Lean in Rural K-12
Improving Student Achievement
Rural Congress
March 21, 2016
Who are We?
• One of 28 school divisions in
Saskatchewan
• 8,200 students in 39 schools
• 27,000 square km
• Rural communities
• 1,200 staff
– Half are teachers
– Half are non-instructional
(caretakers, bus drivers, IT
support, finance, HR, social
workers, etc.)
Who are We?
• We are a large, diverse, geographically dispersed
organization
• Significant service challenges such as
1. Windshield time
2. Small schools
3. Large schools
• Our objective is simple…. it is, and always has
been… Achievement for All!
What we do
Education Services Delivery and Social Progress
• We value student achievement – reading and math
scores, graduation rates, etc. (of course)
• BUT we grow children, not just test scores
– Education contributes to good citizenship and social
development
– We teach respect and inclusiveness and social justice in all
we do (in the classroom, on the playground, on the bus).
– We have:
“Good People Growing Good People”
The Provincial Context
Saskatchewan will lead the country in Grade 12
graduation rates by 2020
We will reduce the difference in graduation
rates between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
students by 50 per cent by 2020
The Saskatchewan Plan for Growth, October 2012
Lean in Saskatchewan Education
• 108 lean events since 2010-2011
• More than 25% directly impact students:
– Services for Pre-K students
– Coordinating services for intensive needs students
– New school design
• Education Sector Strategic Plan that provides a
unifying framework for the entire sector
School Division Context
ESSP
PVSD
Strategic
Plan
Lean
Methodology
+ Data
Student
Achievement!
How we work
• At Prairie Valley School Division we employ an interdependent
effort among all 1,200 staff, united by a common vision
• Everyone has a contribution to make – teachers are at the forefront
but we rely on social workers, curriculum specialists, education
assistants, caretakers, bus drivers, payroll officers, technology
support, caretakers and tradespeople to do their parts by, for
example:
– Getting students to school safely, on time and with a positive start to
their day
– Ensuring we have qualified staff in place each school day at each site
– Getting learning resources into the hands of teachers and students
– Keeping our buildings clean and safe
What is Lean?
• Lean is a business technique used to improve
the way we work.
• The Lean approach:
1. identifies and eliminates unnecessary steps
2. streamlines processes for employees
3. improves value for our clients and customers
What is Lean?
• The Lean approach works because
1. it invites collaboration between employees responsible
for carrying out the work, customers, and other
stakeholders along the way
2. all of these groups provide input to ensure a smooth
process to deliver goods or services in an effective
manner.
• Lean is one tool used to assist in achieving our
Strategic Plan Objectives all focusing on… Improving
Student Achievement
How does Lean apply?
• Lean philosophy fits with Ours
• Focus on quality first, driven by data, meaningfully
involve staff and work to continuously improve.
• Lean techniques help us do our jobs - whatever they
are - better:
– We began with non-instructional side of the organization,
with the Accounts Payable process
– It worked… then we wondered if it would work in the
classroom?
Specialized Learning Supports
Reduced wait time by 35%
.
for Psychology and Speech
Language Pathology services
“When you see that a child
doesn’t have to wait for services
and can get help quickly, it
touches you in the heart…. How
can we ever ask a child to wait?
It really is moving to see a child
supported and able to learn.”
Teacher, Prairie Valley School Division
Areas of focus
•
•
•
•
•
Accounts Payable
Learning Supports
Spring Staffing
Central Cataloguing
Facility Maintenance
– 5S event in Trucks
– 5S event in Shop
• Transportation Parts
Management
• A Week in the Life of a
Teacher, EA, Administrator…
• Educational Assistant Role
Over the past several
years, we have completed
a number of lean events,
alternating between the
instructional and noninstructional sides of the
organization.
Some examples…
Facility Maintenance
• Average time to process a request
for maintenance services reduced
from 22 to 10 days.
• Eliminated backlog and set
Staff travelled more than necessary to
targets for emergency, high,
clarify requests or find parts. Customers
routine and scheduled
were frustrated with delays. Work was not
maintenance and for customer
always done to the customer’s satisfaction
satisfaction.
• Frequently used inventory is now
standard in trucks / shop with a
“We gained a better understanding. We
got the issues on the table and out in the
pull system for inventory
open. We have a better understanding of
management resulting in less
the challenges faced by facilities. We were
travel for parts.
Service time targets for facility
maintenance services were not
always being met.
customer focused the whole way
through!”
- Facilities staff member
“A Week in the Life of…”
• Dialogue with the Director (2011 and 2013)
– I heard about disruptions to instructional time such as bell
times, pull out programs, assessment processes, diversity
in the classroom
• 950 hours of instruction now mandated in SK
– But how many hours of engaged, on-task instruction time?
• Our objective was to identify and address
distractions and disruptions to instructional time
– Included all instructional staff: teachers, administrators
and educational assistants
– Participation was encouraged but voluntary – survey, focus
groups, individual interviews
Teachers Top 10 Issues and Distractions
“A Week in the Life of…”
• Now working on solutions to the issues that staff
raised, e.g.,
– Develop inventories of lesson plans, Smart Board lessons and/or
modular learning units
– Address technology issues – more wireless access points, more
careful placement of photocopiers
– Simplify forms and look at automating parental permissions
– Develop a system-wide protocol on student attendance
– Clarify role and provide more training for Educational Assistants
Visibility Walls
• Visibility Walls are a visual tool
that allow everyone who plays a
role in the attainment of goals
to see if we are on track, behind
or ahead.
• Provide an “at a glance” view of
the progress of any goal or
initiative.
• At the school level, this provides
students and parents the
opportunity to understand the
work of the school, school
division and provincial plan as it
relates to them and their
children.
Above, teachers at Vibank Regional School
show their Visibility Wall to the
Honourable Don McMorris, Deputy
Premier
Lean in Prairie Valley School Division
As a result of lean initiatives, we now:
• Process invoices more quickly and with less effort
• Deploy specialized services to students faster, reducing frustration and
increasing learning time in the classroom.
• Have a more successful spring teacher staffing process.
• Get books and other learning resources into the hands of teachers more
quickly.
• Respond to facility maintenance requests faster and with greater
independence by staff.
• Will spend less time managing bus parts and improved record keeping.
• Will reduce disruptions and distractions to engaged teaching and learning
time in the classroom to alleviate frustrations identified by front-line
instructional staff.
Statistics
Next Steps
• Lean Value Stream Mapping Continuous
Improvement Plan implementations
• Rigor and Discipline in maintaining
momentum
• Monitor, Analyse, Adjust
• We are not done yet, this is a process!
Thank You!