The educational establishment is under a great deal of pressure to improve and to prove to its critics that it has done so. This paper develops three concepts to support its thesis: effective schools, the change process, and outcomes-based education (OBE). To achieve effective schools, major change must take place. Yet change is not easy for schools. The changes that occur in schools must be accomplished in such a way that the public and the critics are provided the information to judge success. We support the notion that OBE is an excellent tool to provide this information. Recently, the National Study for School Evaluation (NSSE) developed an OBE school evaluation model, which was written by representatives from most of the regional accrediting associations. To effectively implement the NSSE model, this paper supports the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) as a philosophical and organizational framework. The "Profound Knowledge" necessary for organizational management as expressed by W. Edwards Deming is discussed, and the steps used in the NSSE model are presented and matched to TQM concepts. (Contains 16 references.) (Author)