School administrators in the 1980's must learn to provide stronger instructional leadership to improve student achievement and restore public confidence in education. School improvement will occur, however, only as a result of changes in attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. Only when teachers have worked out their own concerns regarding a given improvement strategy will they be able to effectively implement that strategy in the classroom. The school improvement planning process requires identifying the general problem, delineating goals and objectives, generating and evaluating alternative solutions, preparing activities to achieve the desired school improvement, designating staff to carry out the plan, and monitoring the plan's effectiveness. Amid the current climate for public education, school improvement activities will have to focus on the devlopment of an "older teaching staff" that may not include the most effective professionals. For the immediate future, staff development activities are likely to center on the need for more effective schooling, increased student achievement, more effective discipline, and more stringent demands on pupils to learn. To become more diagnostic, prescriptive, and reflective in their instructional planning, teachers need formal instruction under simulated conditions provided through the cooperation of school boards, state departments of education, state education agencies, and institutions of higher education. (JBM)