Getting Started

Practical
Measurement
for Improvement

1. Getting Started

Draft a Theory of Improvement

The components of your theory of improvement (TOI) tell you what, how and why you need to measure.

Aim/goal Statement

What specifically are we trying to accomplish?

Theory of Improvement

What change(s) might we introduce?

Why do we think those changes may be an improvement?

Practical Measurement

How will we know if a change is an improvement?

What do practical measures do in an improvement effort?

  1. Practical measures enable improvers to know if the changes they are implementing are affecting the system in an immediate and timely way
  2. Practical measures are indicators of key processes within the system or leading outcomes

PRACTICAL MEASURE EX -1

Inclusive Classrooms Survey

BLOG

One feature of practical measurement that makes it distinct from measures that are used for other purposes is that it is “up close and personal” – measures are tied to the actual processes that are…

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TECHNICAL PAPER

In partnership with Panorama Education and the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy, Teaching Matters has developed the Inclusive Classrooms Survey to monitor shifts in a primary driver…

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Practical Measurement Research Briefs

Like continuous improvement, the development and use of practical measurement is a journey. It is rarely linear and often comes with opportunities and challenges. Check out these stories of improvers designing, iterating, and leveraging practical measures to create change in the system. Get ready to be inspired by their experience and lessons learned.

RESEARCH BRIEF

Developing Exit Tickets in an Improvement Network

Ms. Johnson, an English teacher at an urban middle school, was concerned that her students were not doing as well in her class as they could be. Her district had recently…

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RESEARCH BRIEF

Case Study of ORF as Practical Measure Brief

In this post we describe the identification and use of Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), a common and widely used Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) measure, as a…

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Additional Resources