In my daily reading, I have often come across references to “high quality seats.” [HQS]
See here.
See here.
While googling, I saw pictures of “high quality seats,” but they looked mostly like lounge chairs, and I could not imagine a classroom filled with them unless the teacher-student ratio was 8:1, which would be a very effective classroom.
I confess that I don’t know what an HQS is.
in my naïveté, I assumed that learning requires teachers teaching and students exerting effort.
Now I see that the “high quality” learning is in the chair.
it seems to be reformer-speak for a seat in a school that is not a public school.
But since there are so many failed and closed charter schools, an HQS can’t be synonymous with a seat in a charter school. Many children in charters are in LQS (low-quality seats).
Where does one go to find a HQS? is there a store?
Do they sell them in Walmart? Not likely.
Do you know where to find the HQS that districts are searching for?
is that the simple answer to every problem?
When I googled, I inadvertently found the answer to my question. Jan Resseger wrote it in 2016. She said that the blather about HQS was a way of dodging the crucial question of paying for a good education for all children.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The charter industry definition of a HQS is a seat that comes with memory foam.
Seriously, the charter industry is counting on their misleading propaganda campaigns with terms like HQS to influence enough ignorant people that do not read enough to get what the charter school industry wants, more public money.
What Russia did in 2016 to help Trump win the election is the same thing the charter industry has been doing for decades.
Kinda depersonalized, no?
Diane I’m sure you won’t mind if I mention that I have some high-quality pencils (HQP’s) I can sell anyone here that are chock full of education that flows directly into students’ brains. Imagine all the time we could save just by using these. CBK
In Cincinnati, we have a privately funded “Accelerator” trying to put as many charters in our district as possible. They have a simple way to determine the number of high quality seats in the district.
The Accelerator defines high quality as a school that earns an A or B in state ratings for student achievement AND growth. The enrollments in those schools are the basis for determining the number of high quality seats that are available. All other schools that fail to meet these criteria are candidates for charters.
All of methods of determining “high quality seats” are based on an underlying “supply versus demand” theory and some rating scheme for determining “quality.”
Here is a method from charter-loving Bellwether Education Partners. This method identifies the potential demand for “high quality seats” at the district level based on the “need for academic improvement.”
“The Need for Academic Improvement …has four indicators:
1) five-year student achievement trend,
2) past year achievement compared to state average,
3) five-year gap closing trend between students who are eligible for government-subsidized meals (a proxy for poverty) and those who aren’t, and
4) past year achievement gap between the same groups.
All of these indicators use state test scores to calculate results.“
With that information you get a measure of the potential demand for high quality seats, based on overall district enrollment and with a breakout by schools and neighborhoods the number of seats. See pp. 26-27 in
http://bellwethereducation.org/publication/us-education-innovation-index-prototype-and-report
AGGGGGGH! My head is exploding with the bullshit and the corruption out there, as my husband descends into Alzheimers,.
Diane,
I’ll put you in touch with Atlanta Public Schools Leadership–school board and superintendent. They can help you know what “high quality seats” are. For example,
“Working to make Atlanta a place where every student in every community receives a high-quality education, redefinED Atlanta leverages private funding for aligned strategic investments in community empowerment, school level talent, and high quality schools. By the 2021-22 school year, they aim to add 8,000 high-quality seats in Atlanta Public Schools, transforming Atlanta into a city where the majority of students attend a quality school.”
In Cincinnati, we have a privately funded “Accelerator” trying to put as many charters in our district as possible. They have a simple way to determine the number of high quality seats in the district. The accelerator defines high quality as a school that earns an A or B in state ratings for student achievement AND growth. The enrollments in those schools are the basis for determining the number of high quality seats that are available. All other schools and their enrollments are candidates for charters to meet the demand for high quality seats.
All of methods of determining “high quality seats” are based on an underlying “supply versus demand” theory and some rating scheme for determining “quality.”
Here is a method from charter-loving Bellwether Education Partners. It depends on identifying the potential demand for “high quality seats” at the district level based on the “need for academic improvement.”
“The Need for Academic Improvement …has four indicators: 1) five-year student achievement trend, 2) past year achievement compared to state average, 3) five-year gap closing trend between students who are eligible for government-subsidized meals (a proxy for poverty) and those who aren’t, and 4) past year achievement gap between the same groups.
All of the indicators use state test scores to calculate results.“
With that information you get a measure of the potential demand for high quality seats, based on overall district enrollment and then with breakouts the number of seats by schools and neighborhoods. See pp. 26-27. in
http://bellwethereducation.org/publication/us-education-innovation-index-prototype-and-report
I can think of another high quality chair with an electric plug in to use for people such as the ones who promote THEIR kind of chair.