> But how is school quality defined? It’s defined according to the summative outcomes of how students perform. I’ve been arguing for a decade that perceived sch

> But how is school quality defined? It’s defined according to the summative outcomes of how students perform. I’ve been arguing for a decade that perceived school quality is simply a product of the selection effects of how a school’s population was assembled. That's one way to define school quality, and the author is right that it's a self-reinforcing loop, but... that's not the only way to define school quality. Another way would be: what kind of courses do they offer? How many AP or IB courses do they offer? Do they have notable extracurriculars? There's a highschool near me that has a planetarium attached. What are the credentials of the teachers? Any of the teachers have impressive accomplishments, either outside of teaching, or teaching awards? How many students per class? What kind of technology do they have for kids to work with? There's all sorts of things that can be used to analyze a school's quality, that has nothing to do with outcomes.