In a project led by Research for Better Schools (RBS), educators work with researchers to improve basic skills learning. Based on research findings relating the amount of time allocated for instruction and student achievement, one school made scheduling changes to reduce the time spent moving from one classroom to another. Other classroom variables directly related to student achievement include engagement rate, student engaged time, prior learning, and instructional overlap. The RBS approach to instructional improvement involves training supervisors and teachers to run through a four-phase decision-making cycle related to each of these five variables. First, teachers collect data on student achievement and their own classroom procedures. Second, teachers compare their data with data that researchers have collected on classrooms where achievement results are known to be high. Third, teachers select or prepare ways to modify their classroom conditions, and last, teachers implement their modifications. Staffs can be trained to calculate engaged time, try new techniques, and tag learning deficiencies before planning instruction. Results show that improvement efforts can succeed provided that school staff at all levels lend in their support. (LH)