Re: Opportunity to recognize Deming leaders

[Bob Adsett <bob.adsett@lineone.net>]

Byron

How many companies are doing the same thing in different ways - well if the
Public Service in the UK is anything to go by I would say most of them being
driven by the UK Governments insistence on Best Value, and particularly in
the area of benchmarking in education through student performance on
National Standard Attainment Target (SATS) that now take place every year.
 
Authorities (and even parents) are become so preoccupies with this nonsense
of ranking that they are providing additional resources for working with
children particularly to 'boost the grades' of students to the highest level
possible. 
In Bingley where I live, parents who's children attend one of the 'High
scoring' schools are spending significant amounts of money hiring additional
tuition to make sure that their children do well in the SATS and do not 'let
the school down'. 
Extra curricular activities have been dropped to give extra school teaching
time to working for the tests, and a broad and deep understanding of
education has been eroded by a headlong dash for short-term test results.
What effect on the intrinsic motivation of these students in future years to
their education? - this is just another example of one of WED's Unknown and
unknowables.
But it has changed my outlook on what my children are going through in
school so I have volunteered to become a School Governor just to be present
to put another (and I hope more balanced) point of view.

Bob Adsett
11 Fernbank Drive
Bingley, Yorkshire
UK BD16 4HB
Tel. +44 (0) 1274 779 502          Mobile +44 (0) 7980 85 22 34