups?
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What are your key education and learning, operational, human resource, and community-related challenges?
ARE WE MAKING PROGRESS?
Are We Making Progress? is a 40-item survey appropriate for employees, administrators, or district leadership. It is not specific to education (e.g. it generically refers to "work," "boss," and "customers").
This ten to fifteen minute survey focuses on the following questions:
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Are your vision, mission, values, and plans being deployed? How do you know?
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Are they understood by your leadership team? How do you know?
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Are they understood by all employees? How do you know?
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Are your communications effective? How do you know?
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Is the message being well received? How do you know?
Introduction to Ten Steps for Self-Assessment and Action
The thirty-page Getting Started with the Baldrige National Quality Program includes a twelve-page section, Introduction to Ten Steps for Self-Assessment and Action, which focuses on creating an organizational profile and performing category self-assessments via category teams and champions. The ten steps are:
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Identify the boundaries of the organization
to be assessed.
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Select seven champions, one for each
Performance Excellence Criteria
Category.
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Decide on the format for and scope of
your self-assessment and action plan.
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Senior leaders and champions prepare the
Organizational Profile.
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Practice self-assessment techniques with
your seven Category champions, using
Item 1.1 in the Criteria for Performance
Excellence as a guide.
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Champions select Category teams.
Champions and teams prepare a response
for their assigned Items.
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Share responses among teams and finalize
the findings. Identify key strengths and
gaps in Category responses.
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Prioritize your organization’s key strengths
and opportunities for improvement.
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Develop and implement an action plan
for improvement.
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Evaluate and improve your
self-assessment and action process.
Although the brochure does not speak specifically to the education criteria, it does give valuable background for self-assessment and additional resources.
Resources from the Ohio Department of Education
Baldrige self-assessment could be performed directly from the Baldrige-based
Operating Standards for Ohio Schools. (Additional background on the operating standards can be found here.)
Self-assessment could include identifying district "owners" for appropriate sections of the Administrative Code, as well as identifying the district's strategic challenges and key stakeholders.
In addition, Breaking New Ground: How one Community is Getting Serious About Closing its Achievement Gaps provides an example of regional partnering between school districts and key stakeholders. Finally, Continuous Improvement: What's Working provides case studies from Baldrige in Education, including identification of strategic challenges such as:
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Inconsistent use of effective instructional practices in the classroom;
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Lack of high expectations for performance for both students and staff;
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Lack of sufficient analysis of data to identify strengths and weaknesses in student performance;
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Lack of sufficient data to identify strengths and weaknesses in curriculum and instruction;
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Lack of self-discipline for both students and staff.