In writing The Intelligent School, the authors offer a practical resource to schools to help them maximize their improvement efforts. The aim is to help schools to be intelligent organizations; to be the type of school that can synthesize different kinds of knowledge, experience and ideas in order to be confident about current achievements, and be able to decide what to do next.

The second edition has been fully revised in the light of New Labour's term of office, global social and economic changes, and new research evidence. It brings fresh thinking about the nine intelligences and new ideas about school improvement including the exploration of spiritual, ethical and emotional intelligence. It also includes examples of Intelligent Schools in action written by practitioners.