Craig Calvin

All corporate and educational organizations have the same goals for successful results, the continued increase and expertise of their employees and students. The path to impoving student performance in an education setting is accomplished by educational professionals continually enhancing and implementing new ideas.

The new ideas and processes include techniques, learning aids, etc. Improvement to student education which lends to the better reputation of the institution are the results of the new processes. Six Sigma is one of those processes which can improve an educational institution.

It originally was created to meet strategic goals in the business community. The approach lies in looking at the customer first, which magnifies defects in a system which will be more expensive to the educational institution. The culture within the institution is crucial in the success of Six Sigma. Often the culture must be changed to reap the rewards of a successful deployment of the Six Sigma methodology.

Six Sigma is the premier tool for quality management. To address the educational side, teachers represent the employees and parents become the customers. The issue or problem has to be identified before the Six Sigma program can be rolled out. When that problem is noted, then the methodology can be put into motion to help reduce the problem or get rid of it altogether.

Six Sigma requires the enthusiastic participation of all individuals at all levels, starting at the senior level. Innovation and creativity are encouraged through the basic Six Sigma principles, and a module developed to establish good communication between teachers and students. The application of Six Sigma within an educational setting will mean that everyone will see positive changes in teaching methods, along with a positive result. With proper education, qualitative learning is achieved and desired goals reached.