The purpose of this guide is to help chronically struggling schools restructure. "Restructuring" means major, rapid changes that affect how a school is led and how instruction is delivered. Restructuring is essential in achieving rapid improvements in student learning. The focus is on helping education leaders choose strategies that result in rapid improvement, even when the complete culture change to sustain that improvement may take upward of three years. This guide may be used by any districts (called "local education agencies" or LEAs) or states (called "state education agencies" or SEAs) choosing change strategies for schools where large, swift improvement is needed to meet students' academic needs. It also may be used by districts considering school restructuring to meet the requirements of ESEA and SIG. The guide is organized to support the restructuring process at each step. Individual chapters contain references and resources.