Building the capacity for school improvement

Effective school improvement involves building the capacity for change and development. This necessitates pressure and support from both external and internal sources. The need for 'change agentry' is well established in the literature however relatively little has been written about the role of the LEA as an external agent of change. This paper focuses upon the role of the LEA in building capacity for school improvement. It focuses upon a highly successful school improvement project and draws upon related empirical evidence to explore the LEA's role as an agent of change. The article concludes by suggesting that the current responsibilities placed upon the LEA are not conducive to ways of working with schools that will build the capacity for improvement.