The management team within the school are currently faced with a great deal of pressure to achieve a range of "performance" expectations in a climate of increasing uncertainty, financial stringency and competition. Total quality management is a framework and set of practical resources for managing organizations in the 1990s. Based on sound principles and a strong body of experience, total quality management provides a school based management team with the tools they need to become highly effective in meeting the goals of their stakeholders, and in creating a place that teachers want to work in.

This book is the first to fully examine the practice of total quality management in the context of schooling. It looks, for instance, at the nature of a school's strategic management in the context of growing competition and expectations for performance; and at the positioning of the school in terms of vision and mission. It considers the setting of "outrageous" or exceptional goals to create momentum and alignment and explores the nature of high performing teams within the school. It discusses commitment building as part of the new quality culture and involving stakeholders in the daily management of the school.

It is practical and well-illustrated with case vignettes and examples of total quality management in action. It is based on the experience of two senior academic practitioners who have both carried out extensive work in school management and development.