The California Legislature asked the State Department of Education to identify good school programs in the areas of self-concept, interpersonal skills, and parenting. This report describes various ways schools have improved programs and extracts factors or elements common to all the improvement efforts. Reports of visits to 12 exemplary programs and schools are presented. Part 2 of the report briefly outlines general observations from the entire set of case studies. Part 3 then examines specific levels or paths for improvement and explores specific factors and curriculum areas. Part 4 reports the case studies and shows how implementation steps interact with local conditions to yield the unique content and organizational shapes of individual programs. Part 5 examines specific means for improvements--teacher skills, collective participation and discussion by teachers and parents, and resources. Part 6 contains resource and networking information. (Author/MLF)