Everyone in public education is searching for ways their school system can increase the value they bring to students and their parents. We often focus on that one big thing that will make students, parents and the community realize that public education is valuable, that one initiative that will generate support for education funding. Well sometimes a great value can be found in a small package. One school has done it right with what they’ve done with the take home folder. Before I share their small, but significant gesture, I’d like to take a moment to discuss value.
Value is determined from the perspective of the school district’s customer or stakeholder. This includes students, parents, area businesses, government officials, universities and colleges, district employees, school board members, etc. In short, the people who have a vested interest in whether or not students achieve. The day to day activities that school district employees engage in can be characterized as 1) value add, 2) non-value add, and 3) non value-add, but required.
- Value Add: This is an activity or step that is meaningful to the stakeholder such as regular maintenance of the school buses that transport children. It can also be a step or activity that changes the product or service. For example, having counselors check high school students’ schedules for difficulty and for alignment with college requirements improves students’ likelihood of making good grades and being prepared for college.
- Non value Add. These activities use resources (time, money, labor) but they do not add value to the product or service. For example, parents do not want to pay more for school lunches to permit cafeteria staff to use time and labor to locate misplaced recipes. Communities do not want sub-par teachers because of HR department process delays with making offers to potential teachers which result in all of the best teachers accepting positions with other systems.
- Non-value add, but required activities are those that are neither meaningful to the end customer nor do they change the product or service. However, they are required by law, regulation (e.g. federal, state and school board policies that influence school district processes; district developed “required” activities) budgetary constraints (e.g., using an outdated software system because the budget does not allow purchase of a new system) or other circumstances that make an activity “required.”
The goal is to increase a school district’s value-add activities and reduce non-value add activities; and wherever possible, turn non value-add, but required activities into value-add activities.
One school has done this with the required “take home folder.” For those not familiar with the “take home folder,” the idea behind it is to ensure that parents are informed of student progress or lack thereof. The folder includes the student’s work from the previous week. Parents/Guardians are required to review the contents, sign it and return it to school. A local elementary school in Huntsville Alabama, Hampton Cove Elementary School (HCES), has taken this required activity and has added value to the product. Instead of using a regular folder branded with only the school’s name, logo and mission statement, this school has utilized all the surfaces of the folder to provide information about school policies like attendance/absences, student check out requirements, make up work and dietary accommodations. Appropriate email addresses are provided with the policies. The folder also displays arrival and dismissal times and the district school year calendar. For any parent who’s wondered, “is this Friday the half-day Friday,” or “when is spring break?” that valuable information is right on the folder. The school took a required activity and through a little creativity, turned that required activity into a great value-add for parents and guardians.
At Lean Frog, we help public schools succeed through increasing the value they deliver to students, parents and communities while fully engaging employees, reducing costs, and building a spirit of continuous improvement. Does your school system have a great product or service that demonstrates value add? Share with us so we can promote your valuable idea. Have you spotted a great example of a value add product or service in a school system? Please share.