A mission of quality

NEA Today, Feb 2002

People

Since September, Texas physics teacher Celani Dominguez has been helping some of the world's premier scientists better understand K-12 education.

As an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, which offers math and science teachers year-long fellowships to serve on Capitol Hill and in federal agencies, Dominguez is working through the Department of Commerce at the Maryland-based National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Her assignment: to study the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program-a coveted tool used by thousands of organizations to improve performance-and make recommendations to help the program better understand the needs of education organizations.

"Education has traditionally shied away from business tools in the past, but the Baldrige criteria has so much to offer educators," says Dominguez, who's taught at Reagan High School in Austin. "I believe the tools could help us put best practices and quality programs into schools that need it most."

The nine-year veteran, who is finishing her doctorate in educational administration with an emphasis in public school leadership, wants to return to Texas when she's done with her fellowship to put her learnings into place.