Using the data collected in Goodlad's "Study of Schooling," this study attempted to determine what criteria differentiate more and less renewing schools. A renewing school was described as solving its own problems and having a continuous process of improvement based on staff-designed alternatives. Thirty-eight schools from the Goodlad study were first characterized as more or less renewing by determining whether teachers identified problems and whether effective solutions were implemented. A number of contextual variables were identified and discriminant analysis was done. Among the demographic or personal variables, professionalism, age, and educational attainment of teachers had the highest loading coefficients (accounting, however, for only six percent of the variance). Six school-focused variables, the most powerful subset of variables, appeared to differentiate more or less renewing schools; these included "take care of business" (a generalized measure of ability to solve problems, meet the needs of individuals, and achieve goals in the school), adequacy of resources, principal leadership, staff cohesiveness, chances for successful solution of school problems, and adequacy of teacher assistance. Class or curriculum focused variables, including teachers' rating of the school and teacher influence over curriculum, instruction, and behavior, also differentiated more and less renewing schools. (Author/JM)