Educational Model Summary
Keys to Success
Success-Oriented Learning
The school’s educational structure is based upon student performance and mastery learning.
The Performance-Based/Mastery Learning approach recognizes human characteristics and
enables the student to be placed in learning environments according to achievement levels.
This approach facilitates matching the students' skills and needs with the academic program.
The implications are profound for student attitudes and learning. The school is dedicated to
this concept.
Performance-Based
The curricular model used is a “Performance-Based” approach to education. The content of
each academic discipline is divided into specific student expectancies or “Essential Units”. An
“Essential Unit” contains specific concepts or skills. Teachers give instruction and guidance for
the essential unit using appropriate materials and activities, and when the essential unit is
completed, assess for student mastery. Records are maintained documenting individual
student progress and credentialing. Objectives, instruction, teaching materials, and
evaluations are aligned. Curriculum is reviewed periodically for relevance and validity. All
curricula are available for parents to review.
Mastery Learning
In this research-validated model each Essential Unit is taught with a view to excellence. When
students demonstrate mastery of the essential unit, they move on to the next essential unit. If
the student does not achieve mastery, the teacher re-teaches, and the student revises as
necessary. Additional conferencing and extended practice may be given for the student to
demonstrate proficiency at the appropriate level before testing again. When the students
demonstrate mastery, they are rewarded with an “A” or “B”. Thus, a student never “fails” in the
traditional sense. Instead, he/she proceeds logically through the curriculum at a pace
determined by his/her mastery of the material.
Success Orientations
“Success for All” is the motto of QSI Schools. Personal habits and the ability to interact
successfully with others are deemed as valuable as the knowledge and competencies
students learn. Success orientations are actively encouraged in virtually all areas of the school
curriculum with the view of making them a vital part of one’s life pattern. Evaluations of the
success orientations are limited to situations within the jurisdiction of the school and are made
by a consensus of the professional staff members.
Success Orientations are grouped under the headings of:
Responsibility
Trustworthiness
Group Interaction
Aesthetic Appreciation
Kindness and Politeness
Independent Endeavor
Concern for Others