Continuous improvement can fall short when it becomes a compliance-based checklist activity detached from purpose and equity¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r? · q2
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Engaging in continuous improvement methods only in a rote, compliance-oriented way removes the possibility of truly improving equity. → Valdez 2020

Evidence¶

Valdez 2020¶

Valdez, A., Takahashi, S., Krausen, K., Bowman, A., & Gurrola, E. (2020). Getting better at getting more equitable: Opportunities and barriers for using continuous improvement to advance educational equity. WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED606089

q2 · i? · qualitative · r?

In the barriers section of the interview study, a leader described how improvement "becomes a thing on a check - list" when done from a compliance orientation, using the example of completing PDSA cycles perfunctorily.

"The way that improvement can fall short rad- ically is that it becomes a thing on a check - list. It becomes “What I do because you tell me to do it.”"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The guide argues that overfocusing on intervention selection alone risks a 'magic bullet' view because average positive outcomes do not guarantee local success — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• SWOT in educational settings is typically applied superficially, episodically, and detached from improvement cycles — related
• Education leaders believe continuous improvement, when done well, can unearth issues of equity and reveal root causes of inequities in education systems — related
• Relational trust shapes whether SWOT functions as organisational learning or superficial compliance — related
• Relational elements — trust, voice and agency, and equity — are preconditions for restorative practices to work — related
• Technical restorative practices implementation falls short when the adaptive components of values, mindsets, and beliefs have not shifted — related
• Leaders caution that disaggregating data by student demographics is only the beginning of using continuous improvement for equity, not its entirety — related