"Participating in the NQEC Education Team Excellence Award process was both educational and informative for our entire Department. Realizing it was more about the feedback for continuous improvement sake rather than for the actual award itself, our Team gleaned a new appreciation for the energy and commitment required to provide quality service to ALL of our customers. The realization that ‘good enough never is’ has caused us to rethink and reinvent our systemic processes so that we truly become data-informed and customer-focused on our 21st century journey.
In addition, the staff at ASQ set the model for how we should serve others in the Human Resources arena. Thanks for providing us the opportunity to look introspectively as we seek to transform our operations and become the benchmark for which all others evaluate their own progress."
-Dr. Michael Copeland, Director of Human Resources
Rockwall Independent School District
"We, at Dale City Elementary, saw a wonderful opportunity to showcase our School Improvement project through the Team Excellence Award. The project truly helped us see the effectiveness of using an in depth PDSA to deeply understand the root cause of why our many of our students struggled with math facts. It helped us look at solutions in a systematic way using quality tools to guide us every step of the way. But perhaps the biggest benefit was to see our students "light up" when asked to give feedback using quality tools about learning activities and then watching their efforts and our improvement plan result in improvement. The greatest reward for the team was that as a group of educators, committed to continuous improvement and following the criteria set forth for the TEAM award, we could make a lasting difference for our staff and students. It has changed the way we do business here in a most positive way!"
-Cindy Crowe-Miller, Principal
Dale City Elementary School
"The Victor Elementary School District entered the Team Excellence competition to move one step farther on our quality journey as a district. Having received a California Award for Performance Excellence feedback report, the Close the Gap Team was eager to embark on voyage to identify root causes, generate possible solutions and create a process to address the achievement gap between schools. As a result of the project, the gap is narrowing, students and teachers are authentically engaged in teaching and learning, and our parents and community are increasing in their confidence in the public school system."-Linda S. Mikels, Principal
Sixth Street Prep School
"Our project co-sponsors gained insight on participating for the Education Team Excellence Award while attending the 2007 NQEC Annual Conference. They decided this would be a perfect opportunity to reflect on the major accomplishments of Financial Aid Continuous Process Improvement Project. The award criteria made us look at our methods in order for us to be more systematic in our approaches for improvement. It also made us evaluate our team preparation. Participation in the award process enabled us to step back and appreciate the time and effort that went into our achievement. The greatest reward of all from attending this national conference was meeting with and sharing our experience with educators from around the world."
-Rosalind Martin
Financial Aid Director
Metro Technology Centers
"Purpose for entering: To share with others what we learned during this project and to gain recognition from peers.
Intangible benefits: The opportunity to attend national conference and hear presentations from others who are on a quality journey similar to our own was invaluable. The workshop leaders I heard were outstanding and I have suggested a benchmarking trip to Cedar Rapids to learn more. I also enjoyed the fact that several presenters shared information that is also relevant to our Tech Centers that Work Initiative. These presentations were very timely and helpful."-Denise Kennemer
Chief Instructional Learning Officer
Metro Technology Centers/MetroQuest University/Institutional Learning
"The opportunity to enter the project came right at the time we were receiving the amazing results from a process project we had been working on for over a year. The process was based on data-driven decision making and a new way to use resources to improve school academic performance. We felt entering would give us the opportunity to evaluate our process and use the feedback to improve it. We knew we had not been in the process long, but our results and the value for students were worth seeking means to make it better. The quality process helped us to see where we could strengthen our steps and where they were right on target. Because this process affects student outcomes, everything gained here will equal another great outcome for a student in the future."-Paula Brown,
Benchmark Assessment Specialist
Hampton City Schools
"We all felt we had accomplished extraordinary ACT scores for a public school due to our commitment to the project. We wanted to share our success with other high school educators.
The most beneficial part of the process was the opportunity to reflect in depth on our work and implementation process. It was a great experience to present at a national conference and become a resource for educators and learn from other presenters."
-Kirti Mehrotra, Ph.D
Sophomore Principal
Lafayette High school
"We thought this would be a great opportunity to gauge our methods and achievements through competition and benchmarking with other participating teams. It also reenergizes CMU’s university-wide effort of applying Six Sigma methodology for increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the university operation."
-Carl Lee
Math Placement Team Leader
Department of Mathematics, Central Michigan University
"Winning the Bronze Prize has positioned us among academia’s leading Lean Six Sigma thought leaders. We entered the competition for two reasons; externally, to validate the Center’s position as a pioneer and innovator. Internally, the competition allowed us to benchmark our approach and results against our academic peers versus the traditional manufacturing industry evaluation."
-John Wilkerson
Lean Six Sigma Deployment Leader
Clayton State University, Center for Continuing Education
