Improvement science provides a model of enhancement to be used by educational leaders (Crow, 2019). The model of improvement presents four fundamental questions:
- What is hoped to be accomplished;
- What changes made would result in improvement;
- Why are these changes thought to lead to improvement; and
- How might one recognize that a change made led to an improvement (Crow, 2019, p. 6)?
A major tenet of improvement science as provides an opportunity for reflection and feedback regarding acknowledging if improvement is occuring (Crow, 2019). As leaders in education develop strategies for sustainable change, using the questions provided in the model of improvement would help to strengthen the recommendations.
In my professional practice, using the concept of improvement science would be helpful for curriculum transformation. As social work competencies are reviewed every seven years with the updates of the educational policy and accreditation standards (EPAS), social work programs have a responsibility to ensure that the curriculum allows students to achieve the competencies. Rather than just adapting the curriculum to meet the new EPAS, using the model of improvement, social work programs would have an ever-evolving curriculum that responds to the needs of the community rather than just the desires of the faculty.
In identifying and defining the problem, Spaulding and Hinnant-Crawford (2019) provide tools that help educational leaders develop answers for two of the three main questions of improvement science:
- What is the exact problem I am trying to solve; and
- What change might I introduce and why (Spaulding and Hinnant-Crawford, 2019, p. 13)?
To define the problem with curriculum transformation, using the interrelationship diagram, where it is acknowledged that problems are not linear, a root cause analysis (RCA) tool is helpful (Spaulding and Hinnant-Crawford, 2019). This tool helps to determine the specific problem being solved. The five steps of the interrelationship diagram are:
- Identify a problem or issue;
- Identify possible causes;
- Connect causes and outcomes;
- Determine intensity; and
- Analysis
This would be an effective tool to use because there are multiple factors that are involved with the development of social work curriculum. Being proactive in developing a curriculum that meets the needs of the community is just as important in ensuring that you have faculty expertise to teach the curriculum content. Gathering feedback from community organizations regarding the skill set of newly graduated social works is equally as important as ensuring the internships are providing opportunities for students to practice those skills. These are all problems that need to be addressed before curriculum transformation can be actualized. The relationships between social work programs, education leaders, the accrediting body, students, and community organizations is complex. The interrelationship diagram RCA tool is the most effective in grasping the problem to develop sustainable strategies for curriculum transformation.
References
Crow, R. (2019). Considering improvement science in educational leadership. In R. Crow, B. N.& Hinnant-Crawford, & D. T. Spaulding (Eds.), The educational leader’s guide to improvement science: Data, design and cases for reflection (pp. 3 -12). Myers Education Press.
Spaulding, D. T. and Hinnant-Crawford, B. N. (2019). Tools for today’s educational leaders: The basic tool box. In R. Crow, B. N. Hinnant-Crawford, & D. T. Spaulding (Eds.), The educational leader’s guide to improvement science: Data, design and cases for reflection (pp. 3 -12). Myers Education Press.