Getting Started
Practical
Measurement
for Improvement
1. Getting Started
Draft a Theory of Improvement
The components of your theory of improvement (TOI) tell you what, how and why you need to measure.
Theory of Improvement and how it’s related to practical measures
Aim/goal Statement
What specifically are we trying to accomplish?
Theory of Improvement
What change(s) might we introduce?
Why do we think those changes may be an improvement?
Practical Measurement
How will we know if a change is an improvement?
What do practical measures do in an improvement effort?
- Practical measures enable improvers to know if the changes they are implementing are affecting the system in an immediate and timely way
- Practical measures are indicators of key processes within the system or leading outcomes
PRACTICAL MEASURE EX -1
Inclusive Classrooms Survey
BLOG
One feature of practical measurement that makes it distinct from measures that are used for other purposes is that it is “up close and personal” – measures are tied to the actual processes that are…
TECHNICAL PAPER
In partnership with Panorama Education and the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy, Teaching Matters has developed the Inclusive Classrooms Survey to monitor shifts in a primary driver…
Practical Measurement Research Briefs
Like continuous improvement, the development and use of practical measurement is a journey. It is rarely linear and often comes with opportunities and challenges. Check out these stories of improvers designing, iterating, and leveraging practical measures to create change in the system. Get ready to be inspired by their experience and lessons learned.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Developing Exit Tickets in an Improvement Network
Ms. Johnson, an English teacher at an urban middle school, was concerned that her students were not doing as well in her class as they could be. Her district had recently…
RESEARCH BRIEF
Case Study of ORF as Practical Measure Brief
In this post we describe the identification and use of Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), a common and widely used Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) measure, as a…
Additional Resources
ARTICLES
Evidence for Improvement: An Integrated Analytic Approach for Supporting Networks in Education
Measurement for Improvement in Education
Branching Out – Use Measurement Trees to Determine Whether your Improvement Efforts are Paying Off
Practical Measurement for Continuous Improvement in the Classroom: A Toolkit for Educators