Learning to Improve: How America’s Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better

Abstract

"Using ideas borrowed from improvement science, Learning to Improve shows how a process of disciplined inquiry can be combined with the use of networks to identify, adapt, and successfully scale up promising interventions in education. Rather than "implementing fast and learning slow," the authors believe educators should adopt a more rigorous approach to improvement that allows the field to "learn fast to implement well." The authors focus on six principles that represent the foundational elements for improvement science carried out in networked communities: make the work problem-specific and user-centered; focus on variation in performance; see the system that produces the current outcomes; we cannot improve at scale what we cannot measure; use disciplined inquiry to drive improvement; accelerate learning through networked communities. Learning to Improve offers a new paradigm for research and development in education that promises to be a powerful driver of improvement for the nation's schools and colleges."--Back cover. 1. Make the Work Problem-Specific and User-Centered -- 2. Focus on Variation in Performance -- 3. See the System That Produces the Current Outcomes -- 4. We Cannot Improve at Scale What We Cannot Measure -- 5. Use Disciplined Inquiry to Drive Improvement -- 6. Accelerate Learning Through Networked Communities --7. Living Improvement.