Complex systems study attracts scientists from many disciplines, who come up with all sorts of fascinating, intricate examples of how the world works. For synthesists, xenophiles, and other curious people with a good science background, I highly recommend the International Conference on Complex Systems, put on by the New England Complex Systems Institute.
Here are a couple of articles I've posted to various complexity mailing lists. They're both a bit hard to read, since they're responding to ongoing threads. Here is a simpler version of the one on schools. The links below go to another site; hit the Back button to return here.
This is a start on a rigorous way to define systems and levels (despite the fact/perception that everything is connected to everything else), by choosing models based on the information input it takes to make them fit reality.
This is an answer to the question: With all the pressures on schools to improve, why don't they improve? I claim it's because they respond to the level of pressure by going into a tunnel-vision or even a survival mode.