School effectiveness is an issue that has preoccupied researchers and policymakers for 3 decades. To study how ineffective schools become effective and what constitutes an effective school, the Improving School Effectiveness Project was carried out in Scotland from 1995 to 1997. This project forms the basis of discussion in this book, which has 11 chapters: (1) "School Effectiveness and Improvement: The Story so Far" (John MacBeath and Peter Mortimore); (2) "The Policy Context" (John MacBeath and Jim McCall); (3) "The Research Design and Methods" (Pamela Robertson, Pam Sammons, Sally Thomas, and Peter Mortimore); (4) "Attainment, Progress and Added Value" (Sally Thomas, Rebecca Smees, Pam Sammons, and Peter Mortimore); (5) "Views of Pupils, Parent and Teachers: Vital Indicators of Effectiveness and for Improvement" (Jim McCall, Iain Smith, Louise Stoll, Sally Thomas, Pam Sammons, Rebecca Smees, John MacBeath, Brian Boyd, and Barbara MacGilchrist); (6) "Extending the Quality Framework: Lessons from Case Study Schools" (Pamela Robertson and David Toal); (7) "Change Leadership: Planning, Conceptualization and Perception" (Jenny Reeves, Jim McCall and Barbara MacGilchrist); (8) "Do Schools Need Critical Friends?" (Jim Doherty, John MacBeath, Stewart Jardine, Iain Smith, and Jim McCall); (9) "A Profile of Change" (John MacBeath and Louise Stoll); (10) "The Change Equation: Capacity for Improvement" (Louise Stoll, John MacBeath, Iain Smith, and Pamela Robertson); and (11) "Beyond 2000: Where Next for Effectiveness and Improvement?" (Louise Stoll, John MacBeath, and Peter Mortimore). (Contains 293 references.) (RT)