Mount Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, Alaska, is
the only public boarding school in the United Sates.  Its 200
students come from all over Alaska.  The school is unique because
its students and teachers are involved in "Continuous Improvement
Process", or as I call it "Continuous Quality Improvement".
     In the book "Quality or Else", Superintendent Larrea Racheleau
says, "Continuous Improvement Process doesn't cost anything.  It is
basically a change of attitude.  Typically in education, what we've
done in the past is throw money at problems rather than look at the
management system of education... Some people are not sure what
quality education is.  Its difficult to define.  But in order to
get the quality education, you have to get the to the root of the
problem!  The root of the problem is the poor management system
that most schools have in the United States."
     Any success in American public education attracts attention,
and requests for information are beginning to stack up.  Students
have been invited to other schools in the "lower 48" to talk about
quality education, and as you would expect, they wrote their own
presentation, called "Snow White and the New Management System".
     It starts when King Deming is called to Japan to teach quality
improvement, leaving Snow White in charge of kingdom at home.  The
presentation stress that students, teachers, and administrators
must work together in mutual respect to achieve continuous
improvement in education, because no one can do it individually. 
Snow White wants to put quality management into place when the
kingdom starts to slip, but she's stopped by the Wicked Witch of
Waste.  Snow White escapes into the Forest of Opportunity, and
meets some characters who give her good advice. She meets four
woodland animals in a clearing.  Will, Belief, Wherewithal, and
Doing.  They explain to Snow White that nothing happens until
people want to change, and Belief says even that is not enough;
they must also believe that change is possible.  When people want
to change and believe they can, Wherewithal says, they need the
tools to make it possible.  Doing speaks last:"My part's the
easiest.  Once the first three have been completed, things just
simply need to be done." Snow White winds up at the Seven Dwarf
Mining Corporation.  "Happy and Doc represent the willingness and
organization of the new management system," the presentation says. 
"Grumpy and Dopey represent bad attitude and ignorance that
interfere.  Bashful, Sneezy, and Sleepy represent hesitation,
distraction, and procrastination."  Snow White teaches quality
management to the Seven Dwarfs, improving their lives, but Waste
finds her and gives her a poisoned apple.  "As soon as Snow White
took a bite of the apple, she fell into a deep sleep of status
quo."  If you know the fairy tale, you know that Snow White can be
awakened only by a kiss from Prince Charming.  Not this time.  At
Mount Edgecumbe, what awakens Snow White is a kiss from Commitment. 
He is, of course, a handsome prince who has been trained by Deming
in continuous improvement.  When he sees the sleeping Snow White,
he knows what she is the quality he needs.  "He then gave Quality
the kiss of Commitment, and she immediately woke from her status
quo sleep."  Waste is banished, King Deming returns to the kingdom,
"and because of the Prince's commitment and Snow White's quality,
together they produced a beautiful daughter and named her
Productivity.  And the kingdom continually improved forever. 
However, the moral of the story is, as soon as you reach the point
of success, don't get caught biting the apple of status quo."
Nighty night..

[The foregoing was kindly provided by Lori Barnhill.]