Distributed Leadership: School Improvement through Collaboration , Volume 4 of the series published in 1995, focuses on defining leadership and questioning the relationships among leaders and followers through a series of case studies. From data collected at two elementary, one middle, and one high school located in Texas, Missouri, and Illinois, researchers offer in-depth analyses of a variety of leadership styles in schools working toward structural and academic reform. These case studies reflect themes that include shifts in leadership roles through participative decision making, connections of leadership processes with instruction and curriculum development processes, and change efforts motivated by student success. Commentary addressing these themes focuses on re-examination of traditional assumptions about the organization of schooling, and on the advantages of school-based decision making through distributed leadership.