Workforce remodeling in England has been presented as a means to empower school staff through a restructuring process which has possibilities to dramatically shift the ways in which they operate. This initiative has also included a number of legislative requirements intended to help embed the more technocratic aspects of the remodeling process. Data collected from 14 schools and 2 Local Authorities in England provides an evidence base for this article. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 100 staff including Headteachers, Chairs of Governors, teachers, teaching assistants, and administrators. Further, 666 questionnaire returns were collected from a range of schools and staff across these Authorities. This article explores the extent to which the remodeling initiative has resulted in a change of understandings rather than simply adopting the legislative elements of change and examines whether remodeling has enabled or enhanced schools in their ability to engage in change that is self-directed and rooted in an agreed educational ethos. (Contains 3 figures.)