From challenges to solutions: The power of continuous improvement program in schools

By Evangeline A. Saculo

Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) is a disciplined ongoing approach to improving processes and systems that produce positive organizational outcomes. It provides a structure to identify problems; design purposive interventions to those problems; test interventions; and evaluate effectiveness before rolling them out to other levels. The concept encompasses the general belief that improvement is not something that starts and stops, but rather something that requires an organizational or professional commitment to an ongoing process of learning, self-reflection, adaptation, and growth (Idowu, 2013)

In schools, CIP is not an individual task. It highly depends on the ability and agility of the school community to work together to identify challenges, try different solutions, rapidly assess implementation and results, and respond iteratively to come up with solutions that work.

In the midst of the pandemic and other calamities, schools are struggling to know how best to respond to students’ teaching and learning needs. Decision points are overwhelming on how to ensure learning in these trying times, where In-person schooling has been replaced by modules and parents are fully engaged as teachers to their child/children.

There is no perfect school plan during calamities but What CIP offers is a cycle of prototyping and testing and not just a one-shot school project for innovation. Its application is seen in the utilization of baseline data, iteratively piloting solutions to identified root causes, and rolling out the best solution that worked.

This kind of process is what we need now in schools, the capacity to be responsive to shifting demands and new information, and to be resilient to challenges and additional stuns to the system. Teachers must work collaboratively to understand problems, identify potential solutions, use data to quickly assess what does and does not work, and integrate successful solutions.

In DepEd Region V, CIP has existed for 9 years now since 2015 and It has been tested to have improved processes in schools and division offices. To date, with its 13 divisions, the region is able to compile a total of 264 CI projects mostly on reading and numeracy.

The statistics continue as schools in the region work on sustaining the process, primarily through school improvement planning and conversion of CIP projects to research, while more schools and teachers come together to team up for another CI project.

The educational system is redefined in a new landscape of modalities and media interventions and teachers, parents, friends, and relatives must come together to make all possible and available resources for learning work and motivate learners to better their performance despite challenges encountered.

The call for other schools to embrace continuous improvement programs is on. May all teachers be inspired by CIP as a method of creating interventions making solutions work and ensuring quality learning amidst the pandemic and other calamities.