This guide is intended for use in locally conducted inservice programs and university courses. It is designed to aid each school of a district and the district office itself in starting and maintaining a self-improvement capability by maintaining or improving (1) student achievement, interest, behavior, and citizenship; (2) effective instructional, advising, and administrative practices; (3) job satisfaction and staff morale; and (4) the capacity for organizational renewal through staff development. Chapter 1 discusses the overall implementation of basic improvement processes. Chapter 2 focuses on administering school improvement at both the school and district level. Chapter 3 is a discussion of arranging the total educational program for students, while chapter 4 focuses on improving instruction and chapter 5 covers the process of updating the curriculum. Chapter 6 discusses student decision-making arrangements, self-discipline, and citizenship. Chapter 7 concerns the constructive use of evaluative information in developing improvement strategies. Chapter 8 focuses on updating patterns of instructional grouping of students and teachers, while chapter 9 discusses ways to personalize educational advising. Chapter 10 provides ideas for strengthening home-school-community relations. Chapter 11 covers the role of locally conducted research in guiding school improvement, and chapter 12 provides successful examples for implementing improvement practices in elementary schools. Four appendixes provide correlated instructional materials and three sets of simulations for elementary, middle, and high schools, respectively. (TE)