LEAN in Education

Colleges and institutes of higher learning have been faced with the same economic challenges the rest of the country has seen. Over the past few years, there has been increased pressure to create and sustain a more market driven environment. There are several suggestions in the 2011 Diamond Report on how these institutions can adopt a LEAN approach and ensure their survival.

Showing educational establishments how they can improve and increase collaborative arrangements with the effective flow of information is the main goal of LEAN projects.

Integration is Key

The private sector has benefited from LEAN concepts since as far back as the 14th century. These concepts include, continuous improvement, Standard of working, Value Stream Analysis, flow and pull. As with many things proven useful over the years these concepts were first used in military operations for the production of warships, reducing the fire time during a broadside encounter and interchangeable weapons parts.

Lean Frog Green Belt Certification Program

Led by Master Six Sigma certified CEO Byron Headrick, LEAN Frog offers their own Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification to public school administrators and their staff in Huntsville and elsewhere throughout Alabama. The program is designed to help public education professionals develop solutions to the challenges unique to their industry. LEAN Frog’s new certification program will be rolled out this summer and will offer an in-depth education in the Lean Six Sigma approach as well as training in its practical applications. The program is intended to provide school administrators with the skill set needed to come up with novel solutions to improve operations as well as educational outcomes, while working to address issues as they arise through an ongoing process of improvement. LEAN Frog is already well known statewide for their work with the Huntsville City School District as well as several others around the state. Perhaps most notably, the Huntsville City School District has been able to save more than seven million dollars by using the Lean Six Sigma methodology.

LEAN Frog Has Appreciation for Teachers, Do You?

This week is dedicated to appreciating teachers. All of us need to spend enough time to think about our experiences with the people responsible for filling us with knowledge. Byron Headrick is my name and I want to share some of my memories of my education through grade school in a rural area of Alabama. My experiences during these years had a huge impact on my life over the years and even today.

In 1990, I completed my K-12 education at Section High School in Jackson County located in Alabama. During my elementary years, my B to C grades, were constantly compared to the A to B grades of my sister by my parents. I have a strong recollection of the frustration during this time that caused less than favorable results at times. Mr. Dukes, my math teacher in sixth grade, was the first to recognize something was wrong. He was puzzled over the fact that I understood the information, as it was presented, only to grade poorly on the written tests. He bent the rules to allow me to take some of the tests verbally that seemed to improve my scores. My English teacher in the seventh grade, Ms. Howard, discovered I suffered from a slight learning disability. There were not the same special classes or tutoring back then in rural Alabama, as there are today. Mr. Howard and my mother discussed my problem and worked with me on it. This increased my typical B to C grades up to A through C grades.

During the ninth grade at school, Ms. Hughes, my science teacher connected science, physics and math in better way than other teachers ever had. Her inspiration made me develop a genuine interest in these subjects, and I went on to win the Science Project Competition that year with genetic college-level experiment involving fruit flies.

Because I had the learning disability, the school counselors recommended that I go to Technical School, as they did not feel college would be an ideal fit for me. I was still able to study math, physics, and science on an advanced level in Technical School. I studied mechanical design and drafting, when I attended Jackson County Technical School. Mr. Armstrong was my teacher. He taught technical skills pertaining to mechanical design and drafting to my class and more. This teacher also taught leadership skills to the class in hopes that my fellow classmates and I would strive for quality with anything we do. My grade averages ranged from A to B. I qualified for college scholarships, graduated and even won awards in such things as public speaking, essay writing and more on the county level, along with state level.