This book deals with changing school culture to bring about school effectiveness and to create a culture that enhances student motivation and learning. The argument is presented in terms of real world schools and in the context of a theory focusing on the child and learning that is generalizable and practical. The first part outlines a vision for schools and schooling and student investment in learning. The second part examines the nature of school cultures. Part 3 then explores what can be done to change school culture. An analytic, descriptive, and prescriptive portrayal is given of a research effort to change the culture of one urban elementary school and a middle school. Part 4 addresses the results of the efforts described in two case studies. Results show that school change cannot occur without the extensive participation of all concerned or without committed leadership. An appendix presents selected scales from the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Survey that was used with students and teachers over 4 years to determine perceptions of existing school cultures. (Contains 4 tables, 7 figures, and 210 references.) (SLD)