PRSD: "Quality in Public Education"
Winner of...
      ...The 2001 Malcolm Baldrige 
              National Quality Award
                 National Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award
      ...Palisades Institute Quality Award
     ...NYS Governor’s Excelsior Award (ESA Program)
      ...Four NYS Blue Ribbon School Award Finalists
     ... Three-time USA Today/RIT Quality Cup Finalists

Organizational Philosophy / Planning / Data Management / 
Involvement / Process Management / The Quality Advisory Council



The constituents at Pearl River made a commitment to quality nearly a decade ago in response to many indications that our country was losing its competitive edge. The commitment began with our involvement in the More Effective Schools movement and has evolved through the years with continual focus on strengthening our leadership, refining our measurements, maximizing our staff resources and widening our circles of involvement. 


It is our firm belief that American public education can succeed and that the implementation of a continuous improvement approach can produce successful results. Pearl River students consistently perform at or near the top in virtually all academic arenas. Graduates gain access to the finest colleges and universities in the country. 

Organizational Philosophy
Strong leadership, solid planning, refined data collection, and total involvement focused on continuous improvement comprise the main tenets of the Pearl River School District.

A committed and involved board of education works closely with a highly skilled superintendent and highly credentialed management team in leading the district closer to our vision of world class quality. This leadership team drives a site-based management approach. These team members serve as visionaries. They lead by example with total commitment towards continuous improvement.

Planning
The planning cycles at Pearl River revolve around three main goals: 
1. Improving academic performance. 
2. Improving the perception of the district.
3. Improving and maintaining fiscal stability. 
These goals keep all staff focused on the district’s mission - 
"Every Pearl River student can and will learn." 
Senior leaders plan for the district using input from students and other key stakeholders including parents, staff, local business, higher education, and district residents. Planning strategies revolve around a Balanced Scorecard approach with long and short-term goals to attain our strategic objectives. Leaders then establish specific projects and programs to meet those goals. 

Data Management
The district has in place a sophisticated electronic data management process by which both quantitative and qualitative information is sought and recorded. This process is refined each year as the district "pushes the bar," seeking higher, better, and more-relevant standards against which we benchmark our results. PRSD compares itself against "the best of the best" in performance on key measures.

Involvement
Virtually nothing happens in the Pearl River School District without input and participation from the people who are to be impacted by an action. Students sit on the board of education; PTA presidents meet monthly with the superintendent and administrative council; senior citizens participate on an advisory committee regarding special adult education programs just for them. The true value of this involvement lies in the opportunity it provides for the district to continuously assess student and stakeholder needs.

Building Leadership Teams are active in each school and comprise representatives from teaching and support staff, parents, and at the secondary level, students. The BLTs drive the activities at the building-based level and plan for improvements on an annual cycle, guided by the overall district goals.

The Labor Management Council is comprised of leaders from each labor unit. This group meets monthly to promote staff recognition programs, address areas of mutual concern, and support efforts to educate and communicate with staff on a variety of issues including the school calendar and annual budget.

Process Management
PRSD uses an organized approach towards conducting operations known in quality circles as process management. Senior leaders and staff outline standard procedures for key functions in the district. These processes are detailed, shared, and reviewed regularly for updates. When desired results are not achieved or inconsistencies occur, staff conduct root cause analyses to determine corrective actions.

PRSD Named a Winner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
First Time in History Winners Are Named in the Education Category

         The Pearl River School District (PRSD) has been named a 2001 Malcolm Baldrige National Education Quality Award winner. The district is one of three education winners and five winners overall in this year’s award program.

The United States Congress established the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1987 to promote quality awareness, to recognize quality and achievements of U.S. organizations, and to publicize these organizations’ successful performance strategies. Now considered America’s highest honor for excellence, the Baldrige Award is presented annually to U.S. organizations by the President of the United States. Awards are given in manufacturing, service, small business, and, starting in 1999, education and health care. 

PRSD embarked on a school improvement mission just over a decade ago. They first worked with the More Effective Schools program and then moved into the quality/continuous improvement model with the NYS Governor’s Excelsior Award program, modeled after the Baldrige criteria and now known as the Empire State Advantage Program. They won the Excelsior Award in 1994, as well as the local Palisades Institute Award, for successfully applying the continuous improvement model to one area of their operations. In 1995, PRSD helped pilot the Baldrige Award program. They subsequently applied in the full award cycles in 1999, 2000, and 2001.

“While winning the Baldrige Award is a distinct honor and has been a goal of ours since the program opened to education, we have persisted in this process not just to win the award.” said Dr. Richard Maurer, superintendent at PRSD. “More important than winning is the learning and knowledge we’ve acquired about how to improve our educational delivery system. This learning is inherent in the self-evaluation we conduct in writing the application and then from the powerful feedback we receive from the Baldrige program each year based on that application,” he explained

Another key aspect of the Baldrige criteria is continuous re-assessment towards a never-ending journey to be better. “We have three overall goals in this district – student performance, community perception, and fiscal responsibility. Through quality, we have a planned, systematic process to continuously improve our performance in each of these three areas. Basically, our students are performing better, we have become more cost-efficient, and, as a result, our community support has improved,” said VanWynen, Jr.

As a winner, PRSD commits to sharing their knowledge with other organizations seeking to improve. “This is a role we will take very seriously,” said Dr. Maurer. “There are many school districts across this country that are struggling with how to foster better student performance. The quality approach works for schools. We have learned that and we are more than willing to share with other districts how we have applied it here,” he added.

For additional information:
www.nist.gov/quality

Last updated: 8/30/06  Sandra Cokeley, APR, Director of Quality and Community Relations
cokeleys@pearlriver.org