The leadership task for a new age of schools is to stimulate continuous innovation, rather than to manage for compliance using outdated standards of work. This paper presents a typology of work cultures--the varying work conditions of schools and the challenges they present to principals in developing high-performance work cultures. Data were collected in 28 elementary, middle, and high schools in Florida, Virginia, and Minnesota. Methodology involved interviews with 28 principals, a work-culture survey of 1,235 professional staff at 25 schools, and a survey of 1,235 teachers at 25 schools. Three conceptual models were compared: (1) the Managing Productive Schools (MPS) Model; (2) the Change Process Model; and (3) the Quality Performance Model. Findings indicate that the highest performing schools had developed interdependent planning, staff development, program development, and assessment functions. Teachers in the more mature cultures tended to see priorities and challenges in similar ways and were involved in shaping new programs and services. Principals who understand the change process as developmental tended to be successful in engineering school development. Finally, the typology for principals is built on visionary leadership, strategic planning, and systems thinking and acting. Five tables and three figures are included. Contains 25 references. (LMI)