This report stems from an extended inquiry into the planning and implementation of new, innovative schools, seen as a useful but failure-prone strategy for educational improvement. The Project on Social Architecture in Education studied the processes and outcomes of efforts to create three elementary and three secondary schools in public urban and suburban school districts. The products of the study include a general conceptual framework for the domain of new-school planning and implementation research instruments; five book-length case studies, together with analyses and conclusions; and a set of learning materials for people creating comprehensive new educational programs in school settings. This document contains chapter 1, an executive summary that briefly reviews the substance of the various parts of the report with their associated chapters; chapter 2, a review of other improvement strategies and a comparison with the new/innovative school as a particular strategy for educational improvement; and chapter 3, the general framework for planning and implementing new schools. (Author/MLF)