Empower
Educators
to lead change.Educators
to lead change.
5 mins
Improvement science is a belief and approach towards making changes in a system or organization that lead to improvement. Its foundational principle is the belief that all systems and organizations are perfectly designed to produce the outcomes they produce; thus, without any change introduced to the system or organization, no improvement will ever happen. This isn’t to say that change will always lead to improvement, but, without change, improvement will never happen.
The approach of improvement science is the use of running iterative cycles of change for learning and improvement. These cycles are run at a small scale to maximize learning and minimize risk. When a change that leads to improvement is found, it is then scaled to a wider context, thus leading to maximized improvement with mitigated risks. With the combination of this belief and approach, improvement science has found itself quite popular– first starting in the healthcare system and now being applied to the education system.
The most common framework in improvement science is the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Framework. This framework is often aided by other charts or diagrams like the Driver Diagram; nevertheless, the framework can be practiced in isolation. The Model for Improvement developed by Associates in Process Improvement details the PDSA Framework in its simplest form.
The PDSA Framework focuses on three key questions to drive purposeful and effective improvement efforts:
What are we trying to accomplish?
How will we know that a change is an improvement?
What changes can we make that will result in improvement?
All three questions must be answered for effective improvement work to happen–especially in education. Too often are initiatives in education introduced without an aim, measure, or clear change leading many educators to wonder about the purpose, effectiveness, or even the difference of any particular initiative. This leads to exhausted educators too tired to try new initiatives. However, if all three questions are answered, it can spark new hope and create a path toward meaningful change in education.
Once the three key questions are answered, one can begin running Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles on the changes identified. These cycles break change testing into manageable steps that enable testing, learning, and adapting in real-time. These small iterative cycles allow for minimized risks and increased flexibility to make sure that the new change introduced is implemented effectively leading to improvement.
The PDSA cycle is named in such a way to help us remember each step in the cycle for improvement:
Plan:
Do:
Study:
Act:
Improvement science is relatively new in education, but its popularity has spread quickly. Unlike traditional reforms that often rely on broad, one-size-fits-all solutions, improvement science emphasizes understanding the root causes of problems, using data to drive decisions, and testing small, iterative changes in real-world settings. This methodology actively involves educators, students, and communities in the improvement process, fostering collaboration and ownership. By focusing on context-specific solutions and continuously learning from what works, improvement science ensures that reforms are not only effective but also equitable and sustainable, breaking the cycle of initiative fatigue and slow progress that has long plagued education systems.
As the main framework for Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), many PLCs have seen substantial measurable growth over the years. For example, Ayers Elementary saw an increase in SBAC scores by 10% overall. Fresno Unified as a whole district saw the number of eligible students applying to a range of University of California and California State University campuses by over 50 percent. In my own experience as the instructional lead for my Algebra 1 team, we saw a 24% reduction in D/F rates while making sure that it was not a result of grade inflation. These improvements align with the framework because they provide clarity and purpose around everything in a PLC. Assessments no longer become data collection tools for administrators but for the improvement cycles. New initiatives become purposeful because they are defined by the ones implementing them. The power of change is handed back to the educator to make purposeful changes for improvement in their classroom alongside their colleagues.
Improvement science represents a transformative approach to tackling the complex challenges in education by emphasizing clarity, collaboration, and purposeful action. Its iterative, data-driven nature allows educators to test changes, learn from real-world applications, and scale effective practices, ensuring that initiatives are meaningful and sustainable. By anchoring improvement efforts in the PDSA framework and addressing the root causes of systemic issues, educators are empowered to take ownership of change and drive measurable growth within their classrooms and professional learning communities. As educators continue to adopt this methodology, improvement science has the potential to not only revitalize teaching practices but also foster equity and excellence across educational systems.
