Round Rock, a suburb of Austin has been recently recognized by the University of Texas Center for Performance Excellence (UTCPE) for achievements in one of their schools and several departments. These awards are based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards program. The Baldrige criteria are used as a basis to determine continuing improvement. The program has been in effect since 1987, and thousands of organizations strive to receive this recognition.

The UTCPE formed in 2002 and since then has streamlined the Baldrige criteria into separate levels of achievement. Level 1 is first step, which the Canyon Vista Middle School has earned. The school is recognized as “beginning to adopt performance excellence principles.” Round Rock’s Independent School District Department of Continuing Education and the Department of Library Services also received Level 1 honors. The city’s Purchasing Department received Level 2 honors for “demonstrating the serious use and routine use and practice of performance excellence principals.” The highest achievement is Level 3, which means the organization has reached the full Baldrige criteria. The purpose of these criteria is to encourage improvement in educational standards.

The Texas Education Agency is responsible for rating school performance within the state. Several of Round Rock’s schools have received exemplary accountability standards. The district overall has received an acceptable rating for the most recent school year. The recognition by the UTCPE will help to encourage the district’s other schools to meet the same criteria. With the standards laid out, it is much easier for schools to create the means by which to reach improvement goals.