December 13, 2005

OKC School District Receives Oklahoma Quality Award in Recognition of Recent Improvements and Commitment to Excellence

OKLAHOMA CITY – “Governor Brad Henry has named Oklahoma City Public Schools as a recipient of the Oklahoma Quality Award. This achievement is validation to our staff, students and community that the district is committed to creating a model urban school district known for its commitment to excellence in educational services to children,” announced Superintendent Bob Moore. The award program is sponsored by the Oklahoma Quality Award Foundation.

Oklahoma Quality Awards are presented to organizations that, through their commitment and application of performance improvement principles demonstrate significant progress in building sound processes and achieving improvement results. In a press release from Governor Henry, the district is specifically recognized for implementing the High Performance Model, the goals-focused program based upon the Malcolm Baldrige Performance Excellence Criteria model designed for educational institutions.

“I’d like to congratulate Bob Moore and his staff for this great achievement because it is truly a statement indicating how hard district staff has worked at all levels since July 2003 to improve the quality of education in the Oklahoma City Public Schools. This award is not only significant for the district’s students and families, it is significant for the entire community. Achieving a level of excellence among urban school districts is the primary goal of MAPS for Kids and one that district staff is working to achieve,” says Oklahoma City Public Schools Chairman of the Board Cliff Hudson. 

The Quality Award the district received is a major step in working towards becoming the model urban school district the community desired and expected when approving the MAPS for Kids plan in 2001. This first year of application, the district received the Oklahoma Quality Award at the Commitment Level indicating district staff is dedicated to becoming a quality organization by putting in place programs and procedures that allow for the delivery of a higher quality of product to customers – educational services to students. The Oklahoma Quality Award Foundation offers opportunities for businesses and organizations to continue on their journey to success by providing an application process and awards at the Achievement and Excellence levels. This state-level program is modeled after the national Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award program.

“Successful business leaders know an organization cannot improve its quality of service or product without first improving its processes. Many of the support programs the District has put in place such as the High Performance Model and Quality Schools program have done just that – improved educational processes,” commented Hudson.

“This is now the third school district where I have been involved in this process and it is important that the community and staff know this program is not about the award. It’s about the entire organization making a commitment to achieving excellence through continuous improvement. This is what we expect of our children as they move through their educational careers and it’s the very least we should expect of ourselves as their educators. This awards program is about setting expectations and achieving them,” commented Moore, adding, “It takes leaders at all levels to achieve this level of commitment and I congratulate and thank the entire community and district staff for contributing to this effort.”

FACT SHEET

A number of support strategies of been put in place recently that has helped district staff define goals and processes. These strategies are invaluable to the recent successes experienced by the students and staff of Oklahoma City Public Schools. Some of those strategies and successes are outlined below.

District Improvement Strategies Implemented since July 2003

High Performance Model (HPM) – a strategic planning program for public schools modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige Model. This program includes forming a leadership team of community and district leaders including board members. The Affinity Process was administered by the leadership team and is the component of the HPM that guided the district in adopting its six new Strategic AIMS. (Please see attachment)

The Organizational Health Inventory (OHI) – a tool to measure the overall health of an organization particularly the degree of focus on the same goals and outcomes. District staff has experienced an increase of 13 percent in employee moral and greatly improved its goal focus at both the site and district levels.

Instructional Facilitators – positions dedicated specifically to provide support and resources to teachers in the district’s lowest performing schools.

Learning Communities – the division of the district into six learning communities led by experienced educators. This structure has helped the district better focus on the unique needs of the students and teachers in each learning community.

Quality Schools: Paths to Success – A process where school staff is interviewed and a report is prepared by a comprehensive school committee and recommendations and concerns are prepared. A plan of action focused towards a school’s needs for improvement is created by the staff.

CSMpact – A customer survey given in the spring of 2004 to students, parents and school personnel. Customers were asked to evaluate their experiences with the district and the results helped schools write specific plans of improvement. The survey will be given again this spring to measure improvement.

District Achievements

• District receives the 2005 Oklahoma Quality Award for Commitment.
• Oklahoma City receives the America’s Promise 100 Best Communities for Young People award based in large part on MAPS for Kids.
• 11 teachers earn National Board Certification status in 2005 – the largest class in the district’s history.
• Elementary reading scores improved by 10 percent over two school years.
• Elementary math scores improved by 15 percent over two school years.
• Two consecutive clean audit reports for the first time in at least a decade.
• 51 schools benefit from Instructional Facilitator support to students and teachers.
• 72 of 79 schools make AYP in ’05.
• 53 percent increase in seniors taking ACT.
• HOSTS tutoring program expanded to 12 secondary schools.
• Two schools named National Blue Ribbon Schools.
• Classen SAS named to top 100 schools list in U.S.
• Stonegate Elementary School of Advanced Studies recognized in 2005 as a high challenge school using some of the best educational practices in the state. A case study was published in the book “What Works”.
• The District’s Teacher of the year, Robyn Hilger, was named Oklahoma State Teacher of the Year for the 2005-2006 school year.
• District’s Fine Arts Director, Susan Gabbard, elected to serve as president of the National Art Education Association from 2005 to 2007.

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