Results with Baldrige in Education

(links are to organization profiles)

K–12

Charter School of San Diego (CSSD)

• CSSD’s school’s overall dropout rate of 2.4 percent in the 2013-2014 school year outperformed the county rate of 2.7 percent and the statewide rate of 3.1 percent, even though CSSD students are on average 2–3 grade levels behind peers in language arts and 3–4 grade levels behind peers in math achievement when they enroll.
• Despite the fact that most CSSD students enter academically behind, 94–98 percent of those enrolled at CSSD in recent years have graduated or have successfully transitioned back to a traditional high school.
• CSSD maintained overall student and parent satisfaction levels of close to 100 percent from 2010 to 2015. Furthermore, 95 percent of enrolled students for the past six years would recommend CSSD to others, and 97 percent of students’ parents would recommend the school to a friend or family member. 
• Despite a decrease in state funding in recent years, positive end-of-year fund balances for CSSD have increased from $17.94 million in fiscal year (FY) 2008–2009 to $29.09 million in FY2014–2015.

Pewaukee School District

• Despite having one of the most rigorous graduation requirements (28 credits) for public schools in the state of Wisconsin, Pewaukee School District (PSD) achieved a 97.4 percent graduation rate in 2012-2013 and had a higher graduation rate in the previous four years than other county, state, and nearby high-performing districts.
• The percentage of PSD students attending a two- or four-year college (a key measure of college and career readiness) increased from 78.8 percent to 91.9 percent in the five years preceding the district's Baldrige Award. This improvement compares favorably to the county (84 percent), state (74.1 percent), and nearby high-performing districts (85.1 percent).
• Surveys show PSD parent satisfaction with communication ranged between 91.5 percent and 94.8 percent at all four district schools in 2012-2013, while the national average was 74 percent. Parent satisfaction with educational quality during the same school year was 93.8 percent. In addition, 98 percent of staff members responded positively to the survey item "the district leadership provides quality education to students."
• Through effective strategic planning, PSD has identified and implemented a number of innovative practices to increase student achievement. Action plans are reviewed every 90 days to ensure the accomplishment of PSD's strategic objectives. Budget, staffing, and staff training plans are aligned with strategic initiatives, and each school creates improvement plans to support the district's goals for teaching and learning.

Montgomery County Public Schools PDF

• Half of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) 2010 graduates received a college-ready score of 3 or higher on at least one Advanced Placement (AP) exam while in high school—twice the state rate and three times the national rate.
• The culturally diverse district achieved the highest graduation rate of any large school district in the nation in the two years leading to its Baldrige Award (2008 and 2009), as determined by an independent analysis of graduation rates by Education Week.
• MCPS narrowed the gap in student achievement between its African American and Caucasian students by 13 percentage points in the five years from 2006 to 2010.
• MCPS demonstrated parent satisfaction levels of 79.7 to 86.7 percent, compared to a national average of 54 percent, from 2005 to 2010.

Iredell-Statesville Schools PDF

• The district improved its academic composite ranking from 55th to 9th in North Carolina.
• The graduation rate increased from 61% to 81% (11th in the state).
• The average SAT score of 1056 in 2008 was better than the average score in peer districts (995), the state (1007), and the nation (1017).
• For reading, students achieved a 90.6% proficiency rate on the state assessment, the proficiency gap between African-American students and all students shrank from 23% to 12.3%, and the proficiency gap between exceptional students and all students shrank from 42% to 21%, all in 2006-2007.
• The district's dropout rate—previously one of the worst in the state—reached the top ten.

Jenks Public Schools PDF

• Turnover rates for teaching staff in 2003 and 2004 were 11% and 6%, respectively, compared to a national rate of 20% for both years.
• 37% of the class of 2004 earned an Advanced Placement (AP) test score of 3 or better, compared to 13% of students nationally and 21.2% in Oklahoma.
• Jenks ranked in the top 1% of schools in the state.
• Graduation rates were 93%, 94%, and 95%, respectively, for 2003–2005.
• The dropout rate fell from 6.3% in 1994 to 1.2% in 2004.

Community Consolidated School District 15 (PDF)

• In 2002-2003, 84% of second-grade students were reading at or above grade level, nearly 35 percentage points above the national average.
• Eighth graders' "enthusiasm for learning," a key performance target, increased from 42% to 82% for reading, 50% to 80% for math, and 42% to 82% for science from 2001-2002 to 2002-2003.
• The certified staff turnover rate was 11.7% in 2002-2003 against a national average of 20%.
• The district outperformed its three comparison districts in cost per percentage point of student performance on state learning standards tests.

Chugach School District

• Results on the California Achievement Test increased from the 28th to the 71st percentile in reading, from the 54th to the 78th in math, and from the 26th to the 72nd in language from 1995 to 1999.
• Chugach topped the state average in four subject areas tested in Alaska's High School Graduation Qualifying Examination.
• The district led the formation of the Alaska Quality Schools Coalition, and 12 U.S. school districts replicated the model.

Pearl River School District

• 100% of district students graduated from high school. The percentage of students graduating with a Regents diploma (a key objective) increased from 63% to 86%.
• Student satisfaction increased from 70% to 92% between 1998 and 2001; parent satisfaction increased from 62% to 96% between 1996 and 2001.
• Staff satisfaction was 98%, and faculty satisfaction was 96% in 2001.
• 75% of special education students took the SAT I exam, compared with 3% in the state and 2% nationwide.

Higher Education

Alamo Colleges District

• Alamo Colleges District increased its four-year student graduation rate by 150 percent in recent years to become the best in the state of Texas. In four years, it also doubled the number of degrees and certificates it awarded, to 12,750, which is three times the state norm.
• The organization boosted the number of students receiving scholarships from 580 to 2,175 and increased the amount awarded from $500,000 to over $2 million over the eight years preceding its Baldrige Award in 2018.
• The rate of student satisfaction with the overall educational experience at Alamo Colleges District exceeded 88 percent, more than two percentage points higher than the national norm as measured by the Community College Survey of Student Engagement.

Tri County Tech

• Demonstrating a commitment to ensuring that no student is denied access to education based on ability to pay, Tri County Tech increased scholarships granted by a foundation it launched to support students from $60,000 to $250,000 over the four years leading to its 2018 Baldrige Award.
• For student completion/retention and job placement after graduation, Tri County Tech maintained rates in the top 25 percent nationally for eight fiscal years. The organization also achieved the top completion/retention rate in its state of Oklahoma for full-time students for five of seven years preceding its Baldrige Award.
• Great Place to Work survey results for most segments of the organization’s workforce placed it in the top 10 percent of national comparisons for each of four most recent years.

Richland College (PDF)

• The employment rate for students taking technical training or workforce development classes reached nearly 100%.
• The number of students completing the core curriculum in preparation for transfer to four-year institutions grew from 500 in 2002 to 1,660 in 2005.
• For classes scheduled, class-time convenience, variety of courses, and intellectual growth—measures students rated as the most important—student satisfaction surpassed the Noel Levitz national norm over four years.
• The college found innovative ways to keep tuition rates low and quality high when state funding dropped from 70% to 30% over three legislative sessions.

Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business (PDF)

• Student performance on nationally administered exit exams was well above the national mean and reached the top 10% in 2003-2004.
• The college ranked in the top 10% nationally on 10 of 16 student satisfaction measures in a 2004 survey by Educational Benchmarking, Inc.
• 90% or more of the organizations employing students rated the program good or excellent.
• The college is one of just five undergraduate-only business schools in the nation accredited in business and accounting by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

University of Wisconsin—Stout

• From 1996 to 2001, the job placement rate for graduates was at or above 98%.
• 99% of employers surveyed rated graduates as well prepared.
• Approximately 90% of alumni said they would attend the university again.

Resources

Baldrige Excellence Framework
Testimonials From Education
Baldrige Case Study