| The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program's Education Criteria for Performance Excellence is a school improvement process involving analyzing data, restructuring climate, and changing the processes that are not contributing to continuous improvement. The purpose of the study was to use a control group design to examine the statistically significant differences in fourth-grade mathematics proficiency between one Kansas district's public elementary schools implementing the Malcolm Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence at an advanced level and geographically and demographically similar non-Baldrige public elementary schools.; This quasi-experimental study employed homogeneous purposeful sampling to create the study's sample: 31 Baldrige public elementary schools and 40 similar non-Baldrige public elementary schools. The percentage of students who scored proficient or better on the Kansas State Mathematics Assessment served as each school's measure of student achievement.; The study found that regardless of whether further statistical controls for SES and school size were employed, implementation of the Baldrige criteria at an advanced level was not significantly (p <.05) related to fourth-grade mathematics achievement. Controlling for starting performance levels did not provide a statistically significant difference in the two groups either. However, an interview of a district-level administrator who is also a senior Baldrige examiner revealed that while the district is still addressing opportunities for improvements, the Baldrige criteria have improved training and performance within the system and workforce. |
