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Six Sigma in Education

Item

Title
Six Sigma in Education
Abstract/Description
PURPOSE
This paper is one of seven in this volume that aims to elaborate different approaches to quality improvement in education. It delineates a methodology called Six Sigma.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH
The paper presents the origins, theoretical foundations, core principles and a case study demonstrating an application of Six Sigma in a school-community partnership in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

FINDINGS
The core principles underlying the approach are decreasing variability or unreliability in organizational work processes, eliminate waste or activity that does not add value to desired outcomes, identify defects and decrease their incidence, reduce the cost of work processes, and improve beneficiary/client satisfaction levels. The steps in this statistics-dependent method are design, measure, analyze, improve and control.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE
Few theoretical treatments and demonstration cases are currently available on commonly used models of quality improvement that might have potential value in improving education systems internationally. This paper fills this gap by elucidating one promising approach. The paper also derives value as it permits a comparison of the Six Sigma approach with other quality improvement approaches treated in this volume.
Author/creator
LeMahieu, Paul G.
Nordstrum, Lee E.
Cudney, Elizabeth A.
Date
2017
In publication
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume
25
Issue
1
Pages
91-108
Resource type
en Research/Scholarly Media
Resource status/form
en Published Text
Scholarship genre
en Theoretical
en Methodological
en Historical
Keywords
quality improvement
six sigma
IRE Approach/Concept
Six Sigma
Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC)
Featured case/project
Milwaukee Succeeds
Open access/full-text available
en No
Peer reviewed
en Yes
ISSN
0968-4883
DOI
10.1108/QAE-12-2016-0082
Is part of
Quality Assurance in Education: Working to Improve: Seven Approaches to Quality Improvement in Education [Special Issue]
Other related resources/entities
Quality Improvement Approaches: Six Sigma
Citation
LeMahieu, P. G., Nordstrum, L. E., & Cudney, E. A. (2017). Six Sigma in education. Quality Assurance in Education, 25(1), 91–108. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-12-2016-0082
Cited in
Introducing Improvement Research in Education
Cross-National Research on Continuous Improvement
Item sets
IRE Handbook Introduction Citation
Quality Assurance in Education [Special Issue]: Working to Improve: Seven Approaches to Quality Improvement in Education
OB Citations - Cross National Research on Continuous Improvement
OB Citations - Traditions of Quality Improvement in Education

Linked resources

Items with "Cites: Six Sigma in Education"
Title Class
Cross-National Research on Continuous Improvement Bibliography
Items with "Contains part: Six Sigma in Education"
Title Class
Quality Assurance in Education: Working to Improve: Seven Approaches to Quality Improvement in Education [Special Issue] Special Issue/Series
Items with "Other related resources/entities: Six Sigma in Education"
Title Class
Quality Improvement Approaches: Six Sigma Blog Post

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