School improvement is an increasingly complex field with developments in policy, research, practice and language making it difficult to get a complete picture. Leading authors David Woods and Tim Brighouse pull together the approaches, characteristics and technical terms needed for busy school leaders, teachers, governors and parents to quickly get to grips with current approaches and best practice. Combining their extensive experience of school improvement in action, they provide an authoritative and up-to-date overview of the field and easy access to the wide range of information, ideas and practices on making schools the best they can be. A comprehensive A-Z introduces the characteristics, approaches and language of school improvement ranging from appreciative enquiry to zero tolerance. Quotations, case studies and 'butterflies' (little ideas with big impact) illustrate the entries and bring them to life through the experiences of real schools. They include discussion of key debates and controversies to stimulate discussion and guided reading by topic to help with further research.