Practical Measurement for Continuous Improvement in the Classroom: A Toolkit for Educators

REL Southwest's toolkit, "Practical Measurement for Continuous Improvement in the Classroom: A Toolkit for Educators," guides educators in developing and improving practical measurement instruments for use in networked improvement communities (NICs) and other education contexts in which principles of continuous improvement are in use. Continuous improvement includes distinct repeating processes: understanding the problem, identifying specific targets for improvement, determining the change to introduce, implementing the change, and evaluating if and how the change led to improvements (Langley et al., 1996).

This toolkit is aimed at helping a team of educators with the final process in the cycle, which includes collecting data to measure implementation of changes (such as new instructional strategies) and intended outcomes and using those data to inform future action. The toolkit focuses on the creation of instruments such as short surveys, checklists, rubrics, exit tickets, or quizzes aimed at measuring improved instruction and student learning, and are practical to implement in the classroom. A team of educators ready to introduce and test a change can use this toolkit to identify what to measure, consider existing instruments, draft instruments, evaluate and refine instruments, plan data collection routines, and plan for data discussions to interpret the data and inform action.

REL Southwest developed the toolkit in partnership with the Oklahoma State Department of Education team working with the Oklahoma Excel NICs. Examples of processes and measures developed for the Oklahoma Excel NICs are included in the toolkit.