As easy as OEE: enabling productivity improvement in schools by using overall equipment effectiveness as framework for classroom data analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to develop a quantitative classroom observation method that is able to analyse the school day to identify Time-on-Task losses comprehensively and systematically, at a level of detail that can be used by teachers and principals to stimulate and focus practical improvement efforts. Design/methodology/approach The novel Time-on-Task Analysis (TOTA) model was developed by triangulating the conceptual framework of the Overall Equipment Effectiveness metric with the semantics and structure of the target domain. Once developed, the model was tested structurally against a time-series classroom observation data set, after which the resulting TOTA was presented to a sample of 52 education stakeholders, who then gave their perspectives of the analysis in a structured survey. Findings The ontological model was found to be accurate, complete and without conceptual incongruencies, and its output novel and useful by the sample of education stakeholders. Of the participants, 90.3% found the analysis to provide a new perspective, 94.2% reported that the analysis triggered improvement ideas and 80.8% thought that their school(s) could benefit from a TOTA study. Originality/value The TOTA model introduces a time-loss-focused perspective to the field of quantitative classroom observation studies, which is dominated by more sociologic- and pedagogic-focused topics. Its grounding in Overall Equipment Effectiveness also gives it a more detailed and systematic approach than the few Time-on-Task studies done to date, resulting in a model made for the “Gemba”: the school classroom.