{"id":661,"date":"2025-11-28T01:14:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T09:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carnegie25live.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=661"},"modified":"2025-12-16T17:12:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T01:12:37","slug":"six-core-principles-of-improvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/six-core-principles-of-improvement\/","title":{"rendered":"The Six Core Principles of Improvement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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1. Make the work problem-specific and user-centered<\/a>.
<\/strong>It starts with a single question: \u201cWhat specifically is the problem we are trying to solve?\u201d It enlivens a co-development orientation: engage key participants early and often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Variation<\/a> in performance is the core problem to address.
<\/strong>The critical issue is not what works, but rather what works, for whom and under what set of conditions. Aim to advance efficacy reliably at scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. See the system<\/a> that produces the current outcomes.
<\/strong>It is hard to improve what you do not fully understand. Go and see how local conditions shape work processes<\/a>. Make your hypotheses<\/a> for change public and clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. We cannot improve at scale what we cannot measure<\/a>.<\/strong>
Embed measures of key outcomes and processes to track if change is an improvement. We intervene in complex organizations. Anticipate unintended consequences and measure these too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Anchor practice improvement in disciplined inquiry.<\/strong>
Engage rapid cycles of Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA)<\/a> to learn fast, fail fast, and improve quickly. That failures may occur is not the problem; that we fail to learn from them is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Accelerate improvements through networked communities<\/a>.<\/strong>
Embrace the wisdom of crowds. We can accomplish more together than even the best of us can accomplish alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To learn more about how the six principles guide our work, check out Learning to Improve: How America\u2019s Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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1. Make the work problem-specific and user-centered.It starts with a single question: \u201cWhat specifically is the problem we are trying to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"client_controls":[],"class_list":["post-661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-six-core-principles-of-improvement"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Six Core Principles of Improvement - Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/six-core-principles-of-improvement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Six Core Principles of Improvement - Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"1. 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