ABSTRACT
The purpose of the preceding chapters has been to build the argument for ‘school improvement for real’. As a consequence, in describing the various elements of the approach, the discussion has tended to be analytic and taxonomic rather than holistic. In this chapter it is important to give a flavour of the authentic school improvement experience in a small number of schools. The case studies in this chapter are intended to provide examples of ‘whole school’ settings where the approaches to learning, teaching and assessment described in the previous chapters are occurring. In these schools all improvement and development efforts are focussed on learning and teaching. Clear goals or targets for student learning are set, and teaching strategies based on research and good practice, are being utilised. Conditions are also being created in these schools where teachers have time to talk to each other about teaching and to work together towards improving it. These are schools where the quick fix response to target setting has been eschewed in favour of a more reflective and iterative approach to change that unswervingly focusses on the learning of students. These schools are becoming more effective over time because they are progressively adapting their organisations and classroom practices to support student learning and teacher development.
