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Hi. My name is Ashley, and today's lesson is titled PDSA. In today's lesson, we'll define a PDSA. We'll look at the PDSA process and demonstrate how a PDSA can be applied.
What is a PDSA? A PDSA is a four-step process that involves Plan, Do, Study, and Act in order to make ongoing improvements. PDSAs are used in many fields, including education. It was designed by Dr. Walter Shewhart in the 1920s and later introduced as a business practice by W. Edwards Deming in Japan and in the United States, which explains why it is sometimes referred to as Deming's Wheel or Deming's Cycle.
PDSA emphasizes the use of determining goals, monitoring progress, and making necessary changes based on information that has been collected in order to make improvements. As we stated before, the PDSA cycle should be repeated often until improvements are made.
What is the PDSA process? The PDSA cycle can be used to meet professional growth goals and during the instructional coaching process. In the first step, plan, issues are identified and possible solutions are examined. This is also where the teacher can establish a goal to work towards. Teachers and coaches may ask, what is the current problem that needs to be addressed? How can the problem be solved?
In the do step of the process, the plan is put in action. During professional development and coaching, additions to the plan are added and implemented in the classroom. Teachers and coaches may ask, what improvement strategies are we using to correct the problem?
In the study step of the process, the actions of the do step are observed for success or to decide the changes still need to be made. The teacher and coach reflect on experiences, evaluate the results, review student data and feedback in order to determine if changes still need to be made. Teachers and coaches may ask, what information will let us know if the strategies are working?
In the act step, the goal is adjusted. A new plan is created based on the data that was observed in the study step. Teachers and coaches may ask, what information did we receive from the data? Was our plan successful? Does our plan need to be revamped? The act step will normally result in a new or revised plan, hence restarting the PDSA cycle.
How can the PDSA cycle be applied? Now we're going to get three different examples of how you can use a PDSA cycle. Mr. Walkins and his coach decide they have a problem with students not regrouping when subtracting. They decide to use Unifix excuse for subtracting. Mr. Walkins and his coach study the data after an assessment to see if students have improved with subtracting and regrouping. During the act step, Mr. Walkins and his coach decide on a new strategy if improvements have not been made or focus on another issue.
Mrs. Leonard noticed that many students are not completing their homework. She decides to send a weekly newsletter to parents, so they are aware of the assignments. During the study step, Mrs. Leonard observes that students are still not completing their homework. In the act step, Mrs. Leonard decides to revamp her plan, and now she would try out an incentive program for students who regularly complete and submit their homework.
Mrs. Johnson notices that students are very talkative and off task when they return from lunch. She decides that students will read quietly to themselves upon returning to the classroom. The first couple of days, students were still kind of rowdy, but by the second week, students began to quickly come in the classroom and begin reading. As a result, students were calmer and ready to begin the day's lesson. So here we looked at three examples on how the PDSA cycle can be applied.
Let's recap what we have discussed in today's lesson. The PDSA cycle involves plan, do, study, and act. It's a continuous cycle that allows for improvements to be made. Lastly, we looked at three examples of how the PDSA cycle can be applied.
What concerns or issues do you have? Use a PDSA to address them. Now it's your turn to apply what you've learned in this video. The Additional Resources section will be super helpful. This section is designed to help you discover useful ways to apply what you've learned here. Each link includes a brief description, so you can easily target the resources you want.
Overview
(00:00 - 00:12) Introduction
(00:13 - 00:26) What Will You Learn Today?
(00:27 - 01:19) What is a PDSA?
(01:20 - 02:59) What is the PDSA Process?
(03:00 - 04:31) How Can the PDSA be Applied?
(04:32 - 04:52) What Did You Learn Today?
(04:53 - 05:18) Reflection
Using PDSA to Improve Student Achievement
This is a useful handout from the American Society for Quality (ASQ) on using PDSA to improve instruction. This resource provides a clear overview of PDSA and an explanation of how to implement PDSA cycles of inquiry to increase student achievement and improve instruction.
http://rube.asq.org/edu/2010/05/continuous-improvement/using-pdsa-to-improve-student-achievement.pdf
Case Example: Usable Interventions and PDSA
This is a case example by the Active Implementation Hub of using PDSA for continuous improvement and the implementation of interventions. This resource shows the complete process of a team of teachers engaging in a PDSA cycle of inquiry.
http://implementation.fpg.unc.edu/sites/implementation.fpg.unc.edu/files/AIModules-Activity-6-2-PDSACaseExamples.pdf