This book is a fictionalized account of one teacher s effort in applying process improvement principles to her teaching practices. Lisa s story is based on actual practice, and resulted in an innovative application of the lean waste-elimination approach to classroom teaching and learning. It also resulted in Lisa completing the delivery of her entire curriculum in the school year in a way that allowed students to master the material, as evidenced by significant growth in student performance scores on the standardized achievement test in her content area. The methods and tools described are based on proven lean techniques and sound education practice. Lean is a program of organizational improvement that empowers each and every worker in a school system from student through superintendent to increase his or her personal performance and job satisfaction through process improvement. Lean engages everyone in streamlining his or her work processes by identifying and eliminating the steps within each process that are wasteful, unnecessary, or do not contribute value to and may even prohibit the person from doing or completing the work. By incorporating a value-adding approach system-wide, schools can become more efficient in their operations and more effective at delivering their services, optimize the learning performance of all students, and create a culture of success and satisfaction for all. Includes an introduction by Norman Bodek