Improve efficiency and effectiveness in your School District

The American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), a Houston-based nonprofit and global leader in process and performance management, benchmarking, and knowledge management supports school districts across the United States and the world through the APQC Education North Star Project. This initiative is a transformational public K-12 education improvement project designed to empower school districts to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Since 2009, North Star Community Districts have used APQC Education methodologies to save millions of dollars and improve outcomes by redesigning inefficient processes, eliminating waste and redundancies, and using cross-functional process methodologies to break down functional silos.

In these times of financial scarcity, education leaders must learn to use the resources they have in a more efficient manner. Every opportunity for identifying and eliminating waste, strategically reducing costs, and harnessing the creative improvement ideas of all employees is imperative to student success and operational and fiscal stability. Process and Performance Management provides the tools needed to make these improvements. This proven, transformative, and powerful methodology has been used successfully for decades in all business sectors – and in the last two years in education. Our goal is to see EVERY school district in the United States use these powerful tools to help them cope with the current financial climate and drive student achievement.

APQC Who are we?

Jack Grayson, Chairman and CEO Explains

APQC - Meet Jack Grayson and APQC

APQC - What is Process and Performance Management - Fred Bentsen

APQC - Process and Performance Management Leads to Student Achievement Carolyn - Talesk

APQC "Best Practice" Library

"We recognize that process management does not have a beginning or an end. Rather it is a never ending journey toward continuous improvement. And THAT is where public education in America should be focused: continuous improvement.

In short, the APQC focus on and training in process management and improvement has given us hope for the future of public education...and, therefore, hope for our country."

-Kirby Lehman
Superintendent, Jenks Public Schools
Jenks, OK

"I have been in education for 42 years but have never seen a project like APQC’s North Star that has the potential to completely transform the educational system in this country."

Dr. Michael Perich
Director of Continuous Improvement,
Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland