Abstract

Cultural transformation is a key to converting a public school district into a high performance organization. Quality in such an organization is characterized by continual improvement, pragmatic results, and focusing on stakeholder needs and expectations. The culture that support this environment must have the ability to focus, to be efficient at all levels, and to coordinate its efforts. This requires practices such as alignment, evaluation, assessment, benchmarking, internal knowledge transfer, and adding value through meaningful work. Useful tools for cultural change are the Malcolm Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence and the associated core values and concepts. These criteria were adopted by the planning team for organizational change in the Pinellas County school district. Identification and implementation of a culture of quality education was especially successful at the Rawlings and Azalea Elementary Schools in Pinellas. Initiatives at these sites included investigation of a Baldrige-based integrated management system and a Baldrige-based classroom system assessment instrument. Lessons learned in the Pinellas County improvement efforts include the need to: establish a customer focus; select a quality champion; use information and training to facilitate cultural change; apply a collaborative bargaining model to support the role of teachers in the transformation; and develop business partnerships for training. A to-do list for beginning a journey to cultural transformation includes: studying change management theory; starting the transformation at the district level; focusing on the need for leadership and commitment; and including students in the transformation efforts.