Designing and Implementing Program Improvement

3 credits · Peabody College - Professional

This course introduces systematic approaches to continuous improvement in education, focusing on how improvement science is used to address complex problems within educational contexts. Students will apply their learning in their own professional settings and use evidence-based methods to test practice changes. Through this work, they will develop the skills and dispositions necessary to design, test, and implement changes that improve outcomes for students, educators, and educational systems. The course includes a focused examination of key improvement science methodologies, including root cause analysis, focusing collective action, organizing for improvement, Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, and measurement for improvement. Students will also examine strategies for leading and sustaining change within educational organizations, with attention to systems thinking, diverse contexts, and stakeholder engagement. By the end of the course, participants will have developed an evidence-based approach to continuous improvement that can be applied to an organization-specific problem of practice. [3]