The study sought to assist governments in introducing school-focused programming into reforms of primary education. The included: (i) an assessment of how well 26 World Bank-assisted project designs for primary education met criteria for educational effectiveness; (ii) the preparation of a user-friendly framework of factors that determine school effectiveness; and (iii) the development of a methodology for helping African educators define and prioritize school-based definitions and indicators of educational effectiveness. When African educators are given a structured opportunity to reflect on their knowledge of their education systems, they will successfully identify and plan concrete school-level improvements. It takes time to change entrenched habits of thinking about school reform.