Pareto Example and Worksheet

I. Begin by gathering the data you need to answer your question and
place it into an easy-to-read chart or table.

Reasons for Poor Performance Number of Times Reason

was Given
Late for class 5
Absent for lesson 25
Don’t have the skills 5
Suspension 10
Poor test scores 40
Don’t know what to do with assignments 5
Didn’t have time to do the homework 30

II. Find the total number of reasons given by adding up the column on
the right. (N = 120)

III. Construct a graph that shows the number of reasons on the vertical
line and the categories of reasons on the horizontal line. The vertical
line should go up to the total number of reasons given.

IV. Order the bars from left to right beginning with the largest category
and descending in size according to the number of reasons given for
each.

V. For each category, determine its percentage of the whole. Add the
percentages from left to right until you reach close to 80 percent.

VI. To add the cumulative percentage line, draw a second vertical line
on the right side of the chart and label that axis in percentages that
correspond to the number of reasons, e.g. 40 reasons represents
approximately 33% of the total. If you drew a line straight across
from 40 on the left vertical axis, it should fall at 33% on the right
axis.

©1999.QLD.Quality Leadership by Design QLD-LLC.com

 PARETO: 80/20 EXAMPLE
Example: Why do 25% of our 8th graders have grade point averages
of 1.0 or less?

©1999.QLD.Quality Leadership by Design QLD-LLC.com

An Example of a Pareto Analysis
In which academic areas are our students struggling the most?

Focus here

With what items / objectives are these students

struggling the most?

Focus here

What skills do our students need to focus on

to improve?

Focus grade-level
SMART goal here

By targeting the most problematic academic area and progressively breaking it

into smaller elements, teachers can focus instruction where the most significant
academic gains can occur.