This report summarizes the development, testing, and dissemination of an instructional improvement program called Achievement Directed Leadership (ADL) during the period of National Institute of Education (NIE) funding for ADL, from late 1977 to late 1985. A brief introductory chapter discusses the context and rationale for the work on ADL, whose major purpose was to help school districts to understand, install, implement, and sustain practices that research suggests are conducive to effective instruction. The second chapter gives a brief overview of ADL, describing its major objectives: (1) to identify from the research a manageable number of variables that educators can influence and that are critical to student achievement; (2) to develop methods and materials to help educators monitor those variables; (3) to develop a plan for district-wide training and implementation of the monitoring and management processes; (4) to develop a means to support wide scale dissemination; and (5) to contribute to knowledge. The third chapter discusses the pros and cons of some of major issues related to instructional improvement through ADL, local use of ADL, and wider dissemination of ADL. The concluding chapter presents a closing statement on the instructional effectiveness issues, touching on the need for reflection on the ADL experience and summarizing its major messages as they relate to the creation of optimal classroom conditions and to maximizing the effectiveness of teachers' inservice. It is pointed out that the persistent, appropriate use of such innovations as ADL are likely to develop the needed understandings, images, intuitions and skills. References are included, along with appendixes listing (1) ADL-related reports, papers, and presentations, and (2) student achievement data from the three field test districts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. (TE)