This literature review examines the teaching techniques and school environments that have been linked with high scores on standardized tests. It describes the strategies that might be used to achieve one particular educational goal, while making teachers aware that trade-offs are required when they choose to emphasize one particular goal. The introduction discusses the question of educational goals in general and provides a background to effective schools research. The second section reviews research on the characteristics of the effective school: expectations, leadership, school environment, academic emphasis, school goals, and monitoring and assessing pupil performance. The third section focuses on the effective principal, while the fourth covers aspects of teacher effectiveness: expectations, academic learning time, classroom management, teacher preparation, discipline, direct instruction, success rate, and mastery learning. The human side of the effective school is touched on briefly, followed by a conclusion summarizing the implications of the research. References are included. (TE)