“I highly recommend this volume. It will provide the reader with startling insights and practical solutions to a perplexing problem within urban school districts that has plagued the lives of ethnically and culturally diverse children, adolescents, families, educators, and support personnel, as well as the general pubic for quite some time.”
—PsyCritiques

“Children’s lives and hopes are at stake, and what we do will shift the odds in children’s favor or against them. This book is an important contribution to taking the right steps.”
—From the Foreword by Deborah Meier

“The nuggets of wisdom imparted throughout this book have been field tested under combat conditions. Reformers not having the time for this book will have plenty of time to wish they had—too late.”
—Michael A. Strembitsky, former superintendent, Edmonton, Canada

Is it possible to fundamentally improve the daily workings of the urban classroom in less than seven years? According to John Simmons, it will take a revolution in the way that leaders of urban school systems think and operate, from the classroom to the boardroom. In this ambitious volume, Simmons and a stellar group of contributors, including Linda Darling-Hammond, Richard Elmore, Michael Fullan, Charlotte Danielson, Susan Moore Johnson, Adam Urbanski, Alan Odden, and Valerie Lee, bring the best current research to bear on a range of critical topics, creating a practical framework that superintendents and their teams can use to transform their big-city school systems into true learning communities. As it integrates many voices into a larger vision, this book:

• Demonstrates convincingly how current, cutting-edge thinking about system change in business has been used to successfully transform schools and close the achievement gap among diverse students.
• Provides an overview and assessment of the reform efforts of current large-district superintendents, including Alan Bersin, Tom Payzant, Arne Duncan, and Kaye Stripling.
• Directs the reader towards a larger understanding of issues and priorities with three principles and four key strategies.
• Applies current research to illuminate what has succeeded and what has not worked in cities such as Boston, San Diego, Houston, and especially Chicago.
• Features the perspectives and experiences of notable experts who have been working in the trenches of school reform for decades.

John Simmons is President of Strategic Learning Initiatives, a not-for-profit focusing on organizational improvement, especially with public schools.