THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504300044
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
The school district's efforts to embrace a progressive management approach have reached beyond school boundaries. Just ask Joyce Wilkins.
Wilkins, a leader in the Swanson Homes community, says it has helped her, too. She has built better relationships with city educators and gained some tools to solve neighborhood problems.
She was thrilled when the district set up ``community action teams'' in public housing areas last school year so school officials, parents and students could meet and discuss issues on citizens' turf. Wilkins, the mother of six, now leads the Swanson Homes team.
At a district training session where the approach, called Total Quality Management, was spelled out, she said she learned loads about holding more effective meetings, using data, staying focused on goals and making adjustments aimed at ``continuous improvement'' - skills she also uses at tenant council meetings.
``It does empower us,'' she said.
The district recently received a 1994 U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award for Virginia. Disciples of the management approach said the award proves good things are happening in the district.
``I think the techniques have helped build up the community, bridging the gap between school officials and neighborhoods,'' Wilkins said. ``And the processes used keep everybody in line. . . . I think we still need to give the school district some time to show more progress, but at least they're trying.''
The annual award recognizes efforts to become more efficient and responsive to citizens. The five winners, including the U.S. Coast Guard Finance Center in Chesapeake, were announced April 20. Portsmouth was a finalist in 1992 and 1993, but did not win the award, a medallion.
Last year, 135 school districts across the country were using the Total Quality Management approach in some form, up from nearly 40 in 1991, the Milwaukee-based American Society for Quality Control said. The late management pioneer W. Edwards Deming spearheaded the philosophy.
In public education, it has turned students and parents into ``customers.'' Teachers and principals are seen as managers who can help solve problems instead of simply swallowing orders from above.
Employees are encouraged to work in teams and to always evaluate whether their methods lead to improvement. Portsmouth turned to the approach about five years ago.
The efforts have taken many shapes: A variety of ``action'' teams were formed to help the district meet goals outlined in its overarching strategic plan. School-improvement teams craft annual achievement plans based on hard data. The administration also gives selected schools cash awards based on annual improvement rates.
Since 1991, more than 500 employees have had quality management training. PTA presidents asked to be trained this summer.
``I see more teamwork, more collaboration, people asking a lot of tough questions,'' said Claude Parent, the district's quality manager.
Vicki Thompson, a fourth-grade teacher at James Hurst Elementary School, said the approach helps educators focus on ``the best ways to teach children'' and discourages teachers from taking students and parents for granted. When Douglass Park Elementary staffers wanted to know what motivated kids to come to school, they surveyed students - including kindergartners.
But the approach is merely a tool, not a cure-all, said Douglass Park Principal Gordon Ellsworth. ``When you talk about success, nobody puts all of their eggs in one basket,'' he said.
Elsewhere, critics have said the approach is like many education reform initiatives: all surface and no depth.
Last school year, during Superintendent Richard D. Trumble's unsuccessful push to hire a private company to run some city schools, Trumble said it could take years for the district to see significant gains in academic achievement levels given the minimal goals that some school-improvement teams had set for themselves.
Thelma Hardy, a Dale Homes neighborhood leader who heads the community action team there, said the district is still on the right track. The award was a pleasant surprise, she said.
``Perhaps the city will look at the school system in a different light, and maybe this can help us get support from more people,'' she said. by CNB