"We have known about the obstacles to new schools created by existing school systems but few books have made the tensions so clear or identified so many possibilities."

–Maxine Greene, Teachers College, Columbia University

In this timely volume, acclaimed educational scholars and experts who share a critical view of the standards and testing movement, explore the major reform issues currently facing American educational institutions. The collective wisdom they provide is sound and never strays far from a consideration for the difficulty of implementing educational reforms in the face of structural and ideological limitations. Aspects of school reform such as the role states play, the results of reform efforts in the urban enclaves of New York and Boston, and the position of unions in school system reform, represent just some of the comprehensive analyses presented here. Particular attention is given to the challenges faced by new, smaller, and more independent schools. This volume is laden with balanced advice for anyone seeking to understand or inspire educational reform.

Contributors include: Linda Nathan, Larry Myatt, Robert Pearlman, Dan French, Meredith Gavrin, Ellalinda Rustique-Forrester, Ann Cook, Beth Lief, Judith Rizzo, David Sherman, Linda Darling-Hammond, Jacqueline Ancess, Kemly McGregor, David Zuckerman, Deborah Meier, Seymour Sarason, and Evans Clinchy.