ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the organization and replication process of the St. Louis SHAL/Effective School Program and examines how school effectiveness positively influences student academic achievement. Effective school research indicates that school principals assume the role of the instructional leader and play an integral part in decisions made as they relate the instructional program. A large body of research establishes that some teachers have differential expectations for students, and these expectations result in differential treatment and differential outcomes among students. The school climate in effective schools is characterized as being safe, orderly, and conducive to learning. In an effective school, the instructional focus is broad and pervasive, understood by all personnel, and is facilitated by decision-making of the principal and teachers, emanating from a uniform district-wide curriculum. In a major effort to ensure minimum mastery of all skills by all students, results of regular assessment of pupil progress identify skills that have been learned and skills that are to be learned.
