Writing Assignment
Stephen M. Hardy BUS 3302-140701 Leadership

Apollo’s University

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is the national quality award that recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence. The Baldrige Award is the only formal recognition of the performance excellence of both public and private U.S. organizations given by the President of the United States. It is administered by the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, which is based at and managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Up to 18 awards may be given annually across six eligibility categories manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care, and nonprofit. Pewaukee School District 2013 Award Recipient The tiny school district in this rural town has captured the attention of America by winning the coveted and prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which honors performance excellence in education, healthcare and business organizations. The Pewaukee School District, an innovative public school system, was one of only three organizations nationwide to receive the 2013 award. Winning the nation’s highest Presidential honor for performance excellence and visionary leadership is no small feat. The Pewaukee school system, which totals 2,791 students, has only one high school, one middle school and two elementary schools (National Institute, 2010). Pewaukee School District Meeting High Standards for Performance Despite having one of the most rigorous public school graduation requirements in the state, Pewaukee school district achieved a 97.4 percent graduation rate in 2012-2013 and had a higher graduation rate from 2008 through 2012 than other county, state and nearby high-performing districts (National Institute, 2010). A key measure of college and career readiness, the percentage of Pewaukee school district students attending a two or four year college increased from 78.8 percent in 2006-2007 to 91.9 percent in 2011-2012 (National Institute, 2010). This compares favorably to the county, state, and nearby high-performing districts. All Pewaukee school district schools have met the adequate yearly progress standard, a measurement defined by the federal No Child Left Behind law that annually determines student, school and district academic performance. Pewaukee school district has increased its advanced placement offerings from nine in 2006-2007 to 17 in 2013-2014. Its AP exam pass rate of 76 percent in 2011-2012 was higher than the county and the state. Pewaukee school districts ACT composite scores of 23.4 outperform both the state and national averages (National Institute, 2010). Pewaukee school districts economically disadvantaged students surpassed the performance of similar students in the county, state and nearby high-performing schools on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concept Examinations reading proficiency tests by achieving 45.5 percent proficiency compared to scores below 33 percent (Baldrige, 2012). Satisfied Parents, Involved Students in the School District Parent and student satisfaction surveys show Pewaukee parent satisfaction with educational quality during the same school year was 93.8 percent (Baldrige, 2012). Extremely low dropout and truancy rates, along with high levels of student volunteering, demonstrate the effectiveness of the district's efforts to engage students. Pewaukee school district low dropout rate exceeds those of the county, state and nearby high-performing districts. Pewaukee school truancy rate is better than the county, state and nearby high-performing districts. Engaged Leaders and Empowered Staff Pewaukee school districts mission is to open the door to each child's future is the foundation for its empowering approach to teaching and learning. Pewaukee school district’s curriculum review and design process enables district leaders and teachers to work collaboratively to create an environment for individualized student learning. Teachers use leading indicators, benchmarks and multiple assessments to tailor classroom instruction to best serve the needs of each student. Pewaukee school district was named by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as one of Wisconsin's Top 100 Workplaces for the years 2011–2013 (Baldrige, 2012). Pewaukee school districts regularly survey its staff to evaluate leadership effectiveness. The superintendent deploys a 360-degree feedback survey to all employees to obtain actionable feedback. Recently, employees said they were satisfied that the superintendent promotes use of an effective strategic planning model to plan for the future, and they were satisfied that she advocates for the district with the community at large (Baldrige, 2012). Conclusion The Pewaukee school districts Board of Education deploys a governance system to review and achieve fiscal and management accountability, transparency in operations, and protection of stakeholder interests. Pewaukee school districts senior leaders rigorously promote ethical behavior, including ethics training for new employees. The school district has achieved 100 percent compliance for key fiscal, ethical and legal measures related to open meetings laws, ethics management and safety training.

References Baldrige Foundation. (2012). Wisconsin's Pewaukee School District Wins Prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Retrieved from http://www.baldrigepe.org/foundation/news.aspx The National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2010). Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Recipients. Retrieved from http://www.nist.gov/baldrige/about/faqs_recipients.cfm McGraw, Hill. (2012). Leadership. Chapter 8 and 9