Total Quality Management (TQM), the synchronization of quality principles across an organization, can help reveal that most problems within an organization are systemic and not personal. In the United States' educational system, teachers are often restricted, and little true learning communities are rare. Common educational practices, such as rote learning and performance-derived self-concepts, do not contribute to effective teaching. TQM helps overcome these restrictions and is consistent with contemporary principles of educational excellence. Constancy of purpose in TQM allows school districts or local schools to establish timelines for reform. Also, TQM's solutions are understandable and can be shared with all sectors of the educational community. This book includes eight chapters: (1) The Deming Paradigm and Conceptual Change; (2) Why Use a Business Approach to Transform Education?; (3) The Power of the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria and Leadership; (4) Quality Assurance of Product and Service; (5) Human Resource Development and Management; (6) Quality Plans, Results, and Customer Satisfaction; (7) Deployment Planning; and (8) Conclusion: Ways of Knowing. The Malcom Baldrige Award criteria, expected educational outcomes at all levels of education, and proposed standards of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards are included in the appendices. (Contains 110 references.) (JPT)