Continuous Improvement Model for Schools: Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) (Cont.)

The Plan-Do-Study-Act procedure. Recognize an opportunity and plan a change.

1. Do. Test the change. Carry out a small-scale study.
2. Study. Review the test, analyze the results and identify what you’ve learned.
3. Act. Take action based on what you learned in the study step: If the change did not work, go through the cycle again with a different plan. If you were successful, incorporate what you learned from the test into wider changes. Use what you learned to plan new improvements, beginning the cycle again.

Plan. The emphasis of the plan stage of the PDSA cycle is on developing knowledge about the process that is to be improved – before change is introduced.  By means of a number of problem-solving tools, a process can be visualized, its components identified, the cause-and-effect relationships among its factors understood, and its possibilities for improvement put into focus. 

            Planning demands knowledge of a system’s performance.  Leaders responsible for improvement of the system of education will see the organization as a system.  Classroom teachers and others who are responsible for subsystems and processes can identify the system of the classroom and processes within that system.  A system has processes, each of which is comprised of materials, methods, environment, people, and equipment.   The system of education may involve a complex matrix of processes, from orientation of new students to parent information to development of language skills to food service to classroom management.  Each of these processes has the same characteristics as the larger system: the set of interrelationships among activities, people, inputs, and benefits or outputs that were previously examined (Langley, Nolan, Nolan, Norman & Provost, 1996).

Do.  The next step is the do stage of the PDSA cycle.  The improvement theory is tested over a period of time, with data collected on a regular basis so that the results can be studied.  Again, a number of tools are available to support this process, but it is not the purpose here to provide instruction in their specific application.  Teams will continue to analyze outcomes with control charts, histograms, force field analysis, and other tools.

            Students’ ability to recognize and use the words that they have found in their reading can provide a source of data to be collected and analyzed for improvement.  It is important to make small, measurable changes, especially in the first experience of the improvement process.  If a team attempts a complex problem with many ramifications, or one that cannot be adequately measured, it will find the results to be less than satisfactory.  Especially for a first experience, select a relatively simple problem to approach.  If students try to change too many things at once – the day of the test, the way words are looked up in groups, the process of recording definitions, and the usefulness of the words with respect to ACTs, for example – they will find themselves not only overwhelmed with data, but also unable to see a clear connection between a single change in the system and the ensuing improvement.

Study.  In the study phase of the PDSA cycle, data can be evaluated for indications of improvement.  For example, a control chart might be used to record weekly vocabulary scores in the same way that the data had been posted prior to making the recommended change in the system.  A comparison can be made by using this vital tool.  Say that the small change that was made in distributing the lists each week paid off in improved oral test scores, that information can be broken down and analyzed further, with the help of histograms, fish bone diagrams, and other tools.

Act.  The last stage of the PDSA cycle is act.  After the changes have been carefully observed and analyzed, the improvement should be standardized or implemented.  Observation and analysis, however, should not end at that point.  A system must be continually monitored to assure that improvements are consistently applied and to suggest other improvements that can be made.  In this way, what is known as continuous improvement will come about since the system will be revisited time and again for potential improvement.  Although vocabulary mastery may have improved, for example, the team may want to assess the new situation, formulate a new theory for improvement, try it out, study the results, and standardize a new change.

Langley, G. J., Moen, R., Nolan, K. M., Nolan, T. W., Norman, C. L., & Provost, L. P. (2009).The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.