THE CASE STUDIES
Two schools were looked at in close-up to flesh out details about the way in which schools come to learn about strategic and development planning and how they come to enact the process effectively in order to further the goals of improvement in pupils' learning. The first is a case study of a large
first school for children of 4-8 years old; the second of a secondary school and community.college spanning ages 1 1-1 8 as well as adult and continuing education. Evidence was collected differently in each case; in School A the author had worked as a consultant and trainer for three years, inter-
mittently, and there were meeting agendas, some evaluation evidence and data collected from the management team (known as the steering group), several professional training days and four development plans availablefor study. There was also another interview with the head to bring the casestudy up to date. In the secondary school example, School B, data were in the form of one long interview with the headteacher and scrutiny of relevant documentary evidence. Thus the first case presents an evolutionary tale; the second a snapshot as seen from the leader's perspective.