Success in Sight guides schools through an iterative, five-stage cycle for school improvement (see graphic below). The stages in this process are not necessarily sequential; in practice, they often overlap. Also, while they may appear fairly straightforward and not entirely unique — indeed, many school reform models identify similar phases or steps for reform — there are important nuances in each which are crucial to the success of these improvement efforts.

On the following pages, we attempt to highlight these nuances through a series of questions schools should ask themselves during each stage. How effectively schools address these nuances is, in many ways, the “art” of school improvement and often, the key to the success of their improvement efforts.

Five stages of the McREL Success in Sight process.