MS> CB> Hmmmmm, since he stated the student is a customer
MS>  
MS>     The _student_ is not the "customer" in the K-12 industry, since 
MS> neither pays the bills nor (for the vast majority of students) choos
MS> school he goes to.  
 
In basic "Quality" terminology, you have customers and suppliers - in 
the K-12 environment the students *are* indeed customers and the 
teachers (in the case of classroom instruction) are the suppliers. 
Sometimes you can take the economic definition of customer/supplier 
relationship too literally.  The students have certain expectations of 
the product/service they are to receive just as the teacher has certain 
expectations of the product/service they are to provide.  Ideally there
should be alignment between those expections given the constraints of 
the system.  Working towards alignment cannot necessarily be done in a 
vacuum, that is, teachers and students must also consider the needs and
capabilities of other customers and suppliers involved in the process 
(parents, administrators, school board, etc.)
 
The process of aligning customer needs (note that is "needs" not 
"wants") with supplier capabilities is a critical step in the process 
and theoretically (at least) should totally involve both the customer 
and supplier.  A customer that understands the supplier's limitations 
and capabilities in meeting their needs is going to understand the 
process better and enjoy a greater opportunity of having their needs 
satisfied.  Likewise a supplier that understands what their customer's 
needs are will be in a better position to deliver a "quality" product 
-- actually I prefer to phrase it "they'll be able to do the right 
thing, the right way, the first time around" -- in the case of K-12 
instruction, that right thing, right way, first time around equates to 
providing solid instruction that meets an agreed upon standard.
 
Practically speaking we don't sit down with our students and ask them 
what they would like us to teach them, and opponents to this model 
would jump on that in a heartbeat to say "it doesn't work because we 
can't do that".  
 
Determining customer needs is a relatively simple process of 
brainstorming...it's certainly not anything new or different.
 
MS> happy.  It's the adults, particularly the parents, whose loyalty to 
MS> system you cannot afford to lose...not satisfying the kids!
 
Certainly the parents are also a "customer" in the education process as 
well, but I have to take exception to your comment about "not 
satisfying the kids", if (as a professor) I don't meet various needs of 
my students (ie: teach them something), then I'm not fulfilling my role
as a supplier and therefore am not contributing towards the attainment 
of my organizations goals, mission or vision.  Again, meeting the 
students needs does not equate to making them happy and giving them 
everything they want.
 
My 2* worth.
 
Dale
--- TriDog 10.0
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