Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the: (1) quality of education provided by elementary and secondary schools; and (2) productivity and performance of workers and employers in a wide range of businesses.

GAO found that: (1) successful schools and businesses have well-defined missions and have organized their work environment, human resource practices, curriculum and instruction, and management processes in ways that will support their mission; (2) school missions focus on student learning, as well as providing safe and orderly sites, encouraging parents' involvement and collaboration among staff, fostering leadership for instructional improvement, and authorizing school-level problem solving; and (3) successful businesses develop a set of core organizational values, adopt human resource policies that minimize job disruption, and provide educational and training programs for employees, as well as profit-sharing and gain-sharing plans, and a reward structure that is fair and understandable to employees.