Case Studies in Continuous Educational Improvement

With principles of improvement science as a foundation, new knowledge about the continuous improvement of educational innovations is rapidly emerging among communities of educational professionals and researchers, as they work together in new ways to solve practical problems, improve student performance, and reduce achievement gaps.

Developed in collaboration with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, this course will use case studies to take learners deep into the design, organization, and management of three innovative approaches to large-scale, practice-focused continuous improvement that have currency in the US and abroad:

• Design-Based Implementation Research
• Implementation Science
• Networked Improvement Communities

For each case, learners will use logics of innovation to analyze the central strategy of each approach, and they will use principles of improvement science to analyze how each uses disciplined methods to address practical problems faced by teachers and leaders.

This course is part of the Leading Educational Innovation and Improvement MicroMasters Program offered by MichiganX.

Lesson 1: Analytic Focus #1:
Fundamental Logic(s) of Innovation and Improvement

Lesson 2: Analytic Focus #2:
Application of Improvement Science in Educational Innovation

(Note: Case studies will include Networked Improvement Communities, Design-Based Implementation Research, Deliverology, Lean/Six Sigma, and Positive Deviance.)