This study represents itself the description and the main outcomes and findings of the final phase of the  project which was implemented in some schools of Russia (2009-2013) as an applied project of the fundamental research  devoted to the genesis of the educational inequality  and possibilities of its overcoming. Actually it renders the results of the development and applications of the improvement programs in pilot schools in one of the Russian regions. Models of School Effectiveness (R.Marzano, P.Mortimor) and School Improvement (D.Hopkins, D.Hargreves, M.Fullan), which turned to be widely used in developed countries, but had never been used in Russia before this project, became the theoretical and conceptual frame of these programs. And the model of Professional Learning Communities (P.Senge, M.Fullan, A.Harris, M.Jones) was chosen as a special focus. Low-performing schools facing challenging circumstances and working with disadvantaged students became the targeted group of the project. The choice of this group could be explained by the fact, that the problem of stable segment of low – performing schools operating in complex social and economical contexts is acute for many countries and Russia is not an exception here. So looking for effective ways of improving these schools is a task to solve by both researchers and practitioners on the national and international level. And the main goal of this particular project was to involve national practices into the mainstream of the world research, and to justify the capacity and possibilities of applying model of school effectiveness and school improvement that can provide large-scale changes in national educational systems. It is important to mention that the research was conducted in cooperation with the University of London’s Institute of Education and in particular with outstanding world experts and consultants  in School Effectiveness and School Improvement Alma Harris and Michelle Jones.  The main research questions were the following:

- can classical models of school effectiveness be used in context of Russian school practice;

- can these models serve as a basis of improvement programs for low- performing schools in challenging circumstances;

- do domestic traditions of school culture and domestic strategies of school management allow to introduce  into our practice the model of Professional Learning Communities, which effectively works in western school systems.

            The answers to the questions above were given in descriptions of cases of schools that can be defined as indicative cases of the whole sample.

1. Fullan,M.G.(1992) The New Meaning of Educational Change. London:Cassel. 2. Harris, A. (1997).The School Improvement Resource Pack. London.Kogan page. 3. Harris, A., Clarke ,P., James,S.,Gunraj,J.and James.B.(2006). Improving Schools in Exceptionally Challenging Contexts: Tales from the Frontline. London.Continium 4. Pinskaya M., Frumin I., Kosaretski S. Schools that operate effectively in difficult contexts. Voprosi obrazovania. 2011. N 4, p.148-177. 5. Reynolds, D., Hopkins, D., Chapman, Ch. and Potter, D. School Improvement for Schools Facing Challenging Circumstances: a Review of the Research and Practice. School Effectiveness and School Improvement: An International Journal of Research, Policy and Practice Volume 20, Issue 1, 2009. 6.Chapman Ch., Sammons P.School Evaluation for School Improvement.What works and why?//http://cdn.cfbt.com/~/media/cfbtcorporate/files/research/2013/r-school-self-evaluation-2013.pdf 7. Sammons P. School Effectiveness and Equity. Making Connections//http://www.coe.fau.edu/research/conferences/icsei2006/documents/Sammons_keynote.pdf 8.Bert P.M. Creemers (2002) From School Effectiveness and School Improvement to Effective School Improvement: Background, Theoretical Analysis, and Outline of the Empirical Study, Educational Research and Evaluation: An InternationalJournal on Theory and Practice, 8:4, 343-362 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1076/edre.8.4.343.8814