Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) is a methodology to measure the quality of a product. It was first used in the early 1920s of the last century in car factories to ensure their products quality. A sample of the cars manufactured by the production lines is tested to ensure its quality. Thus, the test result is mainstreamed to all cars. Through this methodology, poor quality products or “defects” can be quickly and accurately identified so that they can be disposed or repaired. As it would be a very expensive and time-consuming process if manufacturers checked the quality of each individual product they produce. Therefore, LQAS methodology provided sampling that allowed the classification of an entire production unit by testing a small number of randomly selected products of that unit. If the selected products meet the minimum quality standards, the producers are satisfied that the entire unit has met the minimum quality standards, and if a sufficient number of those selected products do not meet the minimum quality standards, then the entire unit is rejected.
This methodology was first used in the humanities, including education, about 20 years ago. Using such a methodology in the education sector enables the Ministry of Education and field directorates to control the quality of the teaching and learning process, and to classify schools as “Achieving” or “Not achieving” the minimum standards of performance quality. Likewise, the MOE’s officials can categorize field directorates as “Achieving” and “Not achieving” the minimum performance standards.