Success depends on many factors. It is acquired only with care and difficulty. It is sustained with constant vigilance and can be easily and rapidly compromised by poor decisions or by changing circumstances that are beyond the control of the school. Almost all the schools studied are conventional in terms of physical facilities, organizational structure, curriculum, student grouping and the activities of teachers and students. The communities that schools serve have little influence on the academic core of those schools.
Greater influence is exerted on peripheral subjects, shared values and social goals.
Most schools have little systematic information on the nature and extent of their success and few indicators of institutional performance. Schools and policy-makers need more systematic knowledge of the school environment and comprehensive measures of their performance. Efforts should be made to link research to both education policy and the practice of teaching. Networks should be established to link schools across Canada, encouraging schools to work on joint projects and to share information and ideas. School leadership should not rely too much on one person.