* The government has made raising standards in schools a key priority. How have schools been responding?

* How rapidly have schools been improving and what strategies have they developed?

Based around a major research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Improving Schools looks at what has been happening across the country in recent years. It draws on unique data about changes in schools' effectiveness over time, exploring the reasons why exam results have continued to rise and what schools have been doing in the name of improvement.

Through a series of case studies the research looks at what happened over a five-year period in a wide range of schools facing very different challenges. Some served disadvantaged communities, others more affluent suburbs. Some had 'serious weaknesses' but overcame them; others were already doing well by anyone's standards but continued to improve.

What 'worked' in these schools? How far did they simply concentrate on matters of organization, planning and ethos? How many of them got round to tackling issues of classroom teaching and learning? What did they plan to do next? And what further challenges should they anticipate?

Teachers and researchers alike will find this a highly readable account of the limits and possibilities of school improvement in action.