Attempts to implement W. Edwards Deming's Total Quality Management (TQM) principles in education and transform school systems into world-class, quality learning environments have proved somewhat disappointing. This book asserts that educators need a way to translate the ideas about corporate quality for adaptation and use in schools. The "missing link" is offered in the description and discussion of Total Quality Education (TQE) presented in this document. The book first clarifies what quality is and who the customers and suppliers in education are. It then presents a Quality Fit Framework, which describes how quality can be infused into school systems. This framework is built on three basic leverage points--shared purpose, structure, and dynamic relationships--that form the basis for applying 18 common core premises of quality to school organizations. Chapter 1 addresses the issue of the international educational challenge and serves as a primer for defining quality and various quality premises. Chapters 2-4 define each of the three leverage points and present strategies for carrying them out in the school system. Chapter 5 presents suggestions for making significant differences in the lives of today's youth. Sixty-two figures are included. Finally, chapter 6 examines the criticisms of TQM in education. (LMI)