The Baldrige Excellence Framework

Press Release Excerpt

The Partnership for Excellence (TPE) is pleased to announce a high-performing organization as recipient of one of its 2026 Awards for Excellence. The awards represent the region’s highest honor for performance excellence through innovation, results, and visionary leadership using the Baldrige Excellence Framework ® .

The 2026 Award Recipient is:

Fairfax County Public Schools, Falls Church, VA (Gold Award, Achievement of Excellence)

Background

In response to a School Board request for an efficiency review, in mid-2024 FCPS began its application process for the  Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (“Baldrige Award” ). Congress established the award to improve the quality of American products and dedicated to improving the performance, resilience, and long-term success of American businesses by recognizing role models and fostering the adoption of proven leadership, management, and operational practices. There is a specific framework for education organizations.

Throughout 2025, a cross-functional team of FCPS staff, including school-based leaders, operational employees, and senior leadership, worked to prepare 25-page and 50-page applications to demonstrate FCPS’ performance across seven organizational categories: leadership, strategy, customers, measurement, workforce, operations, and results.

The applications were reviewed by experts from The Partnership for Excellence (TPE), who produced a comprehensive assessment of FCPS’ key strengths and opportunities for improvement. This assessment helps organizations gain clarity into how they can lower costs, improve productivity, and increase employee and customer satisfaction in order to improve their performance. 

In March 2026, more than a dozen Baldrige examiners from TPE visited FCPS. They interviewed specific staff members, including those who had helped to prepare the 25 and 50 page applications and employees from each operational department. The Baldrige examiners also visited more than a dozen FCPS schools and sites in order to verify and clarify the strengths and opportunities for improvement examiners identified in our 50-page application.

Evaluation 

“Visionary and ethical leadership, alignment of key processes across the school district, and a focus on students.” - FCPS’ best practices identified by TPE

In May 2026, TPE  announced that FCPS has received the 2026 Gold Award for Achievement of Excellence, representing “the region’s highest honor for performance excellence through innovation, results, and visionary leadership using the Baldrige Excellence Framework.” FCPS’ recognition is the first time an education applicant has won the Gold Award the first time they applied. In mid-2026, FCPS will receive a formal feedback report from TPE.

The Baldrige Framework

The Baldrige Excellence Framework examines an organization's performance across seven categories:  Leadership ,  Strategy ,  Customers ,  Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management ,  Workforce ,  Operations , and Results. Learn more about each category and see how FCPS demonstrates excellence by reading below.

FCPS demonstrates our leadership by aligning the work of every school and office directly with the division's overarching goals. Alignment reinforces our values and creates a culture of success where:

• The work being done in every school and office, by every employee, is rooted within our 2023-30 Strategic Plan. 
• Communication flows across every level of our organization
• Employees have a direct line of sight between what they’re doing and why it’s important, which motivates them to grow as leaders. 

Senior leaders foster a culture of ownership and continuously cultivate future leaders through comprehensive training programs, such as foundational leadership preparation, school-based administrator development, and principal preparation.

The Baldrige framework was useful as FCPS developed its FY 2027 Budget because it enabled leadership to:

• Become more strategically aligned
• Stay mission-focused in monitoring resources while meeting the needs of students and staff

“If you’re going to lead others and you’re going to inspire others, you have to know your strengths and weaknesses.”

Watch the video below to discover how FCPS empowers instructional and operational employees to grow professionally, build networks, and take on leadership roles. 

Developing Future Leaders (Video)

FCPS demonstrates Strategy through our 2023-30 Strategic Plan, which serves as our North Star for providing Excellence, Equity, and Opportunity. Developed with input from more than  117,000 community members and 124,000 touchpoints, the plan features five student-centered goals and 31 data-driven measures. The Strategic Plan (SP) is constantly evolving and being refined:

• SP Advisory Counsel meets quarterly and also provides regular updates at All-County Principals meetings.
• Leadership Team and Goal Innovation Champions/Teams (those charged with carrying out and monitoring the work) regularly review SP data, plans, and in-process data.
• Annual evaluation of goal reports (used to create annual goal reports) to recognize where there may be gaps in our data that we need to fill in to better understand how we are doing in relation to our goals and where we may have data that is no longer relevant or available.
• Strategic Plan data cycle: Goal reports and goal team questions → deeper data dives → insights for Leadership Team and Goal Team leaders → creation of refined strategies → data in annual reports. 

Our current focal points are:

• Algebra 1 by 8th grade so that students aren’t locked out of advanced math and STEM opportunities in high school and beyond.
• Reading on grade level by the end of 3rd grade, which is linked to advanced coursework, on-time graduation, and college enrollment.
• Equity in course taking patterns and completion of rigorous classes, which is linked to on-time graduation, college enrollment and completion, and higher earnings. 66% of jobs available today require post-secondary education and 80% percent of the jobs lost during the Great Recession were those requiring a high school diploma or less.

“You can choose courage, or you can choose comfort, but you can’t choose both.”

Watch the video below to explore how data-driven strategies and inclusive teaching practices led to double-digit growth in third-grade reading.

Choosing Courage: How Saratoga Boosted Reading Growth by 10+ Points  (Video)

In SY24-25, FCPS educated 14.3% of all students in Virginia and significant portions of the state’s diverse student populations (25.6% of multilingual learners, 17.2% of military-connected students, 16.5% of special education students, and 13.7% of economically disadvantaged students).

We work closely with our students and families as partners in education. We know that robust school-home partnerships are key to student success, and we cultivate these through our Office of Family and School Partnerships, Family Resource Center, and Family Liaisons. Beyond Pre-K-12 programming, we offer Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) and International Baccalaureate (IB), Career and Technical Education (CTE), Adult and Community Education (ACE)

FCPS also has specialized resources and supports for our multilingual learners, students with disabilities, and military-connected students and their families. We’re proud to support our military through our Purple Star Schools, which is a designation awarded by the Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Council on the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. Purple Star Schools have demonstrated their commitment to meeting the needs of military-connected students and their families. We currently have 145 Purple Star Schools — almost 75% of our division — and our goal is to become a Purple Star Division next school year! 

FCPS believes deeply in the power of student voice, and our offerings are continuously evolving to meet their needs. For example:

• Since SY24-25, we’ve added 8 new breakfast recipe school recipes and 27 lunch recipes
• Since SY23-24. we’ve added 5 new sports, including MS cross country and track, boys volleyball, girls wrestling, girls flag football
• 37 new courses since SY23-24, including Quantum Information, Welding, and Aircraft Pilot Training 

“In FCPS, technology is embedded seamlessly throughout our work supporting student success.”

Watch the video below to learn how FCPS builds school-home partnerships with multilingual families through reliable systems, responsive support, and accessible digital tools.  

Connecting School and Home: How FCPS Technology Supports Families and Learning  (Video)

FCPS is deeply data-driven, with integrated technology which allows our school leaders and central office departments to continuously monitor progress and adjust support strategies accordingly. Our tools include:

• Our Education Decision Support Library (EDSL)
• Centralized data fabric 
• Department-specific dashboards

One of our current focus areas is successful completion of Algebra 1 by 8th grade. When students complete Algebra 1 by 8th grade, they have:

• Greater access to higher level math and science courses in high school, like Geometry and Algebra 2. 
• This can improve their chances of excelling in college admissions and pursuing competitive careers — 84% of career choices are determined by math!
• Higher test scores in both math and language arts and better attendance in middle school.

Our data dashboard has evolved to identify all students who are prepared for higher-level math. Based on this identification of students by name and need, we’ve made great progress in this area, and not just for 8th graders. We’ve seen a 10.6% increase in 5th graders taking advanced math since 2022-23 and multilingual learner enrollment in Algebra 1 or higher doubled in one year (from 15% to 32.9%).

“Setting the high expectations for our staff, and working collaboratively with our students, our community, was essential.”

Watch the video below to see how pyramid-wide collaboration, summer power-up programs, and dedicated data cycles empowered students to strive for math mastery.

Breaking Barriers: Accelerating Algebra Access at Herndon  (Video)

FCPS is one of the largest employers in Virginia. Team FCPS has more than 40,000 members, including teachers, administrators, principals, operational staff, and more. Day in and day out, they are preparing our students for their futures as global and ethical community members, with careers that don’t yet exist!

Our employees are supported through our outstanding Human Resources team. We know that it’s important to provide a positive experience, from the moment a prospective member of Team FCPS decides to apply for a position all the way through to their retirement. Our Onboarding Experience team has worked tirelessly to improve the length of time for onboarding completion — what we call “pre-employment” — from 46 days in 2024 to 24 days in 2025  — wow!

We’ve also greatly reduced teacher attrition, and we’ve found innovative ways to recruit skilled teachers from around the world to enhance and diversify our roster of talented educators. This includes job fairs: We typically host six on-site job fairs each year, with the focus of each event determined by division hiring needs, including ongoing analysis of workforce planning data, Intent to Return results, resignations and retirements, staffing projections, boundary changes, and licensure non-renewals to align with anticipated vacancies. When members of our community were subject to wide-scale layoffs, we designed job fairs just for them so they could explore joining our team, short-or long-term.

"I feel very confident going into this school year as a new teacher."

Watch th e video below to learn how FCPS’ annual event welcomes new educators and provides vital support through seminars, coaching, and global perspectives.

Empowering New Teachers: Great Beginnings Summer Institute  (Video)

FCPS relies on highly coordinated academic and operational systems to manage 266 schools and centers with 28 million square feet of space. Our systems include: 

• Work Processes and Management: Process Design, Continuous Improvement, Data-Driven Monitoring
• Operational Efficiency and Effectiveness: Fiscal Management, Cost Benchmarking
• Supply-Network Management: Procurement Services, Supplier Engagement
• Safety and Security: Campus Security, Staff and Student Safety
• Business Continuity and Risk Management: Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP), Risk Mitigation

Together, these systems enable us to deliver world class educational experiences as a lighthouse school division and make sure we can provide our students and schools with everything they need to succeed.

“It was really powerful to hear the alignment between our teachers’ goals and our division’s goals.”

Watch the video below to explore how FCPS’ data-driven improvement plans and research-backed practices transform education for our diverse student population.

Unlocking Student Potential: School Innovation and Improvement Plans  (Video)

The strength of FCPS's systems translates directly into mountaintop educational outcomes for students. 100% of FCPS schools are fully accredited. In school rankings, FCPS has:

• 7 of the top 10 high schools in Virginia
• 5 of the top 20 middle schools in Virginia
• 5 of the top 10 elementary schools in Virginia
• 1 of the top 5 high schools in the nation

In 2025, compared to the VA state average, FCPS students: 

• Scored 71 pts higher on the SAT
• Had a 14.4 percentage point higher SAT participation rate
• Had an 11 percentage point higher AP testing participation rate

“It’s a complex operation, but it’s all about our students. We love what we do.”

Watch the video below for a behind-the-scenes look at the teams who make hands-on learning possible for every student.

How FCPS Delivers Learning: From Warehouse to Classroom  (Video)