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Learning Made Easy: How to Make PDSAs Work For You in the Classroom Christina Williams Harding
Learning Objectives 1. Identify the components of a PDSA cycle 2. Describe key strategies to test a change 3. Complete the Plan portion of your first test cycle
The Model for Improvement What are we trying to accomplish? How will we know that a change is an improvement? What changes can we make that will result in improvement? Act Plan The Improvement Guide Associates in Process Improvement Study Do
What is a test? Putting a change into effect on a temporary basis and learning about its impact.
The PDSA Cycle ACT What changes can be made? Next cycle? ADAPT (Plans/ changes next test) ADOPT: (Select changes to implement) ABDANDON: (Discard change & try new one) STUDY Analyze data Compare results to predictions Summarize what was learned PLAN Objective Change is an improvement? Questions and predictions Plan to carry out the cycle (who, what, where, when) DO Carry out the plan Record data and observations Document problems and unexpected observations What happened that was not part of the plan?
Smaller Scale Tests: The Power of One Conduct the test with: one lesson activity, school day, after school program day, end of the week learning goal (e.g. K: learn 2 new letters) one teacher, reading specialist, resource coordinator, tutor one student, family, one referral to a tutor, intervention specialist, after school program
PDSA Terms: Testing AKA: Exploring, running trials, and adapting existing ideas in your unit or population that is the focus of the Team s AIM statement Learning what works in your system (and what does not work), initially on a small scale and finally on a wide-scale Changes are temporary NOT permanent Implementation (Sustaining Improvement) Making a change permanent for the classroom, or population that is the focus of the improvement team s AIM statement
Remember A PDSA is NOT Data Collection Implementing a solution A project plan OR an action plan Rolling out an educational program Getting a form, policy, procedure approved by the official committees Confidential proprietary information of Cincinnati Children s Hospital Medical Center. Do not distribute.
Common PDSA Pitfalls Failure to identify the PREDICTION/ hypothesis before testing the change Too much time spent Planning: Plan, Plan, Plan-D-S-A Jumping to the DO: P-Do, Do, Do-S-A Planning too large &/or too long of a test (PDSA Grande) Not learning from challenges/ barriers/ bumps in the road Confidential proprietary information of Cincinnati Children s Hospital Medical Center. Do not distribute.
PDSA Cycle Key Points 1. START SMALL: Do initial cycles on smallest scale possible Think baby steps a cycle of one is usually best Failed cycles are good learning opportunities 2. Always make a PREDICTION before the test and compare it with the results afterwards! Allows improved learning from failures and shapes your understanding No improvement is not a failure, it s a source of learning when we stop to ASK WHY the test didn t work 3. Test under as many DIFFERENT SITUATIONS as possible Test on different days, with different staff, at different times of the day, with different students (red bucket/ green bucket) Confidential proprietary information of Cincinnati Children s Hospital Medical Center. Do not distribute.
What is a PDSA Ramp? A series of PDSA test cycles linked by a common theme or learning objective (e.g. Tennis ball exercise - Proper Positioning of Staff) Ramps may be: Scale-up of one change For example Assessing family needs with 1 family, 5 families, 25 families Change tested over a longer period of time For example 1 day, 1 week, 1 month Or a specific change under different conditions For example Morning shift vs weekend shift or Meeting with Children and Parents vs Meeting with just Parents Confidential proprietary information of Cincinnati Children s Hospital Medical Center. Do not distribute.
PDSA Ramp Model for Improvement What are we trying to accomplish? How will we know that a change is an improvement? What change can we make that will result in improvement? A S P D Changes That Result in Improvement Best Practice, Hunches, Evidence A S P D Very Small Scale Test Follow-up Tests 1 Student on 1 Day Implementation of Change Wide-Scale Tests 25 Students for 1 Day 5 Students on 1 Day OR ALL kids in classroom 25 Students for 5 Days 25 Students for 10 Days Confidential proprietary information of Cincinnati Children s Hospital Medical Center. Do not distribute.
Reading Ramp Examples WORK GROUP: Unit Very small scale n = 1 Follow-up tests n = 5 Wide scale tests of change n = 25 Implementation of change n = ALL of Unit 3 rd Grade Classroom 1 third grade student receives literacy intervention from teacher 5 third grade students receive literacy intervention from teacher 25 third grade students receive literacy intervention in 1 classroom from teacher ALL third graders receive literacy intervention at 1 school in all classrooms from teacher Students working with Reading Specialist (RS): Reading Specialist & Teacher 1 third grade student receives combo literacy intervention from RS & Teacher 5 third grade student receives combo literacy intervention from RS & Teacher 25 third grade student receives combo literacy intervention from RS & Teacher ALL students working with Reading Specialist receives combo literacy intervention from RS & Teacher Students working with Resource Coordinator (RC) 1 student receives X intervention from RC 5 students receives X intervention from RC 25 students receives X intervention from RC ALL students receives X intervention from RC
PDSA Ramp Multiple PDSAs without any relationship to each other Data collection Implementing after limited test cycles Confidential proprietary information of Cincinnati Children s Hospital Medical Center. Do not distribute. 15
Let s Get Started: 2:30-3:30 Team Classroom Planning Time: 3:30-4 pm Using your DRAFT KDD, think and plan a SMALL test that your team can DO by next Friday Sept 16? Team Exercise: Talk with your teammates about what you want to test: What driver do you want to be the focus of your first test? (e.g. Engaged and Customizing Teacher Instruction) What is the first intervention you want to test connected to that driver? (e.g. Protected/ Special Daily Reading time - distraction free zone) How can you scope the test SMALL at first? 1 student, 1 family, 1 school day,