Phase III of the Louisiana School Effectiveness Study (LSES-III) was designed in part to obtain rich, qualitative data on the characteristics of more and less effective schools in the Gulf South. Data were gathered on eight matched outlier pairs of schools during the 1984-1985 school year. Of the eight historically ineffective schools in LSES-III, four were actively engaged in school improvement efforts during the study. None of these efforts was dictated from the state or district; none was externally funded. This serendipity provided an opportunity to observe improvement efforts which were of the "naturally occurring"--as opposed to externally developed, mandated or otherwise offered--variety. The four projects are described in this paper. The suggestion is made that they fall along two independent dimensions: Technical vs. Programmatic change efforts, and efforts focused on a point along a continuum ranging from orderliness to excellence. Comparisons and contrasts to the more frequently studied, formally planned and conducted school improvement efforts are made. (Author/LMO)