Planning, Evaluating, and Improving Tiers of Support in Beginning Reading

cators accountable for increasing student achievement more than they have at any previous time (Guilfoyle, 2006). Substantial and reliable increases in student achievement do not happen overnight, however, but are the result of systematic and focused efforts. The business world uses the term kaizen for this concept of making small improvements every day that lead to large improvement over time (Varian, 2007; see box, “What Is the Origin of the Word Kaizen?”). Despite differences in the organization, structure, and purposes of the worlds of business and education, this idea of kaizen, or continuous improvement, is still critical to success for educators. To use the concept of kaizen in the world of education, educators need to understand how to use data to make educational decisions.