Memo • May 2016 • By Lars Esdal

Having good definitions of the terms “student achievement” and “school quality” is important in our nation’s quest to improve public education. But the two terms are often defined too simply, too narrowly, too controversially. This working memo puts forth our own deeper and broader definitions of these two important terms.

This is not an argument for why these definitions are the right ones; nor is it a proposal or a strategy for how to improve achievement and quality. Our purpose in this memo is only to define the two terms.