The schools of Quality Schools International (QSI) use a model of education based upon premises of successful student performance. A description of performance-based education implementation in the QSI schools follows: 

The success-oriented QSI Educational Model has Three Core Beliefs: 

1. QSI believes that all students can experience success in their learning, including the application of higher-order thinking skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving. 
2. QSI believes that success breeds success. 
3. QSI believes that it is the school’s responsibility to provide the conditions for success. 

This success oriented way of operating schools leads to optimum learning and to happy and motivated students. Using knowledge of educational research, these schools are student performance-based rather than ‘time-based’ or ‘calendar-based’. Teachers and students in QSI schools use time as a resource to reach mastery of clearly-defined objectives (unit outcomes) rather than using time as a boundary condition to determine when learning begins and ends. Students are given the time needed to achieve success. Our teachers are expected to employ instructional practices of excellence. However, the measure of success is not how well the teacher teaches, but how well the students learn. 

The implications of QSI’s Three Core Beliefs: 

1. All students can experience success in their learning. 

- QSI defines academic success as performing at a level that would traditionally earn a “B” grade. The system for evaluation is mastery at an “A” or “B” level, or a “P” (the student is still in progress toward mastery in a particular unit). 

- Rather than employing an extensive grading system, such as A, B, C, D, E, or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. to record varying performance levels, QSI believes that the amount of time each student spends on a unit of study can vary considerably as each works toward achieving an “A” or “B” mastery level. A student performing at the “B” mastery level has full understanding of course content. A student performing at the “A” mastery level is able to apply course content with higher order thinking skills. 

2. Success breeds success. 

QSI believes there is a connection between student perception of their own performance in a subject and their actual performance in that subject. Students who consistently experience failure are unlikely to see themselves as successful. QSI believes it is important to break cycles of failure. Placing students in situations where they will begin to experience success is the QSI goal. 

3. It is the responsibility of the school to provide the conditions for success. 

QSI believes that more learning will occur if students have a desire to learn, have positive feelings concerning the school environment, and have success in their work. A comfortable atmosphere of caring and acceptance is considered important to QSI. Possibility for success increases when students work at the appropriate level of difficulty and sense positive expectations from well-qualified, experienced, and caring educators. 

The pursuit of these Core Beliefs results in enhanced student learning and high student motivation as students are rewarded for their successes.