Baldrige and Education: “A Good (and Popular) Methodology that Is Being Inappropriately Applied”

Abstract

Over time, accountability measurements in education have paralleled measurement systems that originated in the business sector. Reform efforts, such as the Baldrige criteria, have continued to demonstrate that the business paradigm has offered precious little in the way of classroom success, despite the publicity and funding these movements receive—a lesson that politicians and educators seem to have trouble learning, despite its influence in 20th-century education.

Key words:

• accountability
• Adequate Yearly Progress
• Baldrige
• business
• NCLB