History
The North Carolina Partnership for Excellence was based on the NC Business Committee for Education sponsorship of a 1991 research and development initiative known as "The Quality Schools Program". This research initiative created an initial market of twenty-six school systems, which grew to forty-five in 2000, along with the partners' higher education and business partners. A business plan was approved by the NC Business Committee for Education and the NC Council on Management & Development in March of 1997. The original goal was that all school districts by the year 2002, who voluntarily desired, would have an opportunity to join the partnership.
On March 18, 1998, the NCPE Board of Directors approved a strategic plan. The plan consisted of seven goals and six broad services for the organization.
- Goal: Create a learning organization of school districts interested in becoming high performing organizations.
- Goal: Coach and support NC education providers in becoming high performance organizations of world class students.
- Goal: Operate the NC Partnership for Excellence for interested school systems that make a formal commitment to create partnerships with businesses, institutions of higher education, and the community.
- Goal: Provide training and support to clients.
- Goal: Provide facilitation to partners in strategic planning, process alignment, etc.
- Goal: Implement information systems aimed at providing library of resources, sharing best practices, and networking.
- Goal: Operate the NC Partnership for Excellence in an efficient and effective manner.
- Service: Quality Academies
- Service: Custom Design Professional Development
- Service: Leadership Development
- Service: Networking and Communications
- Service: State-Level Policy Alignment
- Service: Virtual Learning
During the 1999-2000 fiscal year, the Partnership began to feel the challenge of raising funds as many of the companies who had made multi-year pledges were completing their commitment. At the Board of Directors meeting (March 1999) three fundraising strategies were approved: 1) Seek financial support from national foundations and federal sources; 2) Continue to cultivate Business/Industry in North Carolina and nationally; and 3) Create sources of ongoing revenue to generate income to support NCPE services (i.e., services and products in alignment with the mission). Another challenge, "What kinds of assistance can the Partnership provide to take school systems to the next level?" also faced the organization. Several partners, who had been with the Partnership for a while, were looking at more sophisticated services. The results of the 1999 strategic direction review centered on the "four legged stool" concept. The four legs included a community template, a technology initiative, better accountability/assessment system, and the Baldrige self-assessment process. In October of 2000, Executive Committee members and invited guests once again discussed and planned for the future direction of the Partnership. One of the options discussed was a "Center" organization where the Partnership would operate through three centers. The Partnership began to operate with a Center for High Performance, funded with a $250,000 grant for three years. The purpose of the Center was to involve national districts along with North Carolina districts for benchmarking and the sharing of best practices. A national conference was funded from the grant for the next three years. The Center for Quality/Technology was scheduled to be created in July 2001 with an emphasis on providing a data-warehouse for partners and others. The Center for Leadership would feature the Progress Energy Growing Future Leaders Program.
Between March and April of 2001, the Board of Directors and Executive Committee re-organized the Partnership. The following direction resulted:
- Provide an infrastructure of support, services & networking to all NC partner school districts through a revenue-neutral approach, using General Assembly support, grants/foundation gifts, business contributions and fees/services and sales. As revenues from private sources declined, these funds were to be offset by steadily increasing funds from sales, services, and conferences.
- Create and deploy any new or existing programs and projects aligned with the mission on a specifically funded program basis. (Ex: Growing Future Leaders was funded by Progress Energy)
- Outsource all services on a contractual basis (including all staff of the Partnership), provide incentives for sales, services and redesign current allocation formula to continue funding the 3-year commitments. Stipulation was to fund services on a daily training rate basis.
During the 2001-2003 fiscal years, the Partnership continued to facilitate training, expanded the High Performance Center and initiated a Center for Quality and Technology in Teaching. A spin-off of this center was the establishment of a Student Data Warehouse. Of special significance was that the Chairman of the Partnership resigned his chairmanship in March of 2002. Olin Broadway served in this capacity for six years. Paula Fraher from the Bank of America assumed the position as chairperson. A Customer Survey conducted during the year determined what services the Partnership partner districts wanted. The services broke out into four areas: Classroom Resources for teachers to help students become more responsible for their learning; Training; Networking; and Advocacy for "systems improvement".
Once again, the Partnership found itself in a re-organization period. The "Center" approach continued to sustain and expand services to member school districts. These services expressed by the partner districts were incorporated into the revised High Performance Model comprised of the four components, Systems Thinking, Leaders at all Levels, Customer Focus, and Core Values.
During the next three years, a membership system based on dues began for North Carolina and national partners. North Carolina partners continued to receive an annual supplementary allocation of funds to offset costs of professional development, reduced training and product pricing and national partners received reduced training and product pricing. The Partnership developed a new classroom system model based on using quality tools to enable students to become more responsible for their work and learning. This resource is, The Q's – Getting to the Fifth Q – Quality Leaders of Great Learning. Many districts throughout NC and the nation purchased The Q's. A significant contract with Oklahoma City Public Schools resulted in new revenue for the Partnership. Based on the Partnership being recognized as a national entity, and the realization that national partners contribute heavily to the financial solvency of the organization, it was proposed that the name now reflect this national perspective. Thus, a recommendation was for the North Carolina Partnership for Excellence to become the Partnership for Excellence, reflecting a true commitment to its vision.
The original findings of NCBCE's research and development pilot partnership efforts, in the 1990's, provided concrete evidence that quality management can have a significant impact on student achievement and employee morale. The lessons learned through pilot programs are being applied and duplicated at a national level.
