Although most attempts to effect school reform have been initiated from the top down, an alternative paradigm of educational reform has emerged: the idea that educators in schools must become empowered agents in their own school improvement processes. This paper explores this new paradigm, arguing that schools are both the objects and arenas of educational improvement. The argument is divided into three "strands": the epistemological strand, which examines past and present epistemological claims for how knowledge is both generated and acted upon; the organizational strand, suggesting that to understand the dynamics of school-based change, one must understand the structure and function of schools as organizations; and the experiential strand, which reviews the history of attempts to make fundamental changes in schools. These discussions lead to the conclusion that schools, to become centers of change, must become centers of critical and self-reflective inquiry into educational processes. Extensive notes are included. (TE)