The promotion of pupils' self-discipline has been clearly highlighted as one of the National Priorities for Scottish education. This reflects the key role that establishing positive working relationships between pupils and staff is known to play in ensuring effective learning. Equally, this relationship also works in reverse. The quality of teaching and learning has a major and direct influence on pupils' behaviour and motivation. Given the close links between pupil learning and behaviour, promoting positive behaviour in schools must be a key element in ensuring the best possible educational outcomes for children. Expressions of concern about standards of discipline in schools, in the media and elsewhere, have been a recurrent theme within the Scottish education system in recent times. In December 2000 the then Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs, Jack McConnell, established a national task group on discipline in schools under his own chairmanship. The report of this Task Group, "Better Behaviour-Better Learning," was published in July 2001. Following the publication of the report, Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) agreed a Joint Action Plan with The Convention of Local Authorities (COSLA), The Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) and the Association of Directors of Social Work (ADSW). The plan was launched in December 2001 and set out the path for implementation of the Task Group's Report. In April 2002 Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) initiated a two-year review to monitor the implementation of the recommendations in the BB-BL report as reflected in the joint SEED/COSLA/ADES/ADSW action plan. The joint action plan provided a clear agenda for authorities and schools as they worked towards addressing the wide range of recommendations of the BB-BL report itself. Overall, after just over two years, HM Inspectors found that authorities and schools were making some good progress in taking this agenda forward. All authorities were committed to following the action plan through, and most had worked well with other appropriate agencies to do so. A few authorities with good practice had begun to make significant progress in improving trends on some key indicators, such as levels of pupil absence and exclusion, although many had yet to do this. In a number of other ways, there was evidence of how actions taken by schools and authorities were contributing towards ensuring a positive climate in schools and classrooms, whilst also ensuring the more effective inclusion of all pupils in the life and work of schools. Appended are: (1) "Better Behaviour-Better Learning," a Joint Action Plan; and (2) List of sample local authorities.