This book challenges received wisdom and the tendency to reduce philosophical issues of value to purely technical issues of measurement and management.
When it comes to sizing up America’s public schools, test scores are the go-to metric of state policy makers and anxious parents looking to place their children in the “best” schools. Yet ample research indicates that standardized tests are a poor way to measure a school’s performance. It is time—indeed past time—to rethink this system, Jack Schneider says. Beyond Test Scores reframes current debates over school quality by offering new approaches to educational data that can push us past our unproductive fixation on test scores. Using the highly diverse urban school district of Somerville, Massachusetts, as a case study, Schneider and his research team developed a new framework to more fairly and comprehensively assess educational effectiveness. And by adopting a wide range of measures aligned with that framework, they were able to more accurately capture a broader array of school strengths and weaknesses. Their new data not only provided parents, educators, and administrators with a clearer picture of school performance, but also challenged misconceptions about what makes a good school. With better data, Schneider shows, stakeholders at the federal, state, and local levels can undo the damage of present accountability systems and build greater capacity in our schools. Policy makers, administrators, and school leaders can better identify where assistance is needed. Educators can engage in more evidence-based decision making. And parents can make better-informed choices for their children. Perhaps most importantly, better data can facilitate communication among all these groups, allowing them to take collective action toward shared, concrete goals.
Six Sigma is a data-driven management system with near-perfect performance that is a statistical target of operating with no more that 3.4 defects per one million chances. Six sigma has both created avid interest and raised concerns among executives and its practioners. This is all very well for multinationals like Motorola or General Electric but how can it help small and medium-sized enterprises or the service industry? How do you ensure that solutions stick? Quality Beyond Six Sigma responds to this challenge and provides a practical implementation of the issues of Six Sigma, Lean Enterprise and Total Quality and aligns the 'hard' sigma message with the softer sustainable 'strategic issues'. The result is FIT SIGMA. The authors utilize major and minor case studies to support principles and learnings of FIT SIGMA and include review examples and self-assessment that underpin the sustainable process. The three major case studies are contributed by General Electric, Dow Chemical and Seagate Technology. Senior Executives and Managers of organizations of all types and sizes, Management Consultants and Students of all disciplines will find this book a stimulating guide to quality and operational excellence.
In his seminal book "Television's Second Golden Age", Robert Thompson described quality TV as 'best defined by what it is not': 'it is not "regular" TV'. Audacious maybe, but his statement renewed debate on the meaning of this highly contentious term. Dealing primarily with the post-1996 era shaped by digital technologies and defined by consumer choice and brand marketing, this book brings together leading scholars, established journalists and experienced broadcasters working in the field of contemporary television to debate what we currently mean by quality TV. They go deep into contemporary American television fictions, from "The Sopranos" and "The West Wing", to "CSI" and "Lost" - innovative, sometimes controversial, always compelling dramas, which one scholar has described as 'now better than the movies!' But how do we understand the emergence of these kinds of fiction? Are they genuinely new? What does quality TV have to tell us about the state of today's television market? And is this a new Golden Age of quality TV? Original, often polemic, each chapter proposes new ways of thinking about and defining quality TV. There is a foreword from Robert Thompson, and heated dialogue between British and US television critics. Also included - and a great coup - are interviews with W. Snuffy Walden (scored "The West Wing" among others) and with David Chase ("The Sopranos" creator). "Quality TV" provides throughout groundbreaking and innovative theoretical and critical approaches to studying television and for understanding the current - and future - TV landscape.
Beyond Total Quality Management, the first and only college textbook devoted entirely to TQM, is comprised of 12 conceptual chapters and a collection of chapter-length case studies. The conceptual chapters introduce students to the philosophies, methods and tools of TQM and suggest a new paradigm for management which goes beyond TQM as it is commonly viewed today. The case studies exemplify the concepts in practice and give students a context for discussing the practical applications of TQM. While maintaining a strong customer value orientation throughout, this text addresses the entire spectrum of issues related to TQM - from human resources management and organizational culture to customer value measurement and statistical quality control. This well-balanced approach is based on sound research and consistently reinforces the crucial link between TQM and business strategy.
Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. Do you feel the victim of continual and unpredictable change? Do you face unrelenting competition? Is the time cycle of your product development too slow? Does your production function produce waste, delays, defects, and other excessive costs? If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, you need this book Juran's Six Sigma provides a clear roadmap for organizational survival and renewal. Piecemeal improvements won't solve the problem--this book presents the Juran Institute's plan for sustained major improvement across the organization. * The first Six Sigma book to incorporate the Juran philosophy* Useful for implementation and certification for all levels of management * Follow the Institute's unique method for achieving and maintaining Six Sigma breakthrough--with no backsliding
This groundbreaking book, now available in paperback for the first time, looks at the theory and practice of learning and how universities can improve their quality and competence.
Traditionally, the concept of quality of life has been viewed through objective indicators. Beyond Facts looks at quality of life through a new lens, namely, the perceptions of millions of Latin Americans. Using an enhanced version of the recently created Gallup World Poll that incorporates Latin America-specific questions, the Inter-American Development Bank surveyed people from throughout the region and found that perceptions of quality of life are often very different from the reality. These surprising findings have enormous significance for the political economy of the region and provide a wealth of information for policymakers and development practitioners to feast upon.
"If your dream is to have better deer hunting on your property, then QDM is the answer." &break;&break;Quality deer management began in the Texas brush country, but it has quickly spread across the nation to become one of the hottest topics in the whitetail world. &break;&break;Outdoor writer and photographer Charles Alsheimer embraced the QDM concept in the 1980ss. Since then, he's experimented with his property and made it a whitetail paradise. Join Alsheimer for a class in QDM basics. You'll learn about foot plots, hunting strategies, buck age structure, nutritional requirements and proper adult-doe-to-antlered-buck ratios. &break;&break;More than 150 of Alsheimer's photographs illustrate his QDM experience. Look at the impressive deer Alsheimer killed on his farm, travel with him to commercial QDM outfitters, and learn more about the behavior of white-tailed deer through the seasons. &break;&break;Alsheimer is the first to admit there are no quick fixes for implementing a long-term QDM program. In other words, it's more than dropping a handful of clover seeds in a food plot. But if you're ready for the challenge, or just want to learn more about this popular management program, this book is for you.