Gaithersburg,
Md.—Jenks School District, Jenks, Okla., is the 1,000th
applicant for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
Managed by the Commerce Department’s National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) in conjunction with the
private sector, the award is the nation’s highest Presidential
award for organizational performance excellence.
“I
am very pleased that our 1,000th applicant represents the
nation’s education system,” said Harry Hertz,
director of NIST’s Baldrige National Quality Program.
“The future competitiveness of U.S. business is dependent
upon a highly educated work force, and schools using the Baldrige
criteria are demonstrating significant continuous improvement
in educational outcomes.”
“Jenks
Public Schools began its quality journey 10 years ago. It
was a natural outgrowth of our progress to complete and submit
an application for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award,”
said Kirby A. Lehman, superintendent of Jenks Public Schools.
He added, “The process verified our progress and helped
us develop and implement additional processes for continuous
improvement. “
In addition
to Jenks School District, 63 other organizations submitted
applications for the 2005 Baldrige Award. The application
is a detailed description of challenges, processes, improvements
and accomplishments in seven categories: leadership; strategic
planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis
and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management;
and results.
Over
the next six months, teams of specially trained examiners
will evaluate these 64 organizations to determine which will
receive the 2005 Baldrige Award. All organizations that apply
receive between 300 to 1,000 hours of review and an extensive
feedback report highlighting strengths and areas to improve.
In the fall, high-scoring applicants will be visited by teams
of examiners.
Winners
of the 2005 award are expected to be announced in November
by President Bush and Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez
after the award’s judges make their recommendations.
While
relatively few organizations apply for the Baldrige Award,
thousands more use the Baldrige performance excellence criteria
as a tool to assess their performance. Annually, more than
700,000 copies of the criteria are downloaded from the Baldrige
program’s Web site and more than 50,000 copies are mailed.
Named
after the 26th Secretary of Commerce, the Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award was established by Congress in 1987
to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. businesses. The award
promotes excellence in organizational performance, recognizes
the quality and performance achievements of U.S. organizations,
and publicizes successful performance strategies. The award
is not given for specific products or services.
Since
1988, 59 organizations have received the Baldrige Award. They
include 24 large manufacturers, 12 service companies, 14 small
businesses, five education organizations and four health care
providers.
As a
non-regulatory agency of the Department of Commerce’s
Technology Administration, NIST develops and promotes measurement,
standards and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate
trade and improve the quality of life.
For more
information on the Baldrige National Quality Award, go to
http://baldrige.nist.gov/.
Note
to editors: For more information on Jenks School
District, contact Dana Ezell, Director of Communications,
Jenks Public Schools, (918) 299-4415 ext. 2211, dana.ezell@jenksps.org.
Typically, NIST does not disclose the identity of Baldrige
Award applicants. Jenks School District agreed to be named.
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