Currently, there are rigorous school-improvement interventions which have one goal in commonVthe improvement of instruction and student learning in schools. New system of accountability expects schools to produce specific improvements in a self-assessment and evaluation basis. A mechanism of school planning prioritizing and reporting is in place to ensure that the focus is on activities directly related to student achievement and improvement strategies. However, normative structures inside schools, such as the privacy of classroom practice and the culture of teaching are often determining factors not only in the implementation of policy, but, more importantly, in the school's overall effectiveness in fostering children's learning. It will be of concern to develop teachers to generate and focus attention on information relevant to teaching and learning, motivate individuals and schools to use that information and expend effort to improve practice, and build the knowledge base necessary for interpreting and applying new information to improve practice. This study aims to explore the views and practices of school improvement among pre-school teachers in Hong Kong, and to examine emergent visions and innovations adopted in practices in the process of school-based self-assessment. Of particular interest is a close-up study of the context in which teachers are expected to learn, and the impact of school support incentives on teachers' work in delivering high quality ECE. A combined quantitative and qualitative methodology will be applied, and the researchers and participants will work collaboratively over 30 months to collect data on school improvement. This action research process will involve 4 cycles of data collection and analysis; the focus of the enquiry will be the strategic plans and activities undertaken by ten schools in implementing self-assessment and school improvement plans.

This paper will present why and what transformational leadership is needed to pursue school effectiveness and development in the rapidly changing education environment and in the coming new century. First, the challenges to school leadership and the need for new leadership will be discussed in the light of the pursuit of multiple school effectiveness and the worldwide educational reform trends. Based on the recent research on principals' leadership in Hong Kong schools, some important insights will be drawn for leadership development and school development particularly in both local context and international contexts. Then the paper will illustrate the shifts of leadership concepts and explain why transformational leadership is do critical to meeting educational challenges in the changing environment. The conception of transformational leadership and its relationship to school-based management, strategic management, and school effectiveness will be illustrated and explained. Finally, a number of implications will be proposed for school principals to practice transformational leadership and achieve long-term and multiple school effectiveness. Establishing a principal centre for leadership learning and development will be a major direction.

In facing challenges form the rapidly changing educational environment, numerous educational changes and school reforms have been conducted to pursue educational effectiveness and educational quality in different parts of the world. Unfortunately, most of school development, and inevitably have experienced serious frustration if not failure. This speech aims to elaborate the new school functions and meanings emerging in the new century and draw implications for ongoing and future school reforms in both Hong Kong and international contexts. There are five basic school functions including technical/economic function, human/social, political, cultural, and educational functions at the individual, institutional, community, society, and international levels. Based on this, a set of new meanings, values and goals for school development and practice can be established and pursued as the criteria of school effectiveness and quality. Continuous and systematic learning and development of students, staff, and schools is a necessary condition for the dynamic development of local, regional, and international communities. Most of the past educational reforms with focus on fragmentary improvement and remedial treatment are not sufficient to bring holistic school development and long term effectiveness. Integrating my recent research and thinking on school effectiveness and school-based management with the insights from new school functions, I propose a new mechanism for re-engineering schools, facilitating continuous development of students and staff, increasing support of parents and community, improving technology in education and management, and pursuing new functions and meanings more effectively. Hopefully, all those concerned particularly our students and teachers can benefit from the coming educational reforms.
[Copyright © 1996 The Hong Kong Institute of Education]