Productive changes in schooling throughout the 1980s are contingent on emphasis being placed on school effectiveness rather than on curriculum adjustments. Today's curriculum sprawl, caused by the state and federal legislatures' penchant for creating courses to cure newly-emerging social ills, must not deplete resources that should be directed toward basic education. Our country may be ready for a mobilization similar to the one that followed the Soviet's launching of Sputnik. In addition to the marked lack of science education, deficiencies in literacy, foreign language, and social studies instruction make the case for basic education stronger than ever. However, the definition and affirmation of standards will accomplish nothing unless they are linked to the school effectiveness movement. Successful schools are characterized by an emphasis on academic achievement, strong instructional leadership, clear expectations, regular academic testing, a serious academic climate, and parental reinforcement. Only when the incentives for learning become more powerful than the incentives for not learning can we anticipate genuine reform. (Author/JK)