PDSA: Beyond the Bulletin Board

Plan - Do - Study - Act is the third step in our Continuous Improvement journey. With functional PDSA boards up all around the campus, we are well on our way to utilizing PDSA in all of our core content classes by April. A bulletin board, however, is just decoration if you do not engage your students in the PDSA process. Read below for a few tips to help get this cycles going in your classroom.

Narrow your PDSA goal to a single, specific TEK. This gives students a more narrow focus, and keeps the PDSA conversation from becoming too "big" and, therefore, unmanageable. A smaller SMART goal also makes it easier to go through the PDSA cycle a few times during a six weeks. This teaches the need to self-evaluate and adjust goal-setting.

Offer students a choice in what they're going to do to reinforce their learning. The "Do" section is about what the teachers and the students will do to be successful at the goal established in the "Plan". Try a tic-tac-toe board for students to self-select ways to review/practice the TEK at home.

Make your students a part of the "Study" process. Start by sharing data with your students; it's important for them to know how they did (both individually and as a group) in relation to the goal. Even more important - go through the plus/delta process with your students. Ask them, What worked? What didn't? This process challenges students to evaluate their own steps in academic preparation and develops internal accountability.

Make a change to (or continue) something from this cycle. Adjust a strategy that didn't work. Repeat a structure that did work. Don't get too busy for discussing this in your class! "Act" is the part of the cycle that connects changes with outcomes and that truly impacts student learning. Either as a group or individually, commit to something that will be done differently (maybe even better) next time.

Watch the video below for one example of how PDSA works in a real classroom.

If you need any assistance in setting up or implementing PDSA in your classroom, please don't hesitate to ask! I'm here to support you.

Email: mary.terry@birdvilleschools.net
Twitter: @maryterry2015