• January 24, 2025

    Why a NIC?

    By Mannong Pang

    This 2015 blog post introduces the distinctive features of Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) and identifies some of their advantages for accelerating learning about high-leverage educational problems.

  • January 24, 2025

    Practical Measurement for Improvement

    By Mannong Pang

    This site offers definitions, guidance, examples, and technical briefs related to leveraging practical measures for continuous improvement. Designed to help the user get started with practical measurement, the site includes a path from getting started through identifying and testing a measure as well as a resource library.

  • January 24, 2025

    Six Improvement Principles

    By Mannong Pang

    The Six Improvement Principles are core organizing ideas for improvement science. They speak to how problems are unpacked and understood and to how learning towards improvement is undertaken.

  • January 24, 2025

    Improvement Coaching Casebook and Discussion Guide

    By Mannong Pang

    This casebook and discussion guide is designed for improvement coaches, individually and in groups, to learn through reflecting on and analyzing instances of coaching practice. The guide includes categories of coaching dilemmas, a discussion protocol, and coaching considerations. Watch the related video for an introduction to the categories and the…

  • July 11, 2023

    Improving America’s Schools Together

    By Mannong Pang

    Improving America’s Schools Together: How District-University Partnerships and Continuous Improvement Can Transform Education includes stories, examples, and tools from 11 district-university partnerships using improvement science as a shared method to advance local priorities for students and educators.

  • July 11, 2023

    How a City Learned to Improve Its Schools

    By Mannong Pang

    How a City Learned to Improve Its Schools offers comprehensive analysis of the astonishing changes that elevated the Chicago public school system from one of the worst in the nation to one of the most improved.

  • June 13, 2023

    Developmental Progressions Framework

    By Mannong Pang

    The Developmental Progressions Framework describes aspects of a partnership between a school district and university that can be used to set goals and identify next actions to deepen and strengthen the collaborative relationship.

  • April 3, 2023

    Developing NIC Hub Self-Assessment

    By Mannong Pang

    Network hub teams can use this self-assessment tool to identify strengths and areas for growth as they support the development of a NIC as a scientific-professional learning community. The tool describes seven domains of effort that are essential for operating a developing networked improvement community through its first 1-3 years…

  • April 3, 2023

    Hub Leadership Capabilities

    By Mannong Pang

    Hub leadership teams support the development of a NIC and its ability to function as a scientific, professional learning community that is continuously learning from its efforts. These resources include a framework for understanding the different processes that hub leaders manage as well as tools for a hub team to…

  • April 3, 2023

    Coaching PDSA cycles

    By Mannong Pang

    These resources focus on how coaches can help teams build efficient and effective inquiry routines using PDSA cycles. Materials include a tool to help a coach to reflect on a PDSA artifact as well as short video clips.

  • April 3, 2023

    Categories of improvement coaching dilemmas

    By Mannong Pang

    Improvement coaches encounter common kinds of challenges as they work with teams towards different improvement aims. Four categories of challenges, drawn from interviews with improvement coaches about their practice, can be used to understand the specific needs of an improvement team in order to help that team move forward. Resources…

  • April 2, 2023

    NIC Initiation Hub Self-Assessment

    By Mannong Pang

    This self-assessment tool enables network initiation or hub teams to assess their readiness to launch a networked improvement community. It can help teams to identify strengths as well as opportunities to build capability and internal capacity, or where external support may be needed in order to successfully launch a NIC.